Updates / St. Patrick's Day Parade & Brookside Warm-up

[in...@betterballotkc.org]

Friends --

We're getting down to the wire, but we still have two routes to get ranked choice voting for KC MO races on the June 20 municipal-elections ballot.  One is through quick action of the Council, and the other is through quick action of the mayor. Mayor Lucas told me quite cheerfully last Wednesday that he thought it could be done along with other city charter amendments, but didn't give me the details needed to figure out how. They have technically until March 26 (a Sunday) and practically until March 23 (the last Council meeting before that). 

If it does happen rapidly and requires a hearing, then of course we'll let you know right away. Getting people in the audience for the hearing would really help. At this point, the amount of forewarning won't be lengthy. 

One of the things we can do to demonstrate to the Council how much we want them to act on it is to have many people leafleting the two major parades coming right up - the Brookside warm-up to St. Patrick's this coming Saturday starting at 2 PM, and the main parade on St. Pat's Day itself, the following Friday starting at 11 AM.  Council members tend to be around those parades and could see us. The mayor commented to me last year how much he was seeing us in all kinds of places. 

And of course if we have to go to Plan B - the new council puts RCV on the ballot instead of this one, or to Plan C - the city charter commission that's mandated this year and already in the works - then having people leafleted at the parades will be a major part of preparing for the yes vote. We had fantastic luck at getting signatures there last year; it's a good crowd. 

For the warm-up on Brookside this Saturday, I intend to be at the end of the route at Meyer Blvd. and Brookside with my "Rank the Vote" sign starting at about 12:30 PM. You can see below that the route is fairly small - it's a warm-up, after all - and so it should be easy for anyone to come pick up the leaflets from me and then go to another spot along the way. You can also get lit in advance from my front porch, which always has a supply (811 Cleaver II Blvd.) 

You can just show up, but letting us know in advance by hitting reply would help in planning. 

More about the main parade closer to time, but mark your calendars - it's bigger and we need more people to cover it. 

-- Rachel MacNair

Voice and text: 816-753-2057

[Rachel MacNair]

Friends --

The City Council had a closed-door session for an hour and a half at its regular weekly meeting last Thursday. Were they going over the mayor's proposals for a set of city charter amendments, which would include ours to put ranked choice voting (RCV) on the ballot for city elections? Or were they wrangling over the budget in a way that has nothing to do with us? 

Plan A, to get RCV on the June 20 ballot, at this point relies on them already doing things behind the scenes to make that happen. We've heard enough from them to make that plausible. But if they're not actually working on it now, a rush job is unlikely. The deadline is the March 23 Council meeting. On that date, we should know for sure whether we're in or out. 

But of course we then go on to Plan B - getting the new city council being elected this year to put it on. We've been attending the candidate forums and getting more positive response. Here's the updated page for candidate stances. In addition to adding positions as they come in, we've put the ones that are better for us first, the ones not quite as strong but still good next, and the no-position-yet ones last. We're on track to have a council full of supporters. 

We did show up at the warm-up parade for Brookside as promised, but the rain put a damper on how much we could do. For the main parade on St. Pat's Day itself, this coming Friday starting at 11 AM, the weather forecast looks grim at the moment. Rain makes people harder to leaflet, and cold makes them less amenable.  Currently, sunny that day, but rainy the previous day. It's also forecast to be cold - though more pleasant temperatures ahead of time, so the forecast could change. 

On Thursday evening we'll have a better forecast and make the decision as to whether it's worth doing. I'll send out an email to let everyone know. If we go for it, I'll be at the end of the route at 43rd and Broadway, southeast corner, at around 10 AM, and people can pick up leaflets from me there. We'll spread out to best leaflet the crowd, primarily before the parade starts since of course they want to pay attention to the parade once it gets going. Remember, this also means you get to see the parade.

Meanwhile, everyone who wishes to, please mark your calendar for leafleting people exiting the polls on the April 4 primary. People who just voted are far and away our most productive people to educate. We'll want to do that whether we're on the June ballot or not. We'll be on the ballot eventually, and the more times people have heard from us, the more likely they are to vote yes. 

[Rachel MacNair]

Friends --

The St. Patrick's Day Parade is tomorrow (Friday) starting at 11 AM, but with people gathering earlier. They're ideal to leaflet before the parade comes, of course, since they want to see the parade when it starts.  

Starting at around 10 AM, I'll be at the end of the route, on the southeast corner of 43rd & Broadway, with my RANK THE VOTE sign and plenty of our yellow cards to pass out. 

It will be chilly, so be sure to dress in layers. 

We'd love to have people take a lot and leaflet many, but if you're coming to the parade anyway and want to just take a handful to pass out, then that would also be grand. Every little bit helps. You can also stop by to pick some up for passing around to your friends. The personal touch is way more effective than voters getting a mailer. 

[in...@betterballotkc.org]

Friends --

In yesterday's Zoom candidate forum from the League of Women Voters, not only did the question of ranked choice voting finally come up, but moderator Eric Wesson said it was the question most asked among those submitted by the public. Two second district at-large candidates were there and answered. Jenay Manley gave an excellent response that served well to educate the audience, but Mickey Younghanz said he had only recently learned of RCV and was no fan. We may be able to change his mind on that; it's the first negative response we've gotten from the candidates. 

All but one of the pre-primary forums that we know of are now done, and we covered most of them. That means many candidates have heard about RCV from two or three different people. For your own voting consideration - the primary on April 4 is less then two weeks away - see positions at: 

Candidate Stances on RCV

Meanwhile, tomorrow (Thursday) is the deadline for the current City Council to put RCV on the June 20 ballot. They'd have to introduce the bill, waive hearings, waive further readings, and vote on it right away - the same people who've had plenty of time to do it properly and haven't. So we don't anticipate it, but aren't burning any bridges until the deadline actually passes. 

Look for an email from us tomorrow evening, which will either report that something amazing happened, or explain where the plans are now if Plan A is no longer viable and Plan B (the new city council) is our next step. 

Meanwhile, either way, we need to work on building up the yes vote. The most important will be leafleting voters coming out of the polls on April 4 and June 20, the primary and general city council elections - unlike other crowds where only a portion of people will actually go vote, we know these are the people we most need to reach. 

If you're able to take any time at a poll at all, please contact me so I can get the assignments done.

-- Rachel MacNair

Voice and text: 816-753-2057

in...@betterballotkc.org