For the past six months, my Massachusetts city has been preparing for a special vote to override the state statute known as Proposition 2 1/2. Among other things, Prop 2 ½ limits increases in municipal property tax to 2.5% annually. I know I don’t have to explain to this audience why an override is necessary periodically, but it’s summed up nicely in these two sentences from the Wikipedia article:
A side effect of Proposition 2½ is that municipality income will decline in real terms whenever inflation rises above 2.5%. Historically inflation has been above 2.5% for a significant majority of the years since 1980 (22 out of the 28 years to date), thus resulting in a real decline in local tax rates and local spending ability.
To put things in perspective, my town hasn’t passed an increase since 1992, and the last override attempt was in 2015. The consequences of this vote failing are massive… from drastic cuts in our school system to loss of our public library accreditation, cuts in services to seniors, and even less public works spending that we do now. And yet, there’s a vocal opposition offering the expected commentary of “TOO MUCH!” and “FISCAL MISMANAGEMENT!” and “NO!!!!!!!”, but with no suggestions on how better to proceed. While it isn’t breaking down on strict party lines, you might imagine there’s a… trend. As you’d expect I’m firmly in the YES camp, and have been active because y’all have trained me well that we can’t simply say what we stand for, we have to get our boots on the ground working for it.
The election is on April 2nd, and things are in high gear. Of course, so is the rest of life :). Grab a beverage and hop below the story break for a taste of what’s on brillig’s plate for the next few days as well as an invitation to share a bit of your own (hopefully) fantastic weekend so far!
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This morning, I picked up two turfs with folks who scored Definitely/Likely to vote yes, so that on Monday I can go leave GOTV reminder door hangers. Easy, and I can do it while K2 is at school. Grabbed a sign and stood out for an hour at the intersection in the center of town with lots of folks from both sides. It’s important to us that we remember we’re all one city, and so the atmosphere has for the most part been civil. I chatted with two of the NO sign holders, and while I disagree with their views we managed to share the space amicably :).I then went to lunch with Mr. Brillig at a really tasty BBQ place and we got some errands done while K2 was at Kung Fu class. Came home and decided it was too nice to be inside, so went for a walk around the local lake I mentioned a while back. As I sit here tonight, my hair is slathered with blue dye, the first time we’ve redone my hair since October.
Tomorrow is another few hours standing out — it really is a local tradition and it helps to remind people of the upcoming election. Tomorrow also is Youth Group meeting, and after their spectacular service last Sunday (they planned and executed the entire service from music to sermons to readings) we’ve got a chill evening of games and ice cream sundaes planned :).
Monday is Hang All The Door Hangers Day, plus more standing out at rush hour. I too will be rushing... around like a crazy woman cleaning and shopping because next weekend Mr. Brillig and I have a wedding in Chicago and my inlaws will be with K2.
And then comes Tuesday, which I am insanely excited about because I have two shifts scheduled as a Poll Observer. I’ve never done this before, but know I’ll be helping our campaign by reporting on who’s voted so we can *encourage* our best voters to get themselves to the polls to vote! This is going to be close, and as we’ve all learned bitterly in recent years, we need to assume nothing is safe until the votes are tallied. Also it’s pickup day for our meat CSA, and then an after-election party. And of course I’ll be here, because Tuesday is my usual night!!
OK, so this probably isn’t as interesting to you as it is to me. Tell me what YOU’RE up to, so I can be excited for your stuff! And we ALL can be excited about tonight’s Trio of Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures!
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
From Cecelia S:
I'm not sure what the time and number parameters are for top comments [brillig says “in general the past 24 hours but we’re forgiving on that], but I really want to nominate comments that span Mar 29-30, and really ought to be their own diary, by G2geek. I got an education, and a kick, out of them.
In Walter Einenkel's diary on the FCC failing to crack down on robocallers, G2geek expertly explained the way VOIP ("free beer") unleashed the spammers, and what can be done to fix it.
Their follow-up comment points out the real hazards of unintelligible VOIP and G.729 audio, and reflects on humanity and technology.
Ending with a note that “stopping robocalls” is a winning electoral issue.
Highlighted by KGB hates US:
Is this comment by CA Libertarian, with some thoughts on ‘collusion,’ and the prospects for good news a little further down the road.
Highlighted by GoodNewsRoundup:
Is this comment by Crabby Pattyon where our best and most reliable hope lies.
Highlighted by papercut:
The second sentence of Radical Moderate’s comment is brilliant! From Uncle Vasili Shwetz’ AOC on "Green New Deal" critics: "I didn't expect them to make total fools of themselves".
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, March 29th 2019, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday, March 29 2019. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!