[b:1gyptjkc]Citizens' Social Democratic Faction Election Manifesto July 2007[/b:1gyptjkc]
In this election the Citizens' Social Democratic Faction stands for getting 'Back to Basics'; we want to fix the basic things the CDS needs to get right to attract visitors to our sims, expand with new citizens and give them compelling reasons to get involved. Our three key themes are "[b:1gyptjkc]Accessibility[/b:1gyptjkc]", "[b:1gyptjkc]Focus[/b:1gyptjkc]" and the "[b:1gyptjkc]Chancellor[/b:1gyptjkc]".
We're standing a proven team with a track record of success. Jon Seattle and Moon Adamant have been instrumental in re-establishing the New Guild and the construction of Colonia Nova; Patroklus Murakami chaired the successful Regional Planning Commission and was the CSDF representative on the RA last term. We work constructively with other factions to develop workable solutions and have achieved most of our proposals from previous manifestos despite having a minority of seats.
We believe that factions seeking office in a democracy should be democracies themselves. We are proud of the fact that, alone among the factions in the CDS, we hold weekly meetings open to all and elect officers within the faction every six months.
[list:1gyptjkc][b:1gyptjkc]Accessibility[/b:1gyptjkc]
[i:1gyptjkc][b:1gyptjkc]1. Expanding Citizenship[/b:1gyptjkc][/i:1gyptjkc]
We want to enable the CDS to grow by considering radical changes to citizenship in ways that enable more democrats to join and raise the funds needed to realise the CDS plans for expansion. For this reason we want to restart and achieve an early conclusion of the Citizenship Commission and continue our own Electoral Reform debate: giving the voters the power to rank candidates as well as faction members.
[b:1gyptjkc][i:1gyptjkc]2. Web presence [/i:1gyptjkc][/b:1gyptjkc]
We will establish a single web portal, owned by the CDS and maintained by civil servants rather than volunteers. We should be truly grateful for the volunteer effort and private web space donated by CDS citizens but it is not appropriate for things to be run this way and, as we've seen when things go wrong, it's not a solution we should rely on. Let's do this professionally instead. Ultimately, we want to have a website which will draw people interested in democracy in virtual worlds into Second Life via the CDS.
[b:1gyptjkc][i:1gyptjkc]3. Government Question Hour[/i:1gyptjkc][/b:1gyptjkc]
We will make the government more accessible through an extra, informal Government Question Hour with at least one government 'official' present each week. These meetings will be open to all CDS residents to come and ask questions. The hours will rotate to suit the RL hours of our community.
[b:1gyptjkc]Focus[/b:1gyptjkc]
[b:1gyptjkc][i:1gyptjkc]4. Events[/i:1gyptjkc][/b:1gyptjkc]
Events are the lifeblood of the community. We would reinstate a budget, to prime the pump and encourage citizens to host events and ensure it is publicised and used.
[b:1gyptjkc][i:1gyptjkc]5. Economics Minister, Foreign Minister[/i:1gyptjkc][/b:1gyptjkc]
We want to focus on the things we need to get right. We would appoint one RA representative to have special responsibility for the economy and another for foreign relations. We need to have government officials accountable for enabling thriving businesses to develop in the CDS (e.g. have more goods, avoiding empty shops) , and for reaching out to other micronations and potential democracies in Second Life and beyond.
[b:1gyptjkc][i:1gyptjkc]6. CDS 'brand' [/i:1gyptjkc][/b:1gyptjkc]
We will develop a brand and new mission statement for the CDS.
[b:1gyptjkc]Chancellor Proposals [/b:1gyptjkc]
We have a number of positive proposals for improving the performance of the Executive. Moon Adamant is our preferred candidate for Chancellor (though this depends on the outcome of the election for the Representative Assembly).
[b:1gyptjkc][i:1gyptjkc]7. Hire a Public Information Officer (PIO) and Promote the CDS[/i:1gyptjkc][/b:1gyptjkc]
This is the top priority for the incoming Chancellor. We need to have someone who will invest time in promoting the CDS. Until a PIO is appointed this will be the Chancellor's responsibility, in collaboration with the RA. The new PIO will make sure that our visitors know they are visiting a democratic community, and have the opportunity to learn about the CDS and join us if they wish to.
[b:1gyptjkc][i:1gyptjkc]8. Access the Guild[/i:1gyptjkc][/b:1gyptjkc]
We want to see a closer relationship between the Executive and the New Guild to capitalise on the evident talent in the CDS. Early priorities would be to oversee the redevelopment of the area formerly known as "Altenburg" and the Schloss, and practical things like independant teleportation buttons near the telehub areas.?In addition the Chancellor should work with the Guild and the Traders' Association and CDS businesses to redevelop the Neufreistadt Marketplatz and improve the Colonia Nova telehub area
[b:1gyptjkc][i:1gyptjkc]9. Transparency on Covenants[/i:1gyptjkc][/b:1gyptjkc]
Covenants exist to preserve the integrity and quality of our sims but there's no real transparency in the way that waivers are agreed to or made. The Chancellor should announce all covenant waivers on the CDS forums so that everyone can see what has been agreed and challenge decisions if they wish to .[/list:u:1gyptjkc]
