Count me in also for that meeting
Restarting the Social Democrats in Neualtenburg
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- Moon Adamant
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Arranging a Meeting
No problem! I find that I grow more and more pragmatic as I get older. In fact, personally, after this crisis passes I think we need to focus for a while on rebuilding the commercial core of the city. But the faction will be more about what we decide to do together than any one person's ideas. Some questions:
1. I was thinking of Saturday. I assume that morning is better for the people in RL Europe. How about 8 am Pacific / SL time? Or would this be better on a week day?
2. Is the school a good place to meet?
3. I assume the best way to ask for agenda items is to have them IM me or put them on a note card and drop them on me or my listing before the meeting.
Once we have a place and time I will add a new topic. Thanks!
- Moon Adamant
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Re: Arranging a Meeting
[quote="Jon Seattle":1wionzd1]
1. I was thinking of Saturday. I assume that morning is better for the people in RL Europe. How about 8 am Pacific / SL time? Or would this be better on a week day?
2. Is the school a good place to meet?
Thanks![/quote:1wionzd1]
8AM SLT is 16.00 (4PM) in GMT, so it's perfectly ok for me.
About the place, I can also offer my house if need be (everyone will have to rezz their own plywood cube to sit on though... )
- Pelanor Eldrich
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What's the status of the current SDF?
I noticed the library is Cid Jacob's SDF HQ and he has declined a seat...so I guess we'll find out Sunday with the SC who gets the vacated seat and if the faction still exists, etc.
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- Patroklus Murakami
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Count me in too!
Thanks for getting this off the ground Jon, count me in!
Following on from some of the comments earlier in the thread I think we need to focus our attention at the first meeting on:
*agreeing a short set of core values/principles. By short I mean short! Just two or three sentences which sum up what Democratic Socialists are about. I think we should avoid drawing up a long-winded statement that is too laden with RL terms and dogma. Keep it short and sweet or it puts people off.
*saying what we would do for Neualtenburg. What would our solutions be for the current challenges facing the City? I think this is where Claude's DPU scored highly in the recent election (though this was before my time as an N'burger). The DPU spoke directly to citizens' concerns about the way the City was headed. We need to do the same if we're to have healthy left-of-centre input into the development of this project.
- Patroklus Murakami
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Upon further reflection...
First priority ought to be to decide what to do about the (two?) vacant SDF seats on the Representative Assembly. (I should have seen that one, blame it on jet lag!)
Currently, as Diderot has pointed out in the 'Concens over Prioritisation of RA work' thread there is no opposition in the RA. Claude has acted responsibly in response to this by postponing the next RA until we Social Democrats/Democratic Socialists can get out act together.
I must admit I'm torn on how to deal with it. Presumably we could convene a meeting of N'burg SDF members (currently me and Eugene!) and decide on a new faction ranking! I'm not entirely comfortable with people who weren't on a faction list being added after the event though (and need to reread that thread to reassess the arguments).
There are also problems with holding an SDF meeting with Kendra and Ulrika present (they're not citizens for one thing) or holding one without them (it's 'their' faction!)
We may have to settle for leaving the two seats vacant until the next election and requesting that the RA calls fresh elections soon.
These are just some first thoughts, happy to expand here or at the meeting.
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[quote="Patroklus Murakami":2d00f13b]There are also problems with holding an SDF meeting with Kendra and Ulrika present (they're not citizens for one thing) or holding one without them (it's 'their' faction!)[/quote:2d00f13b] If you're a Social Democrat, you may use the SDF as a faction in the city without a problem and even borrow from the old platform. The founders only ask that you uphold the ideals of the Social Democrat, while operating under the banner. Also, it would also be a wise thing to do, given that those operating under this faction would receive 40% of the RA vote.
I think it's great that there's an SD presence in the city still. SDs are like family to me.
~Ulrika~
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[quote="Patroklus Murakami":3k4ztfpr]First priority ought to be to decide what to do about the (two?) vacant SDF seats on the Representative Assembly. (I should have seen that one, blame it on jet lag!)
[/quote:3k4ztfpr]
I think you need to decide on whether you want to be associated with the old SDF or if you want to be considered a new political faction.
In the latter case I don't think you have any say in what happens to the two vacant SDF seats.
Here are the pros and cons of retaining an association with the old SDF in my view:
PROs
1) You will be able to possess two seats in the RA for a month until the election
CONs
1) You will have to be members of an SL group the founders of which are known to be antagonistic against the community and could oust you from the group at any time through a simple correspondence with LL
2) You would be associated with the antics and actions of the founders of the SDF in the eyes of the electorate
[quote:3k4ztfpr]We may have to settle for leaving the two seats vacant until the next election and requesting that the RA calls fresh elections soon.[/quote:3k4ztfpr]
Sadly, I think this is the best alternative available to you. But it may not be such a problem after all. If you start your campaign planning now with a month of focused preparation you will be able to launch one of the best campaigns of the factions. And with the responsibility that is being exercised by the RA in concern over the lack of an effective opposition I am sure that the loss of influence for a period of a month need not be such a great concern to you.
- Patroklus Murakami
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Thanks for your input Diderot, those are indeed the considerations that N'burg Social Democrats (or Democratic Socialists!) need to bear in mind in deciding how to tackle the current situation and the upcoming election.
I have retained my membership of the SDF for the time being because I still regard the SDF as an active faction within the City (albeit with a much reduced membership!) I would like to think that it amounts to more than the creation of its founders or the faction platform that the last election was fought under. I also think it's important that the vacant seats on the Representative Assembly are filled - an effecive opposition is a vital component of a healthy democracy.
The remaining SDF members (and those who wish to join us) could convene a meeting to select replacements for the RA. I've got around to reading the SC transcript and it looks as if the SC have ruled that this would be constitutional - please correct me if I'm wrong!
I think this is a matter to be considered at Saturday's meeting. I would understand if others felt the negatives of being associated with the old SDF outweighed the positives of continuity and participation in the RA though I'd be interested to hear what others views people have.
- Pelanor Eldrich
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Here's what I'd do...
Being a pragmatist I would stay in/join the current SDF in order to have representation and decide whether or not to form a new party after the last RA meeting of the term but before the election.
It's the best of both worlds, and we would appreciate some opposition in the RA. Just my 2 cents.
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- Patroklus Murakami
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As mentioned in another thread, a new political grouping, the Citizens' Social Democratic Faction, was formed in Neualtenburg yesterday by Jon, Gwyn, Moon and me.
In this post I want to clarify what I think the status of the existing SDF is.
The SDF still has a couple of members in the City, myself and Eugene Pomeray. I understand that Cid Jacobs was also an SDF member. I have contacted Eugene and Cid to try to get a meeting of N'burg SDF members together to decide what we should do about the vacant RA seats. My recommendation will be that we should select a candidate (or candidates) from among our number to fill the current vacancies. I think this is important as an effective opposition is an important part of the democratic process, I also feel we owe it to the citizens who voted for the SDF at the last election.
I'll post the outcome of our discussions here.