[GPSCC-chat] Fwd: Re: [occupy-san-jose] Re: February 9: San Jose 2012 State of the City Address

Thu Dec 29 11:52:08 PST 2011

Dear Jim:

       Who is our best local expert on IRV?  I'd like the following:

             1.  A brief article of 100-300 words with a color 
photograph or some other eye candy for the San José Occupíer (Google 
"San Jose Occupier Newsletter" or go to 
"https://sites.google.com/site/sanjoseoccupier/download").

             2.  Someone who could do a credible job in a 1 hour 
presentation, which we could schedule through the Education and Research 
Committee of Occupy San José.

             3.  A brochure to distribute to Occupy San José soon to get 
them discussing the idea.

             4.  Some help in strategizing on how to get this issue 
introduced in the Jan. 9 MoveOn event in the San José City Hall Rotunday 
and the Feb. 9 State of the City event.

       The international Occupy movement and the affiliated Arab Spring 
is moving and shaking the establishment.  The mainstream media have 
already figured out they can not ignore Occupy and retain audience, and 
there is now public discussion of a few issues that were previously 
unmentionable.  MoveOn and the Democrats are trying to claim they are 
the 99% -- while still accepting their huge campaign contributions from 
the ultra wealthy and still delivering votes on anything that does not 
catch enough of the movement's attention.

       Spencer

On 12/29/2011 11:04 AM, Jim Stauffer wrote:
>  I would say there's very little movement to implement IRV on the
>  county level. The county seems to be waiting for one municipality to
>  lead the way.
>
>  San Jose, with half the population of the county, would be the best
>  municipality to push for IRV. In 2009-2010 Californians for Electoral
>  Reform and the New America Foundation made a major IRV push in San
>  Jose. The city council is sympathetic/supportive of the idea. But a
>  common response from city gov't is to wait for someone else to try it
>  first. This is what San Jose did, deferring any decision until after
>  Oakland and San Leandro implemented their IRV in 2010 elections.
>  Also, budget problem get in the way since changing to a new balloting
>  system is expensive, even if the new system saves money in the long
>  run.
>
>  So, on the one hand San Jose is primed for IRV implementation -- a
>  sympathetic city council and two near-by cities that had relatively
>  good experiences with IRV. On the other hand, how do we pay for the
>  change-over in a city wracked with budget deficits?
>
>  BTW, a much better source for info on IRV is
>  http://www.fairvote.org/. Also, the common term used these days is
>  Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), which I think is a better description
>  than the marketing oriented "IRV."
>
>  I have PDFs of IRV flyers if you need anything like that.
>
>  Jim
>
>
>
>
>
>  On 12/29/2011 1:50 AM, Spencer Graves wrote:
> > Hello, All:
> >
> >
> > 1. What specifically is the status of instant-runoff voting (IRV)
> > in San José and / or Santa Clara County? I remember having heard
> > some discussion of this at Green Party meetings. I think we should
> > suggest it to Occupy San José. I believe they could easily be
> > persuaded to embrace it. (There is a Wikipedia on IRV. The article
> > looks pretty good to me, but if you say any way it could be
> > improved and would like to discuss changes, please let me know. I'm
> > an occasional Wikipedian and could help you understand their rules
> > and perhaps make the changes you suggest if they also seem sensible
> > to me.)
> >
> >
> > 2. What other issues do we have with the City of San José? I'd like
> > to push them to switch from Wells Fargo to a local-only bank or
> > Credit Union. (I've heard that California state law requires
> > municipalities to use major banks, but I don't know the law on
> > that. If you do, I'd like to know. I think we can get Occupy San
> > José behind a move to change this.)
> >
> >
> > 3. I'd like to encourage everyone to sign up to attend the MoveOn
> > event on Monday, Jan. 9 at the San José City Hall Rotunda and maybe
> > also Mayor Reed's State of the City address, Feb. 9; see below.
> > Comments?
> >
> >
> > Thanks, Spencer
> >
> >
> > -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re:
> > [occupy-san-jose] Re: February 9: San Jose 2012 State of the City
> > Address Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:33:42 -0800 From: Tim
> > Bonnemann <planspark at gmail.com> Reply-To:
> > occupy-san-jose at googlegroups.com To:
> > occupy-san-jose at googlegroups.com
> >
> >
> >
> > Well,
> >
> > It would be nice to come out with our own "State of the City"
> > address, maybe the day before the mayor's:
> >
> > List the Occupy issues and how they apply locally. Dig through City
> > Council minutes to show what if anything they have done in 2011 to
> > address these issues. Mention the "innovative" ways the City treats
> > concerned citizens/protesters and the damage (time, energy, money,
> > lost income, reputation etc.) they've caused with their misguided
> > eviction policy, citations and arrests. Compare current City
> > Council priorities with what would be ours. That kind of thing.
> >
> > This might be a little project we could run over a few weeks
> > leading up to February 9. Maybe involve a broader public (via blog,
> > social media etc.), too. Like that original "We are the 99 percent"
> > Tumblr, a "What's the state of (y)our city?" to capture some of the
> > voices that likely won't be represented at the Feb 9 event.
> >
> > Mayor Reed's past SOTC speeches are here (with video):
> > http://www.sanjoseca.gov/mayor/news/videos/videos_SOTC.asp
> >
> > Tim
> >
> >
> > On Dec 28, 2011, at 11:59 PM, Andrew Fitz wrote:
> >
> >> You gonna mic-check chuckie?
> >
> >
> >
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-- 
Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
President and Chief Technology Officer
Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
751 Emerson Ct.
San José, CA 95126
ph:  408-655-4567
web:  www.structuremonitoring.com

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