[Stargate] Why Johnny doesn't speed .... Er ... Melody doesn't attend.... (was "Populace Meeting")

[Gerald Norris]

Gwen, the following is not to pick on you, but to debate the issues you've
brought up.  Your comments are included in full below.

Royalist is fine, but if the populace meeting isn't being attended by the
populace, then (not to put too fine a point on it) why have the populace
meeting in the first place?  As to where the issue should come to a poll or
not (and I think that it will, eventually), I agree that the poll should be
taken at a populous meeting.  But we discuss it here, on the list, so that
EVERYONE has a chance to discuss the issue without having to do it all at
populace meetings.  The people who are typing here DO contribute to the
barony; as a single (but not the only) example, Ldy Melody has only recently
finished a stint as head cook (or sous chef) for a number of feasts in the
coastal region.  

So.  If we discuss the particulars here, where we can air grievances,
suggest new places, share information, and generally communicate with each
other, then if we can't come to a consensus we can agree to a time that a
poll would be taken so that all interested parties can make themselves
available for the poll.  I would prefer to take the time here, on the list,
rather than in the populace meeting.  I can spend 30 minutes at my desk and
read other's thoughts on the matter, think about it, then decide if I have
anything to add; at a public meeting I don't have that luxury.  So I'm lazy,
but I can live with that ;-).

If moving the meetings closer to the Westgate population increases
attendance AND decreases voices of discontent, I'm all for it.  I am
personally in favor of moving out of Ryan's for a number of reasons, chief
of which is the distraction of holding the meetings in a restaurant.  Pay or
no, I feel that it can only do the barony good to move someplace where we
have a little more breathing room and fewer distractions.  Afterword, for
those who eat late, the party can move to an eatery/pub/greasy spoon for all
I care.  

Concerning changing the time for populace - I'm currently not in favor of
making it later.  Why?  There are already a number of people attending
populace who wake up at OhGod!Thirty who struggle to attend and stay the
whole meeting.  So we start at 8, which gets us finished by 9, 9:30 (or
whenever the meeting place tosses our happy fundaments' out), and any
post-meeting social whatever is dragging to ten or later.  Just my opinion.

And if we decide to move closer to the Westgate area and (Melody, I AM
picking on you 'cause you've got such cute kids) Emily gets involved with
the school band (and subsequently Askell and Melody get involved with the
band parents organization), which takes away the time that they would have
had to come to the meeting, did we waste our time?  No.  It's life, and
things change, often without asking the individual involved in the change.
We, the populace of Stargate, including it's canton, will have been a part
of the decision.  And if we're trying to increase our numbers, increase our
populace involvement, and generally trying to make our Barony the envy of
others (okay, I snuck that last one in, but I like it), it will take all of
us working together to do so.

In service to the dream with a song in my heart, I am,
HL Gerald of Leesville
A bard of Stargate 

-----Original Message-----
From: stargate-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:stargate-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of
dietrich.strobelbart at yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 11:27 PM
To: Barony of Stargate
Subject: Re: [Stargate] populace meetings

HE Gwendolene McIver here, I am using my husbands account because I can't
seem to get one of my own.  

I am relatively new here, maybe only two years in the Barony, but I don't
remember "seeing" some of you at a populace meeting.  Now I may just be a
royalist, but I don't remember the Middle Ages being a democracy.   And as
we are trying to recreate that time period, why should we even be discussing
this.  But, since we are discussing it, here's my tuppence worth.  If you
want to vote on this, show up, volunteer, BE a part of the Barony.
Otherwise, you're just making noise.  For those that don't like going to
Ryan's, I don't like Ryan's either.  That's why I went with my husband to
check out the Collier Library.  But in that, we discovered the problems
inherent with using a public library.  We are also looking into various
churches in the area.  If you have other places that should be looked at,
research them and bring the info to a populace meeting.  

There has been some discussion at Populace meetings that if we moved the
meetings to a location closer to the geographical center of the Barony, we
might attract more people from that area.  It seems to me that the Beltway 8
-- I10 area is more into the Westgate area than Stargate anyway.  I would be
happy to move the meetings out of Ryan's, but moving them clear over into
Westgate would defeat the purpose of centralizing them in Stargate.

Again, I'm a Royalist; I don't believe the populace should be voting on this
at all.  That is why we have officers, and a Baron and Baroness.  Besides if
the populace does vote on this, it would be at a "populace meeting" at
Ryan's.  So it seems to me this is much ado about nothing.
 
HE Gwendolene McIver,
gwendolene at iwon.com
Proudly living my 25th year in service to the dream that is the SCA.

PS:  This is MY opinion only, NOT that of my husband. We may be joined at
the hip, but, I've got my own mouth and I've been known to use it!

"A tame and toothless Tabby can't produce an Lions Roar"

(H. Chapin)