From: Annie Young <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

I don't believe political parties are the same type of non-profit or
citizen participation programs that Barb is referring too. Tim, you are
mixing apples and coconuts here.
No, I don't think so. The people who were posting about this were specifically comparing decisions made by the NRP boards vs. the City Council, and arguing about which is more democratically elected and which has better participation. So comparing the number of people participating in City Council Elections vs. NRP Board elections is quite relevant.
For an example, look at 2 recent events covered on this list: the Prospect Park NRP board reported an exceptional turnout of about 250 people -- that is about 3% of the neighborhood. But the Ward 3 special election, held at an odd time of year and in the midst of a snow emergency, had 16% turnout -- about 5 times as much as the PP NRP meeting.
So if you are going to claim that NRP is somehow better or "more democratic" than having the elected officials do it, you have to address this issue, not just dismiss it.

P.S. My Aunt Hazel used to make a salad that involved mixing apples and coconuts and several other fruits; I never saw anything wrong with that; I always thought it was pretty good!



And how soon we forget the Rapson, Belton convention.
How soon--? That was 1993 - ten years ago! There is what, 20%? of our city population that wasn't even born yet when that was held!
And it included a few others besides Rapson & Belton, like Richard Jefferson & Steve Cramer.




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