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Kaliko -> RE: advice neeeded on a protest (6/15/2013 5:12:53 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: pahunkboy
Lucy- to be frank with you- with out facebook- we would have no group. This is how we found eachother - and thru eachother we find even more.
Like I said- we are getting closer to critical mass- I believe in local control. Issues you want for your town- may or may not be appropriate or best for my town. There are a range of issues connected to the current admin on the city AND the county level.
Every meeting I go to I see people speak out- this when a few years ago- maybe 8 people show up. Now it seems the mayor busses in his family so it looks like he is loved- and the news paper cant kiss his ass any harder because the owner of it owns fracking cos, the corruption runs all the way of to the governor.
And you can bus in people, as well. I've seen it done a number of times. Do it for every meeting. But don't be disrespectful.
I'm not in favor of tactics like printing the Mayor's face on posters. What that will do is turn people off who are on the side of the Mayor. You'll only capture the audience you already have.
Where I live, we are nothing if not about local control. I know everywhere is different, so I'm curious to know how the plan was sold to you for just a few cameras but is now at a hundred. In a small town, how does a decision like that change? Who approved the budget to do so? Here, there's no way that would happen with prior public warning and approval. (In the smaller towns, anyway.) Was there notification? Was there a vote? If you're going against a majority vote in your town to approve it, then your gripe is with the people, not the local government. If it was done without making the public as fully aware as possible, then your gripe is with the government. Who do you need to address? (I'm not suggesting you don't know this or haven't thought about it. These are just my questions as I'm thinking about this because this is interesting to me. I know you may not want to get into specifics about it.)
Anyway, petitions (real petitions, not online) do sometimes work but they don't apply the real pressure that a group of people at a public meeting does. And so what if newspapers are slanted toward the Mayor? Write up your own publication and send it out bulk mail to all the residents. Or stand on the street corners and hand them out.
I've seen this a good number of times. Small town revolt against a relatively small decision (in the grand scheme of life) by the government. You can absolutely change this. And having been on the receiving side of the revolt now and again, I can tell you for sure that calm, direct, respectful, and informed discussion, with a show of support by people who have taken the time out to show up at the meeting (even if they don't even talk - if you've got just a few spokespersons) is taken more seriously than hanging posters. And hit them in the budget. Make your case not only for privacy, but money. Necessary expenditure? Was it approved? Were you (the people) lied to? Don't accuse. Just state what happened and why it's wrong.
Assuming it is wrong. :)
We have the ability to put a citizen's petition on the ballot here. Do you have a similar option? Is it too late? Are they already bought? Can you maybe make a case for halting purchase and installation until the people vote on this item specifically?
I know I went down a different road, and perhaps you guys have exhausted all of these types of possibilities already. But I've seen too often a group jump right to protest mode and I think when that happens the group can appear irrational, which will turn people away. There is sometimes a need for attention-getting activism, of course. In my (limited) experience, though, it's easier for small town government to disregard what they would think to be the hysterics of the extremists than to disregard a formidable political opposition.
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