Brian Hsi

Explore drafting a new city charter for Seattle (read all 2 entries…)
putting the service back in public service 4 years ago

elections for city council seats were done like juries? that is, there are say 3 open seats, and for each of the seats, a certain number of people are randomly selected to run for that seat. each of the potential candidates gets a lump sum of money to spend how they want to on the campaign. come election time, the voters decide among the candidates.

experience and interest are not a pre-requisites, and actually, i think it would be better. I’d rather have a person who is ambivalent to the notion of government running the show rather than someone who has a personal, political, or otherwise biased interest in the decision making process.

too much to at stake on the city council level from the get go? how bout we start smaller and make participation on neighborhood councils then like the jury system. get people into the notion of governing on a very local level, and work your way up from there.

Oct 25, 2005, 09:22AM PDT


Comments:

Josh Petersen Making new year's resolutions

Some I like, some not

I’m really not a fan of elections. I like lot. Why not just select the representatives out of the pool – and skip the election. I am however a fan of filtering up. Start with small stakes local councils and graduate public servants up to the higher lottery pools.

For me, this idea of turning public service into a non-professional citizen activity is at the core of charter reform.

Oct 25, 2005, 09:35AM PDT | Respond to this

Mark_Griffin

What kind of limitations would you put on it?

A 96 year old woman, who is hooked up to a respirator and shows severe cases of dementia. A released level 3 violent sex offender. A Christian fundamentalist who believes the Bible should be taken literally and be used as a guide to govern. Do we differentiate between them and your neighbor (or perhaps one of those descriptions applies to your neighbor :-).

Lets say you do get a good person in office, do they get to run again?

I hate to say this, but there are some less than clever people out there. Could having the wrong person in power have an extremely negative impact on this city if they continually make bad decisions?

Oct 25, 2005, 02:13PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

Josh Petersen Making new year's resolutions

These are your neighbors

Honestly, your examples are pretty rediculous. I suggest we select representatives of our city who want to serve. You suggest the most unrepresentative people you can think of who shouldn’t serve. But sure, if these folks live in the city and are registered voters and wish to serve the public, they ought to have the same civil rights as anyone else. The chance of getting a 30 person council full of these sorts of people is basically zero unless you have a city of these sorts of people.

I think again, you are missing the bigger point. I think we have the wrong people in power today. They are having a very negative impact on the city.

Democracy has been a hated form of government by many who feared allowing the unwashed masses to have power. The same sort of arguments you’ve made against fundamentalist christians, crazy old people, sexual deviants, as to why we shouldn’t have our neighbors randomly chosen to serve have been used to keep the franchise out of the hands of women, former slaves, ex-criminals: because they lack the necessary mental capacities to form independent political judgements. There is a name for that sort of attitude, and it is prejudice.

Oct 26, 2005, 08:24PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

Mark_Griffin

However

As you noted, the people who would be serving are the ones who WANT to serve. In other words, it won’t be representative of the overall population as many people will choose not to serve. The small business owner likely doesn’t have the time to serve, nor does the full time professional, or the guy on the assembly line. Many of those careers won’t allow for them to be away for 1/4-1/2 the time and maintain their position. Many professions require a person to be available at anytime.

The people with the most time on their hands will be the ones most likely to run (as well as those who are making the least, as it might be a pay increase).

Perhaps this concern is one that shouldn’t worry anyone, or maybe there is a method for ensuring that those who volunteer are representative of the city at large. But if you are basing the participation soley on those who volunteer, then there is a possibility that the volunteer group will not be representative of the city as a whole.

Oct 28, 2005, 05:03PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

Josh Petersen Making new year's resolutions

Yep

This is like saying the people who want to vote aren’t representative of the populace, since they are part of the near minority that bother to do so.

Why is this goal on your list when you seem so contented with the status quo?

Oct 28, 2005, 06:52PM PDT | Respond to this

(This comment was deleted.)

Nov 02, 2006, 05:18AM PST


 

I want to:

The world wants to...

stop eating meat give up fast food adopt see a unicorn learn chinese watch all episodes of the office Visit all of the provinces and territories in Canada be a good mother Scott wants to go birdwatching Go to sleep earlier. apply to grad school Lose 20 pounds Learn Objective-C start a list of things that make me happy; finalize that list and make a book out of it roller derby Learn to play the guitar georgina131 wants to learn Mandarin Go to Woodstock 1969 go on a road trip with no predetermined destination go to massage therapy school go to a PANIC! at the disco concert control my temper find someone who loves me for who i am thrillofthechase wants to organize my photos move out stop eating late at night learn accounting draw more often
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