by Skeptikos | Nov 12, 2011 |
I talked to a few Manchesterites last week who are working to relaunch the Free Manch blog, which has been abandoned for a long time. I’m excited, and I want them to be successful. So, to help motivate people to make this happen, here are 4 good reasons that every liberty activist in Manchester should want a well-maintained blog:
1) Attracting new movers.
The Free Keene blog has attracted all sorts of liberty activists to New Hampshire. (Myself, for example!) It does an excellent job of showcasing local activism, and gives liberty-lovers elsewhere a taste of New Hampshire. In my judgment, this is the biggest reason that Keene is a hub of libertarian activism, rather than just another small NH city.
From what I’ve heard, there’s plenty of activism in Manchester– but it doesn’t seem that way to the rest of us, because there’s no good blog to present it. How many more people would move if they were aware of Manchester’s activism? (more…)
by Skeptikos | Nov 8, 2011 |
The Sentinel has posted the voting totals:
Philip Dale Pregent, who did not run for re-election as mayor, was the top vote-getter with 1,522 votes; he was followed by incumbent Kris E. Roberts (1,256), incumbent Ruth R. Venezia (1,045); Carl B. Jacobs (925) and David Meader (721).
They bested Joseph W. Bendzinski (668), Robert B. Sutherland Jr. (645), Steven W. Lindsey (594), Dorrie Faulkner O’Meara (429) and Heika Courser (208).
I am surprised by some of these results. I was using the results of the primary to predict the results of the general election, expecting that the vote totals would be roughly proportional in both cases. This was largely true, with two glaring exceptions.
Steve Lindsey (endorsed by me) did worse than predicted. Bob Sutherland (endorsed by Ian) did better than predicted.
Lindsey has suggested that the order of names on the ballet would depress his vote total. (The order of the names is decided by performance in the primary, with highest vote-getters at the top. Since Lindsey tied for fifth in the primary with David Meader, the order of the two was decided randomly. Meader got the fifth spot, and Lindsey the sixth.) If ballot ordering was the cause, then that hit him particularly hard, costing him over one hundred votes.
At the moment, I have no theory to explain Sutherland’s strong performance.
I want to know what’s driving these two exceptions. It would be helpful to have a more accurate model for future elections.
by Skeptikos | Nov 8, 2011 |
Ward 2 incumbent Pam Slack, who has had a contentious relationship with liberty activists over the years, lost the election tonight to Bettina Chadbourne.
You can see Bettina’s candidate profiles at the City of Keene’s website and the Sentinel.
Congratulations, Bettina!
by Skeptikos | Nov 7, 2011 |
City council elections are tomorrow. Most readers already know that Free Keene blogger Heika Courser is running.
But there’s another reason to show up at the polls: Steve Lindsey.
Steve Lindsey is the most libertarian state representative from Keene (beating six other state representatives). He is not a liberty activist, but he is generally on friendly terms with liberty activists. And he’s this close |-| |-| to being elected to city council.
There are five city council seats at-large. In the primary election, Steve tied for fifth place with another, less libertarian, state representative, David Meader. (Surprisingly, I have never met David Meader, so I won’t judge his friendliness.)
Steve’s views are hard to pin down. Left-leaning, and civil libertarian, but very eclectic.
This election will be very close, so every vote counts. The outcome tomorrow will determine the character of the council for the next two years, and could mean the difference between success and failure in future activism. I hope you will consider helping our friend Steve. See voting info below
by Skeptikos | Nov 5, 2011 |
This is a little late, but the video of the Municipal Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee meeting, addressing disorderly behavior in Central Square, is available online, courtesy of Cheshire TV and the City of Keene. (The City of Keene has been working, successfully, to make local government more accessible. The video requires Microsoft Silverlight to play, which is frustrating, but a lot better than no video at all. [Update: Steve, a computer whiz, says you can also play it with VLC media player. Download the relevant program at the link.])
See the Video and more
