[Peace-discuss] AWARE Playbook makes News-Gazette Editorial

[Jan & Durl Kruse]

Surprise votes stop referendums

Friday April 11, 2008

If AWARE and other local activists had been more aware, they might not  
have been ambushed at township meetings this week.

Politics, even locally, can be a rough sport.

That's what members of AWARE, a local group of Iraq war opponents, and  
other political activists learned Tuesday when they attended the annual  
meetings of Cunningham and City of Champaign townships.

AWARE members, as well as other groups including Green and Libertarian  
Party loyalists, hoped to use their numbers to put a series of advisory  
referendums on the fall ballot. They did the same thing a year ago, and  
their plan worked well.

This year, however, opposing groups – including Democrats in Urbana and  
Republicans in Champaign – took a page from the AWARE playbook and  
packed the meetings with more of their followers. In both cities,  
opponents voted down most of the proposed advisory referendum  
questions.

It was both an example of democracy in action and raw political power.

The counterattack in Cunningham Township was led by regular Urbana  
Democrats, including Mayor Laurel Prussing. They were energized by  
proposals seeking the public's opinion about establishing municipal  
run-off elections. The regular Democrats also knocked off an advisory  
proposal about whether local municipalities should acquire the water  
system.

In Champaign, employees of the Illinois American Water Co. and local  
Republicans showed up to defeat the water company acquisition issue and  
a question about military torture. An advisory proposal to post  
municipal contracts and expenses on the Internet was approved.

Even if the other issues had made it to the ballot, the votes in  
November are purely advisory and likely wouldn't have much impact. But  
it was interesting to see the muscle-flexing response to AWARE's  
successful political tactics last year.

That, of course, raises a question: who will pack the audience when the  
townships hold their next annual meeting? Township officials may have  
to schedule these sessions in larger venues to accommodate the crowds.
  Find this article at:
   
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/opinions/editorials/2008/04/11/ 
surprise_votes_stop_referendums
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 2600 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20080411/5a9ccb55/attachment-0001.bin