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00414: Re: Please, support the Declaration ...

From: "Bernard Clayson" <bernard-clayson(at)shuartfarm.fsnet.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 16:03:17 +0100
Subject: Re: Please, support the Declaration ...

Dear Leo,

You have the Declaration, which I would support in its intent ..... but
where is the campaign/strategy.

At the risk of asking the obvious
1. what do you intend to do with it.
2. why should they (EU) take any notice of it.

The track record for petitions is less than favourable for the simple reason
no power structure can deviate for every request made, or it would be
banging off the wall every five minutes.

You need to present it as a Catch-22 - do this or ..... will happen.

I have been engineering a Catch-22 for my county council (which was the
reason I could not attend the conference).
The very short version of a very long tale is that involved the topic of my
first referendum.
An email to several of our local politicians regarding their comments in the
press drew a reply from one of them asking for a meeting, that meeting
lasted 1 1/2 hours, practically a record for a man who books meetings at 30
minute intervals.
That led to a request from one of the senior officers for another meeting,
that lasted 2 1/2 hours, and only ended because he should have been chairing
a meeting 15 minutes earlier.
To finish that day off I had a 2 hour meeting with the Strategic Director of
the local council.
Since those meetings I have sent an email to the leader of the county, and
his potential successor (the man I had the meeting with), presenting them
with the Catch-22 of questions that need urgent answers.
Questions that no politician dare ask the public, or implement, yet they
need to be asked/implemented.
I also presented them with a possible means of achieving it.

What will happen now?
No idea, but I have their attention in no uncertain way.
I attended a public meeting chaired by another county cabinet member who
made a comment to me that was a direct quote out of my email, so the topic
must have been discussed, and meant something or he would not have made the
comment.

A few pointers when looking for the Catch-22
1. do not under estimate the size of the task, to be effective it will need
to effect a lot of people in order for them to support you.

2. Politicians are no different to any member of the public, they react to -
a. their perceived right or wrong
b. what will effect them or theirs.

3. The fact that they are in a position to do something about it, and you/we
are not, does not make them different, and they have the mandate to do it,
you/we don't.

4. To get that mandate you need a sufficiently large number of people
supporting the Declaration in each of their constituencies, failing that the
individual politician will take it as not applying to them ..... and they
could be right.

5. Then you will have to get it past the commissioners ..... who ignore
everyone, including countries.

Regards
Bernard

----- Original Message -----
From: "Leopoldo Salgui" <lsalgui(at)demopunk.net>
To: "Bernard Clayson" <bernard-clayson(at)shuartfarm.fsnet.co.uk>
Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 11:41 PM
Subject: Please, support the Declaration ...


Dear Bernard,
please, consider to support the Declaration on the European Constituent
Process.
http://64.62.195.58/wddf/download.php?id=11

if you estimate it, please post your support in the WDDF
http://64.62.195.58/wddf/viewtopic.php?t=54
or let me to know it by email.

Regards, Leo




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