11th Community Council Elections - 2023-2024 Term

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foamy

foamy

Lying liar who lies.
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Welcome, everyone.

It is once again August, and that means it is also once again time for the election of SV's Community Council for the next year. Last year's election thread can be found here.


Council Role

The Council is a unique Sufficient Velocity institution; it is a body, currently of eighteen people, selected from and by our users, to act as their voice and representatives in the administration of Sufficient Velocity. They participate directly in our policy discussions, act as the final stage in hearing appeals regarding Staff actions, and in general provide oversight and guidance on a wide variety of topics. It is an important duty.


Electing the Council

Councillors are chosen every August, and are seated at the beginning of September. Council members are chosen through a two-stage election process, which every user may participate in.

In the first stage, Councillors are nominated for election. Any user may nominate up to five users, themselves included.

The thirty-six users with the highest number of nominations will proceed to the election. They will receive a banner on SV marking them as a candidate for election, be given a matching role on the SV Discord server, and asked to make a short statement, which will be published in a randomized order in the election thread, about why they deserve your vote.

You can join the elections discussion on the same Discord server where we hold Townhalls and other public events. Connect your SV and Discord accounts here to join the official SV Discord and participate. A meet-the-candidates event is planned for the weekend of August 26-27 during the election!

The election itself will be a simple poll. You may vote for any number of candidates; vote for the ones you wish to see on the Council, don't vote ones you don't wish to see there. The top eighteen eligible people will become next year's Council.


Eligibility

In order to be nominated or elected, a user must:

  • Not have declined nomination or election;
  • The account must be more than 120 days old and have more than 40 posts;
  • Not be a Staff member;
  • Not be permanently banned from SV or any subforum thereof (including self-requested ones);
  • And not been banned from seeking election.

In addition, if the user is a Councillor they must have met the activity requirements. Further, to ensure turnover, a maximum of nine (9) Councillors may be re-elected. If more than that place in the top half during the election, the person with the next-highest vote total will move up.


Campaigning Rules

We would love you to talk to your friends about the election, and to encourage them to nominate candidates and vote. However, nobody here's running for a national office, so no slating, vote-stuffing, bribery, or other chicanery, please.


Timeline

Update: Due to RL issues for me there has been some timeline slippage. Dates & times revised:

  • 0000 (midnight) August 14th, UTC-6: Nominations open
  • 2359 August 20th, UTC-7: Nominations close
    [*]0000 (midnight) August 24th, UTC-6: Voting opens
  • 0000 (midnight) August 29th, UTC-6: Voting opens
    [*]Weekend of August 26th-27th, Date & time TDB: Discord townhall with nominees
    [*]2359 August 31st, UTC-6: Voting closes
  • 2359 Sept 4th, UTC-6: Voting closes


Current status:

Nominations are now open! Use the official nominations thread to submit your nominees!

Nominations are now closed! Thank you to everyone who participated.

Voting is now closed!
 
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Mandemon said:
So, since I got nominated against the better judgement of nominators, I guess I should state my platform.

Vote for me, and I shall... do stuff. It might be good. It might be bad. At least I will be consistently inconsistent in my stance.

More seriously, I think most important thing Council needs is consistency. You can't be declining appeals from one user claiming "other guy did it first" and then grant appeal to other when they openly break the rules on the grounds of "Yeah fuck that guy"
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Yes hello reporter Gnosis here reporting for TelevisionTV LIVE in the Community Council Elections Thread

Mr. Mandemon, Mr. Mandemon! How would you accomplish this though, Mr. Mandemon? I think the idea is very good and I'm very interested in if some kind of formal procedure or document or napkin notes or whatever will be used. How exactly it would be implemented?
 
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Gnosis said:
Yes hello reporter Gnosis here reporting for TelevisionTV LIVE in the Community Council Elections Thread

Mr. Mandemon, Mr. Mandemon! How would you accomplish this though, Mr. Mandemon? I think the idea is very good and I'm very interested in if some kind of formal procedure or document or napkin notes or whatever will be used. How exactly it would be implemented?
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I will achieve the matters in the most splendid ways, as long as you do not tire out of waiting! You will find yourself shocked at the most unexpected time in a potential event!
 
No one believes in my CONSPIRACY, and now, it's time to pay the bill ! No more votes ! New system !

(let me find the door that I find another stupidity to say outside !)
 
Fey'lya said:
What's goin' on with the voting? I thought it was supposed to open yesterday?
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Owing to some delays on my part the start of the election has been delayed, but the voting period will be extended. Revised schedule in the OP. Voting'll open on the 29th now, to give the candidates some time to respond and also so that I'm not trying to get things going on a day when I'm going to be absolutely pancaked.
 
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First of all, I want thank everyone who nominated me and the people campaigning for me; I would not be here if it was not for you and I deeply appreciate that. I also want to thank @Susano and @Q99 for their support as current Councilors since they took a chance on my candidacy, for which I am grateful.

I have had a lot of conversations with many users while campaigning and I want to address a few points.

I want to reiterate a clear and unwavering commitment to foster an environment of inclusivity, respect, and fairness within our online community. My vision for the council is rooted in principles that transcend ideological boundaries, and I am here to represent all voices, regardless of their political affiliations or personal identities. A few of you have messaged me about this and I cannot stress that enough.

My goal is to ensure that every administrative tribunal case that comes before me is treated with the utmost fairness, free from any bias that might cloud the path to justice. Each case will be evaluated on its own merits, and I will dedicate myself to upholding the principles of transparency and impartiality.

As a person of color, I am acutely aware of the impact of hate speech and discriminatory behavior on our community. I am committed to taking an aggressive stance against infractions involving hate speech, because a safe and welcoming space for all members is non-negotiable. Our diversity should be our strength, and I will be relentless in my pursuit of a forum where each member can express themselves without fear.

Uniting leftists, liberals, and conservatives might seem like an uphill battle, but I believe that a shared commitment to mutual respect can bridge the gaps between us. I aim to create an inclusive environment where differing opinions are not just tolerated, but valued. By fostering constructive conversations and focusing on common ground, we can rise above division and contribute to the growth of our community. But bigotry of any form will not be tolerated because we must be above that as well.

My pledge to you is that every tribunal will be treated seriously, and every concern raised by appellants will be heard attentively. I understand the importance of being a compassionate listener and a fair decision-maker. You can count on me to uphold the principles of due process and ensure that everyone's voice is given the consideration it deserves.

I am not just here to ask for your votes during the election season. My commitment to the Sufficient Velocity community goes beyond that. I will be an active participant, engaging with you, understanding your concerns, and working to improve the forum in meaningful ways as I have been already. I will not take your trust for granted, and I will strive to earn it each day by delivering on my promises.

Furthermore, I recognize that your votes are not just an endorsement of my candidacy, but a contract between us. I promise to work tirelessly to honor that contract, championing your interests and advocating for positive change within the forum.

Finally, let me address a critical issue, namely staff abuse. I will not tolerate such behavior, and I will not remain silent when it occurs. Holding our staff accountable is vital to maintaining the integrity of our community. Transparency, fairness, and open communication will guide my actions as I work to ensure that everyone, regardless of their role, is held to the highest standards of conduct.

In conclusion, I am a candidate who believes in unity, inclusivity, and justice. I am not just asking for your votes; I am asking for your partnership in creating a Sufficient Velocity that we can all be proud of. Together, we can build a forum that thrives on mutual respect, embraces diversity, and stands as an exemplar of online collaboration.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to the opportunity to serve you on the council.
 
Variable said:
Uniting leftists, liberals, and conservatives might seem like an uphill battle, but I believe that a shared commitment to mutual respect can bridge the gaps between us. I aim to create an inclusive environment where differing opinions are not just tolerated, but valued. By fostering constructive conversations and focusing on common ground, we can rise above division and contribute to the growth of our community. But bigotry of any form will not be tolerated because we must be above that as well.
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I can attest to this. The old Leftism discussion thread was rife with incivility and had frequent staff action. But all it took for the SV-leftist thread take 2.0 to become a place of mutual respect and civil discussion was for Variable to be threadbanned from it. In the nearly five months since, there have been no other threadbans and no staff posts either.
 
Derpmind said:
I can attest to this. The old Leftism discussion thread was rife with incivility and had frequent staff action. But all it took for the SV-leftist thread take 2.0 to become a place of mutual respect and civil discussion was for Variable to be threadbanned from it. In the nearly five months since, there have been no other threadbans and no staff posts either.
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My posts there speak themselves and I do think most users would find those inoffensive, since governments should be able to brook criticism and the Soviet Union did obvious flaws that led to its downfall. Most leftists actually agree with those statements. If you could highlight something actually wrong with my post there, that would be helpful, since any OP in the Corncob forum can threadban and there have been other threads there were staff action was necessary because the incivility and calls to violence you are alluding to.


Besides, I have social democrat and democratic socialist leanings myself, so I have no animosity towards leftism in general.

But I admit I had a personal dispute with the OP and was threadbanned because of it. I would like to be readmitted someday possibly, but I do not know how feasible that is.
 
Derpmind said:
I can attest to this. The old Leftism discussion thread was rife with incivility and had frequent staff action. But all it took for the SV-leftist thread take 2.0 to become a place of mutual respect and civil discussion was for Variable to be threadbanned from it. In the nearly five months since, there have been no other threadbans and no staff posts either.
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Yes, turns out that when you ban anyone who doesn't agree, all that is left is echo-chamber...
 
Mandemon said:
Yes, turns out that when you ban anyone who doesn't agree, all that is left is echo-chamber...
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Again, only Variable has been threadbanned from that thread. No one else.

The paradox of tolerance is very relevant to online communities of any kind. If you allow the intolerant into your forum, thread, discord, chatroom, etc. they will fight against or even crowd out everything and everyone they do not tolerate. Limits have to be set. SV's staff allowed anyone into the old Leftism thread, and consequently those who were intolerant of leftist ideals constantly assaulted the thread and caused endless strife. The new Leftism 2.0 thread, through the example of Variable's banning, set clear limits and boundaries, and has completely avoided the problems the old thread had.

Or to put it all another way, if you never enforce rules and never ban bad actors, you end up with an echo-chamber of intolerant ideals.
 
foamy said:
Owing to some delays on my part the start of the election has been delayed, but the voting period will be extended. Revised schedule in the OP. Voting'll open on the 29th now, to give the candidates some time to respond and also so that I'm not trying to get things going on a day when I'm going to be absolutely pancaked.
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Can we vote more than once, or is it only a one person vote thing? Because this is my first time doing this, and I want to know.
 
Derpmind said:
Again, only Variable has been threadbanned from that thread. No one else.

The paradox of tolerance is very relevant to online communities of any kind. If you allow the intolerant into your forum, thread, discord, chatroom, etc. they will fight against or even crowd out everything and everyone they do not tolerate. Limits have to be set. SV's staff allowed anyone into the old Leftism thread, and consequently those who were intolerant of leftist ideals constantly assaulted the thread and caused endless strife. The new Leftism 2.0 thread, through the example of Variable's banning, set clear limits and boundaries, and has completely avoided the problems the old thread had.

Or to put it all another way, if you never enforce rules and never ban bad actors, you end up with an echo-chamber of intolerant ideals.
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I agree about the paradox of tolerance and I can assure you that I do not subscribe to accommodating extremists, particularly far-right extremists and bigots in the name of mythical "centrist" comity. Ultrackius raised similar rumors and I addressed them.

So I will ask you again, do you feel the posts I made on the thread were offensive?

For reference, these were the only posts I made:

I mean, are people who are not quite as to the left as you'd like really that big a problem than, say, actual fascists and authoritarians? Like, the main reason the Soviet Union failed besides the economics of a command economy was the rank authoritarianism and corruption from the leaders who thought their way of life was infallible and couldn't be told otherwise.

Like, if you have a nice post-scarcity economy that takes care of citizens and a functional social democracy ... maybe that along with encouraging empathy and political engagement is enough.

Any healthy democracy should be able to tolerate criticism as long as that criticism isn't advocating for harming people.
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It sounds like you have more of a problem with capitalists rather than liberals, then.

There's a tendency here to use the term liberal here, which alienates a category of people who you are trying to convince.
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They were civil and not controversial for most people, but maybe you can point out the problem here instead of avoiding the question.
 
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Variable said:
They were civil and not controversial for most people, but maybe you can point out the problem here instead of avoiding the question.
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Picking a fight with an entire thread is hardly civil or uncontroversial. But if you really felt that your threadban was inappropriate, you could appeal to the staff to lift the threadban. Relitigating it here won't accomplish anything.
 
Gears said:
So have you moved on from that entire "leftist cabal" thing then?
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Since the staff is cool with negative campaigning, I need to defend myself here. I will gladly provide evidence that has been provided to me to staff if necessary.

I never phrased it as a "leftist cabal", but I would say that I had disagreements with the Wordsmith users and that has colored interactions here. A few friends in the server and even members who were not initially on good terms with me have said there actually were harassment campaigns that the mods cracked down on there (and showed me the announcement there), so I am less wary of them now. That did happen, though. I am aware that my name and comes frequently there in a negative light and that users have advocated against harm me, both seriously and jokingly.

This is one reason I have been taking this campaign seriously, since I do not want jokes I may make to be misinterpreted.

I do not hate the server, however, and I would to patch things up with users here in the future.

Derpmind said:
Picking a fight with an entire thread is hardly civil or uncontroversial. But if you really felt that your threadban was inappropriate, you could appeal to the staff to lift the threadban. Relitigating it here won't accomplish anything.
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I was not re-litigating it; you specifically came here, brought up the threadban in a manner could be described as trying to dirty up my reputation in this campaign, but apparently could not be bothered to establish whether posts were inappropriate ... which they were not and I was not picking a fight, just offering advice.

You also seem to imply that I will brook intolerance against leftists here ... when I am a leftist, though some have expressed the opinion that social democrats and democratic socialists are not, apparently.

So let's not act like I was the one who brought up the topic.
 
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Variable said:
Since the staff is cool with negative campaigning, I need to defend myself here. I will gladly provide evidence that has been provided to me to staff if necessary.

I never phrased it as a "leftist cabal", but I would say that I disagreements with the Wordsmith users and that has colored interactions here. A few friends in the server and even members who were not initially on good terms with me have said there actually were harassment campaigns that the mods cracked down on there (and showed me the announcement there), so I am less wary of them now. I am aware that my name and comes frequently there in a negative light and that users have advocated against harm me, both seriously and jokingly.

This is one reason I have been taking this campaign seriously, since I do not want joke I may make to misinterpreted.

I do not hate the server, though, and I would to patch thing ups with users here in the future.
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To be quite honest i don't believe any of this truly to the light you portray it. I recall you wanting to run for council because you thought leftist councilors were behind your infraction and the blowup in the UK thread, and you have repeatedly decided to use a large brush in relation to that. I do remember you telling me that "I honestly all I have to say to you and your friends is I made where I stand clear and I'm looking to the next election more so than ever.", and then proceeding to go off on the UK thread again, insinuating your report going through was due to leftists somehow having out of proportion sway with SV staff, saying: "It was being "disruptive". Which meant you and your friends complained to staff and a favorable mod took it up."

I will say, I'm not trying to somehow stir a thousand discussions about discord chats here, as I don't know what goes on at wordsmiths, but i know what you said to me and what you insinuated about me without a moment's notice, and it does not line up with your campaign, and it does not line up with what the council actually does or can do. Perhaps you have... moderated your stance since then, but it does appear you have not moved on so to say.

You'll likely make it into council, a lot of slick talkers do (for better or worse), but i think you'll find it markedly a disappointment, as from your response to my question it's clear you still have some of the same if not all the initial misgivings that caused you to run for council in the first place. I'm not your target audience anyway, but there might be a part of your audience that isn't that aware of what you've been running with, and deserves better then you fainting to a defense about wordsmiths.

I think that's all i have to say on it in it's entirety, so as to not derail the entire thread.

(also for the record, this is not really negative campaigning as AFAIK I am already eliminated by the nomination threshold)
 
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Information: for the love of pete
  • Staff Post
    • for the love of pete
    I'm going to reopen this thread after I make my morning coffee and when I do it's going to continue as a discussion about the election, not some grievance about some other thread. I would like to also reiterate that we try to keep the elections relatively low key so as to minimise the amount of drama they create. Recognising that while the Community Council plays an important role in our wider systems of transparency it is also not the be all end all of forum management, so we like to avoid features that would make it a yearly catastrophe. With that in mind, if you make efforts to elevate your prominence in one of our elections you should not be surprised if that has downsides or if people start to ask questions about your positions and perspectives. The staff is dedicated to remaining as neutral in the election process as is possible, so we cannot protect reputations or privilege candidates. However, that doesn't mean free reign for negative campaigning.

    Just something to keep in mind. Anyway.


    Kingcrusader said:
    Can we vote more than once, or is it only a one person vote thing? Because this is my first time doing this, and I want to know.
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    Voting is handled with the regular poll system, and you can vote for every candidate you like the look of.
     
  • Staff Post
    • Apparently I can't speak to what was previously said, so I encourage users to talk to me directly about it on here and Discord.

    I think who made the cut during the nomination process speaks volumes here.

    I expect further falsehoods and attacks since people are taking campaigning more seriously now, so we'll see how long people follow rules.
     
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    Kingcrusader said:
    Can we vote more than once, or is it only a one person vote thing? Because this is my first time doing this, and I want to know.
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    As Ford said it uses the poll system- you can vote for as many of the candidates as you want.

    You can even, though this is ultimately pointless, vote for all of them, if you really want. It would be pointless because it will have no effect on the final winner, by definition, but you could.

    More relevantly, if you really like the looks of even 34 or 35 candidates, there is no need to limit yourself to the actual council size. You can put your vote forward for as many or as few as you like.
     
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