Patroklus Murakami wrote:
ThePrincess thinks she was bounced into voting when not prepared, I think I bent over backwards to make sure she had the information she needed in the meeting. The notecard with the amended proposal was available to everyone in the meeting and had been posted on the forums previously.People can read the transcript and judge for themselves. This allegation might be more credible if it weren't being made five months after the event and when NuCARE is under examination for its electoral tactics.
Well, as I recall things, that particular vote was a bit nuts. We had just come off a previous debate where Michel was showboating and pounding on his chest like a little man in search of a balcony. Dnate came in, like a good Chancellor, to try to calm the waters and make a compromise proposal that bridged the gaps. I was not sure that any electoral reform was needed -- but the public seemed to be clamoring for it, so I supported the Dnate proposal on a provisional basis as the safest and least disruptive proposal. There was a lot of procedural strangeness in the hearing -- votes taken out of order; confusion as to whether the vote was procedural or substantive; the whole mad affair screaming for someone to beat us all with a hardbound copy of Robert's Rules of Order. I also recall that ThePrincess, who had not been present the week before, when the lion's share of the debate happened, wanted to read the transcript before voting -- but the transcript was not available until after the session had already convened.
So, while Pat is correct that the actual text of the proposal was not a surprise -- I think ThePrincess is fair to say that she was being asked to vote before she was able to do all the background work that a legislator should do before voting. Specifically, the debate about an issue is critical in making a decision to support it or not. Often, the debate reveals issues or agendas that change (or should change) how a legislator looks at an issue.
I fought to give ThePrincess an opportunity to consider the previous week's debate before voting. I still believe that she should have been given that opportunity. Thus, I will be proposing a rule change on how RA votes are taken to address this problem in the future.
Beathan
Let's keep things simple enough to be fair, substantive enough to be effective, and insightful enough to be good.
