An Invitation - Some Thoughts

Well, I am getting some interest in my invitation. Unfortunately, a bad weekend for many. So, rather than lose momentum I will post an item tomorrow on some specifics, and I will email those who responded to my email addy kheris@kheris.net with a location on Saturday. I don't want anyone to lose interest because they can't be there the first time, and I do want to stimulate discussion.

Some ideas to think about:

1 - My focus is on Aldermanic Accountability, which is agnostic as to whose name graces the ward office, or its location.

2 - Much has been said about JoMo's lack of attention to ward affairs, often in generalities. The key to accountability is objective and measurable standards. I believe we have some to work with:
a) Crime - index or non-index, is it trending down? Toni posted the CAPS 2422 arrest data and it appears to support what has been claimed elsewhere - crime moves out of sight of the blue lights.
b) Vacant buildings - are they secured? Is the number rising or falling?
c) Businesses - how many are closing, how many are opening, what kind of businesses and where are they locating?

That's just 3 items, and by no means the totality of possibilities. But what would we consider evidence of positive performance by the alderman? What does it look like and can we describe it in measurable terms? The same goes for failing performance. What are the key indicators to focus on? We also need a baseline to begin measuring from, and I would suggest starting with 2006 and moving forward.

I know there are web sources with a lot of data points that need to be organized into useful information. I can use my website to host once the data is organized, but we should also point people to those sites if they wish to look at and study the data on their own. Hugh's many posts gave me resources to look at, but are they all that is out there?

This is not something a fully employed person can do all alone, unless they have no life save a cyber life, and that is not anyone I have seen on the RP blogs. It will need a commitment from whoever wishes to participate to share the load, once we define what it is. And for a definition of commitment, consider the typical eggs and bacon breakfast. The chicken 'buys in' to the breakfast. The pig makes a 'commitment'.

More later.