Sonja --
I don't agree that the bill would create "same day voting". The bill says, "next available ballot." I took that to mean "include this on the ballot at the next regularly scheduled election." If this is not what it means, I withdraw my support for the bill. Same day balloting would create severe process problems -- we could have voting every week, which, I think, would be unnecessarily disruptive and annoying to our citizens. We are a representative democracy, first and foremost. It makes sense to temper that with some direct democracy -- but it does not make sense to ask the community as a whole to do the RA's work for us. We members of the RA should do our jobs.
I think that the Green Sims bill is appropriate for referendum, because it tests a policy, not a process or a substantive action of the State. I see referendums as being most appropriately addressed to general questions, not specific proposals.
Thus, if we want a referendum on expansion and growth, I would support "Should the CDS expand by adding sims and attracting new residents to populate those new sims?" We could even ask a series of questions on speed of growth: "Should the CDS endeavor to expand: 1. at a rate of less than one sim per RA session; 2 at a rate of 1 sim per RA session; 3 at a rate of more than 1 but less than 4 sims per RA session; or 4. at a rate of more than 4 sims per RA session?" However, I don't think that any referendum on expansion that addresses questions at a greater level of detail than these is appropriate. Such referendums strike me as political cover for RA members -- not as attempts to obtain real information about the Citizenry's desires about the direction of the CDS.
Beathan
Let's keep things simple enough to be fair, substantive enough to be effective, and insightful enough to be good.
