BurlingtonPol.com

This pitiful war is now three years old with no end in sight. Even a change in administration won't end it. I'm undecided about the existence of god, but if there is one, he/she cannot be happy.

 

Did anyone see Chris Mathews and Andy Sullivan this morning? If I heard right, blogs/bloggers may be stepping up to the bar, even replacing NYTimes types, as a significant means of comuunication. So Haik, hang in there, peripetetic or otherwise; you are doing us, and your country, a very big favor.

 

Bloggers tend to be as well informed, if not more informed than the mainstream media. I have to admit that I peruse the blogs in the morning to see if there is anything I have missed before I do my morning newscasts. Now, how I would cite a blog in a newscast is beyond me..........(Or would it get me laughed out of the media?)

Haik, yours is one of the better blogs I have seen. Keep up the good work.

Time to ramble on my blog......

The Newsclown

 

I've been enjoy Editor and Publisher of late. If you're interested, check it out. http://www.editorandpublisher.com

 

I have placed a link to "Editor and Publisher" on this site between "Huffington Post" and "Poolitics."

-Haik
Editor and Publisher

 

What do farmers and a viable system of governance have in common? Post you answers near.

 

Each considers manure their greatest tool.

 

I lived in the UK back in '99 and read the Guardian and Independent daily on the bus ride to my class. Both papers are on line, of course, but the Independent charges a fee to see the columnists, so now I usually just check out the Guardian.

Update your bookmarks. The Guardian unveiled a new blog/comment website last week. It is modeled on HuffPo.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/index.html

Comment from the Guardian and the Observer is featured. Readers are invited to react on articles, and their posts are updated during the day. The Guardian is way ahead of other papers for recognising that reader interaction is essential. Don't count on the BFP doing that. They don't even do it in the printed edition, despite what they tell you about 1,000s of letters received. During the fluoride ballot campaign, several of the Safe Water Advocates (of Burlington) wrote LTEs and submissions for the "My Turn" op ed pages, which I know were not published.

 

Don't get me wrong, the Free Press sucks, but I think when they get tons of letters on a particular issue they figure out the percentages and print a certain number based on that. I'll bet they received hundreds on floride and they can't print them all. They don't do much right but I think they're fine regarding letters. They've printed every one I've ever written.

 

I disagree. Years ago, I used to write letters all of the time. I wrote a few that they did not print. One in particular was supporting an issue that they had printed many letters against, but none for. It was as if they wanted to make it look like no one was for this issue. I wonder how many others they refused to print.

 

They also have a rule about people writing one letter per month. Not sure what you meant by "all the time" but if you wrote "all the time"......

 

Switchboard on VPR will be about IRV. Tuesday at 7. Paul Burns from VPIRG will debate Sandy Baird, a Miller supporter.

Did people see Darren Allen's Sunday piece about IRV? Check it out. http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060319/NEWS/603190311/1014

 

I meant once a month. I am familiar with the rules. They didn't print it because they filter their editorial page content.

 

"Switchboard on VPR will be about IRV. Tuesday at 7. Paul Burns from VPIRG will debate Sandy Baird, a Miller supporter."

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check that out.

Just for your information, I am quite sure that Sandy Baird has opposed IRV all along - not just because Hinda lost.

 

Well, tonight on Switchboard it sounded an awful lot like sour grapes. She talked about personal attacks and how the press was against Hinda. Good lord, the press reported about each of the candidates and interviewed fellow employees of each. What they found out wasn't all that favorable to Ms. Miller. Whose fault is that? I'm glad we were made aware of that. It's not an attack. She'll probably get angry and repatriate to Canada.

 

Well, we're not so sure but what IRV may have a few disadvantages. To have a healthy democracy, shouldn't citizens be well-informed and much-involved? IRV is Quick and Easy. Democracy, at least our understanding of it, is not.

Not too long ago, shortly after the Curley-Clavelle meet-up with it's razor thin results, the sitting council, selectively buffered, convened a somewhat under the radar blue ribbon entity to be concerned with the lack of citizen involvement leading to low voter turnout.

It's recommendations? Extended terms of office for the mayor and councilors, with the latters' rotating all at the same time, and the transference of powers from the commissions to the office of mayor. And IRV.

IOW, fewer opportunities for involvement in the voting process itself, and reduced involvement in on-going city management. And a voting process more akin to gaming than ever before.

Never mind that in the early days of the Sanders Revolution, while operating under the 'commission' form of governance whatever it's short-comings, voter turn-out was record-making.

Trouble is, the last we knew those records had disappeared. So much for history, and perhaps, democracy?

 

Right, sour grapes.

 

I didn't agree with lengthening the mayors's term or changing the commissions. I didn't know there were plans to stop stagering council races. That's dangerous.

The thing about the low turnout in Clavelle-Curley '01- it was due to a rediculous snow storm that dumped about four feet. If people used that as a reaon for these changes, then that's wrong.

I was skpetical of IRV, but it seemed to work fine. All this 'gaming' talk around IRV is meaningless bullsh*it. "Gaming" is code for "I'm a wicked sore loser."

The most important reform I can think of is to pay city councilors more and give the council more compensation and a bigger operating budget. I called for that 10 years ago and compensation has since jumped from $500 to $5000 per councilor per year. (I am always ahead of my time and that's usually a painful burden.)

That still leaves a massive imbalance between the resources of the exec. and the leg. in Burlington, but it's a start. I couldn't even use my operating budget to buy a computer when I was on the council. It's a joke. It's like- represent thousands of people, vote on spending a quarter-billion dollars- but do it in your spare time with no help and no money. Look at the mayor's tools, resources and compensation. Can you say "civic imbalance?"

 

There was “gaming” to some extent. (I know of a few things that went on, but I will just speak to what I can prove.) Curley made it known at almost every debate that he would be placing his second place vote for Kiss. How much of a difference did that make? I can’t say. I think Kiss would have won in a traditional run-off anyway.

More importantly there is the criticism that the candidates watered-down their messages, as to not offend the second-place voters. I for one was extremely unsatisfied with the superficial presentation by the candidates.

I love what ‘tis said: “IRV is Quick and Easy. Democracy, at least our understanding of it, is not.” Well said.

IRV is antithetical to Democracy. If you have a problem with the 40% plurality winner, raise the threshold to 50% and hold a run-off. As a fiscal conservative, I almost never support the government spending more money, but for a true democratic process to take place, let’s spend the money.

(Note: I was not a Miller supporter. There was no bubble next to Miller filled out on my ballot in any place. No sour grapes here.)

 

It was no more of a game for Curley to select a second choice than it was for every Democrat in the world to endorse Hinda Miller. If she were a good candidate, she would have won.

 

If she were a good candidate, she would have won.

That is true.

 

The mayoral term should be scaled back to two years. It's common knowledge that it was only extended to accommodate Clavelle's gubernatorial aspirations.

"The thing about the low turnout in Clavelle-Curley '01- it was due to a rediculous snow storm that dumped about four feet."

And the plows didn't visit the NNE until ten minutes after the polls closed. What a surprise.

 

Yes. Let's scale it back to two years. If you have a petition, I'll sign it. Put it to a vote, I'll vote for it. If it's good enough for the governor and the US House, it's good enough for the friggin mayor. Three years is crap.

 

You can listen to the podcast of the Switchboard broadcast about IRV here on the VPR website.

 

I'm on a dial-up. Bill Frist will be finishing his second term before I get to hear it.

 

Hey, man. What happened to open mic III? I want my Mr. T!

 

HAS ANYONE SEEN V FOR VENDETTA?

 

Bring back BP! Bring back BP!