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

Fri Dec 30 17:44:01 PST 2011

You're asking for a lot here, Spencer. It would be worth considering how well
the arcane topic of electoral reform fits with, or how it would be received
by, Occupy participants. Election systems is a topic that appeals mainly to
policy wonks and math geeks interested in voting systems. Everyone else falls
asleep when you talk about it.

An article introducing the topic is appropriate. A 1-hour presentation seems
way overboard. Most IRV presentations are 20 minutes. But you have to have an
audience that really wants to learn about this, otherwise you'll be talking to
room of sleeping people.

Are you asking for someone to deliver a truckload of brochures, or do you want
a master to print from?

What are the MoveOn and State of the City events and would IRV be an
appropriate topic for them? These are rhetorical questions implying that you
don't just throw IRV at any audience and hope it sticks with them.

All that being said, I'd like to work on an IRV introductory article. In
addition to introducing the concept, I'd like to explain how IRV could turn
Prop 14 (non-partisan primary) from a disaster into an improvement.

There are many IRV brochures available. It's a matter of determining which one
will appeal to Occupy.

Your other requests need more discussion.

Jim

On 12/29/2011 11:52 AM, Spencer Graves wrote:
> 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
>