The CSDF held an election special meeting on Thursday 12 July to explain our manifesto to the CDS electorate and answer questions. Thank you to everyone who came along.
I've tidied up my comments by correcting my spelling mistakes ('teh' etc) in order to improve legibility. The original, unedited transcript is available on request.
The transcript follows:
Meeting on 2007-07-12
Those present:
Patroklus Murakami is in the chair.
Arria Perreault has indicated consent to be recorded.
Jon Seattle: Welcome everyone, we will start in a minute
Dnate Mars has indicated consent to be recorded.
Gxeremio Dimsum has indicated consent to be recorded.
Patroklus Murakami: pls touch the recorder to indicate you're happy to be recorded. we'll post a transcript on the forums so other ppl who can't make it can read the chat log
Jamie Palisades has indicated consent to be recorded.
Nikki Maertens has indicated consent to be recorded.
Jon Seattle has indicated consent to be recorded.
lufpleh Obstreperous has indicated consent to be recorded.
Gxeremio Dimsum: Hey if I could put in a quick plug before the meeting - if you're interested in seeing US presidential candidate John Edwards come into Second Life, join the Eventful competition - http://eventful.com/performers/P0-001-0 ... ompetition
Jon Seattle: Lets begin. Welcome evevery one to the CSDF meeting. This is a special open meeting
Jon Seattle: Our meetings are held every week at this time on Thursday, and are open to everyone
Jon Seattle: So I hope some of you will also come to future meetings.
Jon Seattle: Let me introduce our representitive in the RA, Pat Murakami
Jon Seattle: He had done a wonderful job representing us and the program of our party
Patroklus Murakami blushes
Jon Seattle: Also, as you will find out many of the CSDF members are involved in other imporant projects in the CDS
Jon Seattle: Pat is also the founder of the CDS traders
Jon Seattle: A very important group as we go forward
Jon Seattle: Let me hand the floor over to Pat
Patroklus Murakami: hi rose, welcome 
Patroklus Murakami: ty jon
Jon Seattle: Hi Rose
Rose Springvale: hello, thanks
Arria Perreault: Hi Rose
Patroklus Murakami: this meeting is as much yours as it is ours
Patroklus Murakami: i don't have a prepared speech
Patroklus Murakami: but i will lay out our basic principles and programme in this election
Patroklus Murakami: pls feel free to jump in and ask questions at any point
Patroklus Murakami: jon will keep order and shut me up if i talk too much!
Moon Adamant: hello all
Moon Adamant hugs Jon
Jon Seattle hugs moon
Arria Perreault: Hi Moon
Jon Seattle: Hi Moon
Rose Springvale: hello moon
Patroklus Murakami: our fundamental approach to this election is to get 'back to basics'
Patroklus Murakami: we think a lot is right with the CDS
Patroklus Murakami: but there are a number of basic issues which we need to nail
Patroklus Murakami: and some fundamental quesitons to answer so we can grow and prosper
Patroklus Murakami: we've arranged our proposals around accesssibility, focus and the chancellor
Patroklus Murakami: because our democracy needs to be accessible to its citizens
Patroklus Murakami: we need to regain the focus on the key issues
Patroklus Murakami: and we need a fully functioning executive
Patroklus Murakami: our proposals are practical steps we can take
Patroklus Murakami: while avoiding talk for its own sake, and stressing action
Jon Seattle: Hi Liviagusta
Liviaugusta Messmer: Hi
Arria Perreault: Hi Liviagusta
Liviaugusta Messmer: Hi
Patroklus Murakami: on accessibilty we want to conclude the citizenship commission begun by mizou vavoom in the last session
Liviaugusta Messmer: May I have a seat?
TOPGenosse Lundquist: wow, crowded
Patroklus Murakami: we think it's time to consider a radical change to citizenship so that more and more democrats can join us
Moon Adamant: sure, seat on teh pillows, tehy have teh sit targets
Jon Seattle: Libaugusta, yes please
Jamie Palisades: wow, TOP, um .. wow
Patroklus Murakami: we also want to establish a single web portal so SL citizens (and the wider world) can find us
Jon Seattle: Have a seat top
TOPGenosse Lundquist: ty
Patroklus Murakami: and we would set up a government question hour where citizens can come and quiz government oficials
Patroklus Murakami: any questions on those points before i move on
Patroklus Murakami: ?
Dnate Mars: What kind of questions would you be expecting form people?
Patroklus Murakami: (my fingers are tired now!)
Dnate Mars: for the government hour
Gxeremio Dimsum: DO you have a particular change in mind to citizenship, or just to get the commission to come up with a proposal?
TOPGenosse Lundquist: Is this about the 1st 3 points?
Rose Springvale: have you looked at budget implications regarding web presences?
Patroklus Murakami: anything and anything Gx. anything ppl want to know
Patroklus Murakami: it's about accountability
Patroklus Murakami: sorry, that was an answer to dnate
Jon Seattle: Rose, actually I know the prices for web presences well
Dnate Mars: but won't different people from the government have different answers for the same questions?
Rose Springvale: so you think there is money in the current budget for that jon?
Rose Springvale: or aer we looking at raising fees?
Jon Seattle: Rose, web hosting can be quite inexpensive and we have several professional web-designers in the CDS (among others myself). I think we should be able to do quite a nice job within a small budget
Patroklus Murakami: well GX, on the citizenship commission, we haven't come to a final decision. i think we're supportive of a much wider definition of citizenship that would allow ppl to join us without owning land. but we must consider all the implications - there have to be safeguards for existing landowners for example
Rose Springvale: jon... i agree.. but wasn't that one of your points.. not to rely on volunteers but to be more professional?
Jon Seattle: For example, the CSDF web site was hosted for under five dollars US so far.
Patroklus Murakami: rose, the current web space is 'donated' by volunteers. that's not a good situation, as we've learned to our cost
Jon Seattle: Rose, the CDS should rely on volunteers when that is the best approach.
Jamie Palisades: Pat if the website is a topic - as a happy but casual citizen here, it seems to me I must chase down a lot of Forum posts and meeting transcripts etc to follow things. A bit daunting. Any hope on that front?
Jamie Palisades: seems like it's as much or more about organization than, er, website fees
Patroklus Murakami: for example, much of Neufrestadt was built on 'volunteer' labour. we spent a long time attempting to clear up IP issues on the back of that. the upshot was the Ulrika-quake when half the city was deleted
Rose Springvale: my issue with volunteers is that when we wait for them to provide us with their skills and talents, which we do have in abundance, sometimes, we end up paying premium prices to meet deadlines
Patroklus Murakami: we need to make things simpler for new citizens
Rose Springvale: lol./ and old!
Jon Seattle: Well, having a CDS-owned we site would isure that it will continue as long as the CDS does. It can be risky to rely on a single individual -- even though the web site owner is very relyable
Jon Seattle: Rose, I disagree
Rose Springvale: only speaking from my own experiences jon
Jon Seattle: For example, Colonia Nova was very well done with volunteer work. There are cases where it is better to hire outside people, but we need to be careful not to take away from our community in the process.
Patroklus Murakami: jamie, good point:) i think that's what the RA and SC archivists are supposed to do. but we should consider how to make the public face of the CDS government easier to access. a history section would be a good idea along with a current issues section
Jamie Palisades: it seems, Pat, a little opaque, albeit not deliberately
Jamie Palisades: ah - on that front remind me to ask what you folks think of CDS citizen referenda
Patroklus Murakami: ok, if i move on? we should try to keep to an hour, i'm sure many will want to attend another *ahem* meeting later
Jon Seattle: One point I would like to make.. its not only the end-product that matters when we work on projects together as a communuty. We build skills, we learn to work togerher, and often we may have fun accomplishing something.
Patroklus Murakami: jamie, we're opposed to referenda . i introduced a bill to enable referenda a year ago. the RA was totally unable to come to a consensus on the tricky issues it throws up
Patroklus Murakami: instead, we developed the idea of commissions, these have been better at really engaging citizens and developing ideas for the RA to consider
Patroklus Murakami: referenda are a really blunt instrument and tend to keep things the same rather than enable radical change
Jamie Palisades: and , w respect, do not tend to be liked by seated legislators
Moon Adamant: the thing is that through comissions, there is a possibility of building compromises
Patroklus Murakami: well, i think they sit badly with a representative democracy
Rose Springvale: i'm a bit confused by the use of terms, can you give me an example of how referenda might or might not be used?
Gxeremio Dimsum: so does the csdf tend to support the current system of voting for parties, which choose their own slate of candidates?
Moon Adamant: referenda do not allow for compromises, they factionalize the community around one question
Rose Springvale: but when the question is simple, isn't that good?
Nikki Maertens: A referendum could be used for major decisions, like a new sim or structural alterations of the government.
Moon Adamant: ah, but you see that referenda are always held for complex questions lol
Moon Adamant: and nikki, we have mechanisms for public consultation for those
Jon Seattle: Gxeremio, Pat has some interesting proposals along those lines. I would like to say though, that I would rather not have our elections become a popularity contest.
Moon Adamant: look at the iterative process that was developed for the sim contest
Patroklus Murakami: Gx. we favour voting for parties so we can focus on issue not personalities but we introduced an electoral reform proposal to allow voters to choose between all the candidates
Gxeremio Dimsum: Doesn't personality matter in a representative government?
Patroklus Murakami: well, our proposal would allow everyone to choose between the candidates so it would meet that need GX
Gxeremio Dimsum: I'm curious about details on that proposal.
Jon Seattle: Gx, its not as if we do not know who the candidates are, but we should be reaching for more than that.
Dnate Mars: I don't think this is the place for that discussion...
Patroklus Murakami: but we want to preserve the faction system, that has led to 'issue' politics rather than cults of personality (for the most part )
Jamie Palisades: That WAS a great process Moon. And referenda are an issue on which reasonable political theorists differ I think referenda often become an issue *when* there are questions about legislative agility , speed and responsiveness ... perhaps the better question is this. As Jon, said we get benefit here from collaborative community building here - more perhaps than Desmond does elsewhere. But post-Kendra here, versus there? Apparently there are some growth benefits to less - um - thoroughly and painstakingly collaborative methods? Has our balance been in the right place, this past year?
Patroklus Murakami: i want to move on to focus, if i may?
Jon Seattle: yes, please
Gxeremio Dimsum: SO the answer on electoral reform is, "we have a plan, but don't want to talk about it"?
Patroklus Murakami: we think that events are really key in the CDS in order to draw ppl in and create a buzz aroudn the place
Patroklus Murakami: GX, there's a full proposal on the forums, i'll get u the link later
Patroklus Murakami: we want to introduce a budget for events and publicise it to prime the pump
Rose Springvale: wasn't that done?
