By Rob Wasserman
Published April 15th 2004 in The Argonaut
"Stakeholders will affirm by signature at the time they request a ballot that they meet the criteria to be a stakeholder and the reason why they hold a stake in Venice (live, work, etc.)."
To prevent the Grass Roots Venice council from a repeat of last year's stalemate of the Neighborhood Council conducting business after election challenges, the board approved the following amendment:
"Board members shall remain in office past the July 1st expiration date for their terms if newly elected board members are not seated by then due to election challenges."
The board also voted to split the Communications and Outreach Committee into two separate committees.
The Communications Committee will be chaired by the communications officer and the Outreach Committee will be chaired by the second vice president.
STAKEHOLDERS,
PROPOSED BYLAWS —Venice resident and business owner Robert Feist told the Grass Roots board Wednesday that he had a stakeholders' petition with more than 100 signatures and a draft of those stakeholders' proposed bylaws changes that Feist wanted the board to discuss and act on.
The board did not discuss or act on the Feist petition or the stakeholders' proposed bylaws except to say that several changes the stakeholders proposed, the board proposed as well.
According to Feist, under the group's bylaws, Venice stakeholders may petition the Grass Roots board to change any existing bylaws by submitting a petition with at least 50 signatures and a draft of the proposed changes.
The board then has between 30 and 90 days to convene a special election meeting to let Venice stakeholders vote on the bylaws changes, according to Feist.
The vote requires a two-thirds majority for passage and is only open to those present at the special meeting, according to Feist.
One major difference between the stakeholders' petition bylaws changes and the board's bylaws amendments is the definition of a stakeholder.
"I feel that stakeholders should live, work, or own property," said Feist.
The board definition of a stakeholder includes living, working, or owning property in Venice, but includes persons having "active and regular participation in organizations, institutions, or branches of those organizations and institutions that are based in Venice."
The bylaws proposed in the stakeholders' petition would also have eliminated absentee balloting, which is accepted under the bylaws.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.