American Association of Municipal Executives的动态

This proposal to reduce the number of councillors by Napier City Council is a retrograde step. There is a library full of peer reviewed research and evidence which shows that the fewer the number of councillors - the greater the distance between the institutions of local government and citizens. It is also difficult to see how the focus of council will be enhanced by the removal of one voice! Distant councillors are one of the key reasons why people do not either see the relevance of local government to their daily lives and therefore do not engage in the electoral process. Fewer councillors will only exacerbate these issues. On the plus side, the removal of wards and the election of council at large is a suggestion which is to be promoted - it removes the 'my patch' NIMBY approach too often found in local government.

National politics ebb and flow depending on contemporary circumstances, how parties are perceived, and a general balance of nature. It is unusual for parties to hold sway over long periods of time, so it's helpful to keep an eye on the thermometer to gauge the temperature of the electorate. Governing wrote about the political shift in one county that had been a democratic stronghold to one voting for Trump's reelection. #politics #politicalshifts #politicalbalance #governace #electorate #constituencies #reachingvoters https://lnkd.in/eW6qSe5t

Check out this great and insightful article on the state of B.C. politics heading into the election, from my brilliant colleague Anita Zaenker

It’s Party Conference season again, with the Liberal Democrats being the first conference (of the big 3) to take place in Brighton, running from 14th to 17th of September. As usual, The Terrapin Group will be in attendance. After positive local elections and General Election, this is a great opportunity to meet up with new councillors and MPs, as well as catching up with old friends and acquaintances. Planning and house building will yet again big a major discussion point for delegates at the conference. The LibDems were supportive of high house building targets prior to the General Election, but how are they going to help deliver them in areas where Green (or Grey!) Belt development is still controversial. In the south of England, the map of Liberal Democrat controlled councils stands out as showing how influential they are?in many of the areas tasked with increasing the building of new homes. And even where they aren’t in control, there are many councils where they are a major force in areas of minority or no overall control. Leader Sir Ed Davey, is gearing up for his big speech and?for meeting with many of the jubilant new councillors and MPs. He has already been outspoken about his intent to target even more councillors in the home counties and the wider south of England – hoping to finish the job of their “…demolition job on the Blue Wall”. Developers are rightly excited by the promises Labour have made regarding the planning system and building more homes. However, it would be a big mistake to forget about the LibDems who will continue to have so much influence on proposed developments throughout the south of England. Get in touch if you would like to discuss any of your upcoming development proposals. We would love to help. #publicaffairs #housingdevelopment #consultation #politicalengagement #planningapplication #planningapproval #stakeholderengagement #localpolitics #localgovernment #politicalaudit #communications

A big shift is underway in Australian politics. Many people ask me "Can you explain it to me?" How do we interpret polls like this one from Resolve Monitor?" And the crucial one "How do you think a new party can win seats?" Ok, think of it this way. In the national figures below, there are 34% of people saying they will vote for #Others, with 30% for #Labor and 36% for #Liberal. The vote for #Others (34%) is higher than it has ever been. It is high enough for a #ThirdPartycandidate to win in more than 68 seats out of the 150 in the House of Reps - providing the Green voters (13%) and the One Nation voters (5%) and the Other voters (16%) give their no.2 preference to a #centrist Third Party candidate. This is exactly what happened in the boilover result in #Fowler in Sydney's West in 2022, where a centrist Independent (#DaiLe) was in the race and polled 29% of the vote. Dai Le won with 29%, defeating Labor's #KristinaKeneally (36%) and the Liberal's #CourtneyNguyen (17%). Because Dai Le is a #centrist, the voters for other minor parties in Fowler (6% Greens, 5% UAP, 4% One Nation, 3% LibDems) gave their no.2 preference to her. Normally they would give them to Labor or Liberal, but because Dai Le is a centrist they went to her first. If Dai Le had not been in the field, those voters would have given their no.2 preference to Labor or Liberal as they usually do, and Kristina Keneally would now be on the ALP front bench. But #thanks to Dai Le, that didn't happen. So, what would happen if there is a centrist like Dai Le in #every contest? Well, in 68 seats out of 150, the centrist would win. And remember, this is based on the votes #actually cast in 2022 by voters for various Others. In other words, there were #already enough votes for Others in 68 seats in 2022 for centrist Third Party candidates to win. Had that happened, politics in Canberra would now be unrecogniseable. #RichardMarles, #BillShorten, #ClareONeill and #AndrewGiles would not be in Parliament. Nor would #AngusTaylor or #KeithPitt or #PaulFletcher. #SusanLey would have narrowly survived. All this would have happened in 2022 #without any more votes for Others being needed. All that was required was that there be a centrist candidate in the middle of the field to #attract the no.2 preferences ahead of the majors. Now #consider this. The Resolve Monitor poll figure of 34% for Others today is even #higher than that recorded for Others in 2022. All of which means, that with some serious organisation, upwards of 68 seats can be won by Others in the next #federalelection in 2025. Join #DemocracyFirst today. https://lnkd.in/gB7mz-3d

Nelson takes a narrow minded approach, essentially blaming Calgary for causing the UCP to propose Bill 20. He must work for the UCP. Here is what the Head of Alberta Municipalities has said about Bill 20. see link below The UCP is playing bully politics against all Alberta Municipalities while it takes in unprecedented Royalty revenue. Most, if not all, Municipalities are struggling with infrastructure investments to address population pressures. Why does the UCP declare war on Alberta Municipalities when a cooperative approach would yield a much better result? https://lnkd.in/gfsnwA8E

A poll by the Economist newspaper, of voting intentions in one constituency selected for its recent voting history and a gauge of the expected changes, suggests the Conservating party are facing a massive defeat. ------------------------ "A survey of voting intentions of 448 voters in the constituency of Hartlepool for The Economist by WeThink puts?Labour?on 58%, Reform UK on 23% and the Tories on 10%. In 2021, the Tories won the Hartlepool by-election, with Jill Mortimer elected for the first time in the current constituency’s history." ------------------------ If a massive defeat is the outcome it the Conservative Party is likely to see factions in a pitch battle for control of it, and the number of factions mentioned by several commentators suggest there are between 6-8 based on information provided by those who should know, including former ministers. It would also suggest opposition parties will need to form coalitions if there is to be any effective opposition. Such conditions could prove problematic for the country. At the very least I suggest there is likely to be a period of intense instability to contend with. What are your thoughts? #UKGovernment #GeneralElection #Politics #ConservativeParty

IS IT TIME FOR OUR FIRST PAST THE POST ELECTORAL SYSTEM TO BE REPLACED? With the turnout at this year's general election being the lowest for more than 20 years, with less than 60% of those eligible to vote in 2024 doing so - is it time to consider replacing the first past the post system? The new government has ended up with 63% of the seats in the House of Commons (411) with less than 34% of the 27 million votes cast. That means over 66% of the people who voted, didn't vote for the new government which means a whopping 80% of people eligible to vote didn't either. In my humble opinion that's not a proper mandate to govern this fantastic country. The Alternative Vote (AV) system, often called Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), is designed to deal with this. Australia, for example, uses this system. It is also used to elect the President of Ireland and in many American states and cities. Voters put a number by each candidate, with 1 for their first choice, 2 for their second choice, and so on. They can put numbers on as many or as few as they want. If more than half the voters have the same favourite candidate, that person becomes the MP. If nobody gets half, the numbers provide instructions for what happens next. The vote counters remove whoever came last and look at the ballot papers with that candidate as their favourite. Rather than throwing away these votes, they move each vote to the voter’s second favourite candidate. This process is repeated until one candidate has at least 50% of the votes and becomes the MP. I would be interested interested to hear your opinion, so please feel free to comment on this post and get the debate going. Thank you. #generalelection2024 #generalelection #electionresults #electionresults2024 #generalelectionresults #politics #government #voting #firstpastthepost #alternativevotingsystem #labour #conservatives #liberaldemocrats #reformuk #snp #geenparty #independents #keirstarmer #rishisunak #eddavey #nigelfarage #johnswinney

I urge all Green Party supporters to IGNORE THIS RECENT PLEA from the Labour Party candidate in NW Hampshire to “lend” him your vote. Tactical voting NEVER works and cannot possibly work unless a pact is agreed between competing Parties to unite behind a single candidate and there is complete buy in to that pact. Furthermore, tactical voting pacts are against the policy of both the Labour Party and the Green Party. Of course, I can understand Andy Fitchet’s desire to unseat Kit Malthouse. I share that desire. All polls carry a warning that the figures can vary by plus or minus 5% and there are, currently, many conflicting polls for NW Hants. With some polls suggesting that it is going to be a close race, anyone can understand why Andy would yield to the strong temptation to break his own Party’s policy. My stronger desire is to continue the remarkable growth in the Green Party vote. The momentum is tremendous. We are realistic. We expect to elect at least four MPs in 2024. That is our target. However, EVERY single Green Party vote throughout the whole of England and Wales counts and converts to funding which supports our future election efforts. We can retain deposits of ￡500 per seat, if we exceed 5% of the vote share. Also, every vote reaps ￡1 from Short Money, a policy brought in by Harold Wilson’s government to support the offices of elected MPs from smaller Parties when they walk through those imposing doors of Westminster Palace. Green Party candidates in every constituency aim to increase their vote from 2019 so that, even if not elected this time, the impetus is in the right direction to elect more Green Party candidates next time. If only the people of UK had the courage to vote FOR what they want rather than AGAINST what they don’t want, we could even end up with a more representative government. Imagine that! In NW Hampshire, if you want to vote Green with your head and heart, then please vote for Hina West, Green Party . #VOTEGREEN #GETGREENSELECTED #JUSTVOTEGREEN

This is a good article explaining both sides of this issue. In simplistic layman's terms, an extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is an area outside of a city or town's municipal boundaries that falls under the municipality's zoning authority, even though people living in the ETJ are not able to vote in that city or town's elections. In my mind, an ETJ is tantamount to Regulation Without Representation. While residents of an ETJ do *technically* have representation on the planning board of the municipality in question, and while those representatives are appointed by the board of county commissioners (for whom those citizens *can* vote), in practice they are almost always the people recommended by the town. I have always had a problem with ETJs on principle, and that's why I stand by the original intent of our letter. With that said, I also want to avoid unintended consequences that cause undue harm to any of our cities or towns, which is why I suggested amending the letter as stated in the article below. Finally, I concede that we could and should have done a much better job of communicating with our towns about this issue, and for that I apologize.