[GPSCC-chat] Exercising Leadership

[Spencer Graves]

On 8/20/2013 10:47 AM, Wes Rolley wrote:
> On 8/20/2013 7:45 AM, Drew wrote on the GROW email list:
>> So I'll say it again: these are not legit FB pages, certainly ot for our
>> (Santa Clara) party.  Marnie needs to hand over admin rights to the
>> respective councils and this exercise in unGreen centralization should
>> NEVER be repeated.
>>
>> Green is DEcentralized!
>>
>> Drew
> It appears that the concept of Green Party Leadership is an oxymoron.  
> Whenever anyone understands a need for actions, and then takes the 
> steps to make that action possible, they are accused of being 
> un-democratic.
>
> My real worry is that those who live at the grassroots of the party 
> become so driven by the news of the day that then never step back and 
> think about what needs to be done and how to make that happen.   
> Rather than standing on the decentralization soapbox and castigating 
> someone who had the foresight to take step 1, maybe the best approach 
> is to say ... "Thank you for getting this started.  We really needed 
> it.  Now, how do we keep it working." Unless, of course, you don't 
> think it is needed.
>
> Drew, as worded, your comments appear more like a power grab than an 
> offer to help.   It could be interpreted as saying that you want to 
> take over so that you can make sure that it dies.   If you were to 
> introduce a motion for the Santa Clara County council to the effect that:
> - Having a local presence on facebook is an important part of our 
> success and wishes to thank Marnie Glickman for getting that started,
> - The County Council recognizes that importance and are wiling to 
> allocate the time and energy to maintain the minimal administration 
> duties.
> - The County Council will make the effort to ensure that interested 
> people in Santa Clara County have the opportunity to participate in 
> the group,
> - and we formally request that Admin duties be transferred to a person 
> designated by the county council.
>
> I am sure that Marnie will be more than happy to make that happen.
>
> Exercising Grassroots Democracy means taking responsibility for 
> action, not just leading yet another demonstration. 


       I agree with Wes:  I once heard someone say, "I'm not a member of 
any organized political party:  I'm a Democrat."  We need to assume good 
intentions on the part of all -- even when we perceive evidence to the 
contrary.  A seminal study of twentieth century revolutions found that 
the successes were all a product of defections, and people are more 
likely to defect if they are treated with respect (effectivedefense.org 
-> "violence and nonviolence").  Ya catch more flies with honey than 
vinegar ;-)


SANDY:  Can we allocate a few minutes to discuss this issue (the 
Facebook account for the Santa Clara Greens) at our meeting this 
Thursday?  I'd be happier if someone else did it.  However, I'm willing 
to do it under the same rules I use to maintain our primary web page 
(www.cagreens.org/santaclara <http://www.cagreens.org/santaclara/>), 
where I only act when someone requests it.  The last request was in 
mid-July, and the page still announces our July meeting and two other 
July events.  That's mediocre but better than what we had before I 
started doing this ;-)


       Spencer


> -- 
> "Anytime you have an opportunity to make things better and you don't, 
> then you are wasting your time on this Earth" - /Roberto Clemente/
>
>
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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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