RE: Citizens Committee on Election Reform Proposal

[kellen carey <kcarey636@xxxxxxxxx>]

Paul, 

Yes, Paul, that Committee was nothing more than a
rubber stamp.  That's why Kolwicz, perhaps
appropriately, quit.  I will never again be part of a
rubber stamp committee.

But please be clearer about any advice it offered: it
didn't offer any advice at all.  You, and maybe
others, might have suggested this or that, while I
clearly voiced my opposition to any purchase of DREs,
but there was no Committee recomendation, at all.

They didn't want one, and the Committee never met to
discuss a recommendation.

kell

--- Some Guy <someguy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Joe (et al),
> 
> In my letter to the commissioners and the clerk
> asking for a position on the
> 'review' committee I noted that the HAVA advisory
> committee was really not
> allowed to finish its work. Within a few weeks of
> completing our task the
> county and the clerk appeared to lose interest and
> seemed to be coming to
> their own conclusions.
> 
> That impression gelled on the very day that we
> attempted to deliver our
> findings. The 12th of December 03. The day prior Joe
> and members of CVV gave
> a 10 minute presentation to the BOCC on what HAVA
> really meant and why
> buying DRE was such a bad plan.
> 
> Few people who were members of the HAVA advisory
> committee bothered to show
> up on the morning of the 12th, since they'd either
> read the papers about the
> BOCC hearing the day before, or were called by the
> elections staff and told
> that they were no longer needed. But some citizen
> members did show up
> despite being 'blown off' by the county.
> At the start of that meeting, Tom Halicki explained
> that the BOCC had made a
> decision not to purchase DRE at this time, but may
> do so in the future. We
> were thanked for our service and for all intents and
> purposes were released
> from our duties on the committee.
> Members of CVV who were present at that meeting will
> recall that I demanded
> that the clerk and county hear our advisement,
> despite what the BOCC had
> decided the day before. We were heard, and our
> advisement was if and when
> DRE were purchased that the Hart/Intercivic E-Slate
> had received committee
> accolades, with the Avante system as a close second.
> The Avante was the only
> system presented that produced a paper ballot; and
> the E-Slate the easiest
> to use for the disabled. Our goal had been to
> suggest a system that was
> ADA-HAVA compliant.
> 
> My point in this relation of history is that the
> county had empanelled an
> advisory committee; spent a good deal of money on
> it; pulled in lots of
> resources and vendors; and had many people working
> very hard on this
> project.
> And then with little fanfare told us on the very day
> that we were to deliver
> our findings - that we had no job and our work was
> being disrespected.
> 
> This is not the first time that the BOCC has done
> such a thing. I've watched
> it occur in other areas such as land use.
> 
> So my fear would be that the BOCC and the Clerk are
> once again putting
> together a 'feel -good' campaign and that the work
> of this new committee
> will be entirely ignored. I have doubts that the
> findings of the county
> committee will have much impact, given past
> experience. The BOCC and the
> Clerk may use the work of the committee to foist
> their own plans on the
> electoral population.
> 
> This is reminiscent of the DOE being allowed to
> investigate itself by the
> DOJ during the cold war. Anyone with background in
> our region can recall how
> the FBI ended up discovering huge cover-ups at Rocky
> Flats by the Dept of
> Energy.
> This is the norm in Boulder and beyond. Right now
> the Boulder PD is
> investigating itself concerning the hill riots.
> 
> If any of you manage to find a position on the
> about-to-be-formed county-run
> committee, do not let the county decide on what
> music you will dance to.
> 
> Some Guy who doesn't dance to other people's music
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joe Pezzillo [mailto:jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 2:47 PM
> To: Cvv-Discuss@Coloradovoter. Net
> Subject: Citizens Committee on Election Reform
> Proposal
> 
> 
> CVV:
> 
> Based on several discussions I've had over the last
> two days, it seems
> clear that there is a great deal of dubiousness
> about the potential
> effectiveness of the County's proposed "Elections
> Review" committee as
> it is being chartered.
> 
> Thus, with others, I propose that we establish an
> independent and
> parallel "Citizens Election Review Committee" that
> will both attempt to
> provide the public with factual information about
> what went wrong and
> specific recommendations that will prevent such a
> debacle from
> recurring.
> 
> In addition to providing the leadership that Boulder
> County citizens
> have come to expect from CVV on this issue --
> including what Boulder
> County should do next to achieve the Trustworthy
> Elections that we have
> been denied -- I personally feel that the other
> purpose of this
> Citizen's Committee will be to prevent additional
> misinformation being
> disseminated by the Elections Office and County
> Information Officer,
> hold our officials accountable, and clean up the
> mess that is our
> current Elections Office.
> 
> Again, this is a proposal to have a parallel
> committee that is outside
> the control or influence of the Elections Office
> that will also provide
> a public report on what went wrong and how to
> prevent it from happening
> again.
> 
> Is there agreement among CVV on the need for this
> citizen's committee
> or do folks feel confident that the Commissioner's
> review panel will be
> sufficient? I would also like to try and include
> others local citizens
> that have not previously participated in CVV, in
> particular, poll
> watchers and elections judges who may also have
> information and
> opinions about the internal workings of our
> Elections Office.
> 
> If there is no serious objection, I also propose to
> alert the press to
> the formation of this committee ASAP so that we can
> get the maximum
> coverage and awareness in advance of our first
> public meeting.
> 
> Joe
> 
> Joe Pezzillo, Citizen Activist
> Boulder, Colorado USA
> jpezzillo@xxxxxxxxx
> 
> 



		
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