The number of delegates allowed to be elected at caucuses is determined by the voter turn-out. In 2004 we had a record voter turn-out which is why there were so many delegates seats available. In the sixth we had so many delegate seats available we couldn't fill them all at the caucuses. Any one that showed up got one. In other wards there may have been competition for them.
The DFL Central Committee had the choice to allow 50:1 or 25:1 delegates to the city convention. If they had reduced the number that could have attended people would be complaining about being shut out of the process. One of the purposes in proposing the election of delegates the year of the city races was to increase participation at the endorsing convention. Guess that got accomplished. The people who planned the convention used statistics of attendance at past city endorsing conventions to estimate how many would attend. Who would have thought that twice the number would have shown up? There were too many variables at play here to plan for this huge number. It was obvious in every ward that there were more folks than chairs to sit in very early on the morning of the convention. What are you going to do? The convention convenors did the best thing they could. They moved people to the bleachers and ended up accommodating everyone. Ya the bleachers sucked but only because the convention lasted over 12 hours. It was actually easier to manuever around in the bleachers if you were ward or precinct coordinator for a campaign than on the floor where the chairs were all banded together with zipties. I still say 12 hours is too dang long to sit at any convention. I don't care if it's Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie running for office. You either split the board endorsements off from the mayoral endorsement and hold two conventions or just let all candidates run through the primary and endorse after the primary is over. Barb Lickness Whittier Ward 6 "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
