beancounters

Only democracy

[click the picture to biggify]

 

I liked this short treatise on democracy, posted by Bye Bye Blackboard, an art project from the University of Oxford.

Wonk out, folks

Yesterday's policy conference was as zany as I expected. Two panels essentially said the same thing, whether the individuals were left-leaning or right-leaning: California's newly-passed February election primary will make Washington sit up and take notice of the state (once again). They kept coming back to this point, because it's new News and all.

Then lunch, with Arnold as our keynote speaker. And he explained how the February primary would make Washington sit up and take notice of Kaleeforneea. So you know it's true.

I wonder, though. It may be true for another few weeks this year. And then Georgia, NY and Florida, among others, will also change their primaries to early February or late January, and California's primary will be lost in the shuffle again.

It makes you wonder exactly what happened that suddenly put this idea into lawmakers' heads, and what creating such a crowded playing field next February will really net us.

It also makes you wonder, as some panelists said yesterday, if the early vote in February will cause voter fatigue and a reduction of (already low) voter turnout in June. I guess we'll have a chance to find out next spring and summer. We policy analysts will put CA (and the other states) under the microscope!

A very good morning, all in all. Sometimes I think the added bonus to attending panel discussions, rather than reading about them later, is the chance to take the pulse of the people in the audience - see how they react to the discussion.

Another nice part of the morning was seeing some of my fellow students, some of whom have graduated or are about to. I ate lunch with Lu and heard about her new career move. We gazed around the hall at the grey heads of directors and leaders. "You and I," Lu remarked, "and all our cohort, will know each other in this town the rest of our professional lives." We glanced around and silently regarded our future. Bring it on!

Recycling reinvention

The city of Rancho Cordova, here in Sacto county, got a new brand and a new logo this month. I mention this because a few special people I know will get a smile.

The city's new catch phrase is "City Life. Reinvented." The Grapevine reports that the phrase was picked by Ted Gaebler, the city manager. Putting aside the contestable use of punctuation, where have we heard the word 'reinvented' before?

In the book that's quite literally "The Book" on alternatives to big bureaucracy, and that Ted Gaebler happens to have co-written.

It's a shame the Grapevine was not clued in on what's obviously a clever inside reference.