He's still at it
RobB said:
Ahh, come on. Leave the kid alone.
I tried to restrain myself, really. It popped up on Twitter.
The bit about allowing citizens to decide where tax money should be spent on the website was never adopted. It was a terrible idea. It's just an untrue statement.
RobB said:
Ahh, come on. Leave the kid alone.
Why should we leave him alone? He's lying again. He's a disgrace. Virtually nothing that he touched turned out well.
Torpey is delusional. Here is an example from the article:
It all added up to a new way to think about governing. “When I took office, town council meetings were long, controversial and oppositional,” Torpey says. “More than any particular accomplishment, what we did was change the culture of how local government operates by changing how it engages with its citizens.”
OMG - that whole article is the biggest pile of revisionist crap I have ever read. That is truly hilarious.
Is he running for office again? I'd rather not read the article if I don't have to.
So who among us wants to write the rebuttal? Someone please??
http://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/contact/
kthnry said:
Is he running for office again? I'd rather not read the article if I don't have to.
I think that is wise. I'm sorry that I read it.
yahooyahoo said:
Torpey is delusional. Here is an example from the article:
It all added up to a new way to think about governing. “When I took office, town council meetings were long, controversial and oppositional,” Torpey says. “More than any particular accomplishment, what we did was change the culture of how local government operates by changing how it engages with its citizens.”
That is total bs. Heck, he even ordered the trustees not to respond to emails from citizens.
According to the article, Torpey is appearing at a DNC watch-along panel next week. I don't think it mentioned he was running for something somewhere.
Alex Torpey gave a presentation for Sustainable Jersey late last year that shows some "back-end" on these civic engagement apps. If you're interested to know what he's really up to as of 3 days ago that Data is Open on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8GG2IiWvTA
I'm not really sure what the news is
How's this thing going?
http://www.peakdemocracy.com/portals/193/forum_home?phase=open
I keep wondering who will be running next year. I saw one of the current BOT members on the primary ticket.
Morganna said:
I saw one of the current BOT members on the primary ticket.
I am guessing that was for one of the "Democratic Committee" positions, which is essentially meaningless.
Hmmm, in this political climate running for a meaningless position might be the safest way to go.
That said, any thoughts on who might be taking a run at the 3 BOT slots?
i'm sick of the Torpey bashing but man that's a bad mobile build. that's a 2004 era chunky Treo phone concept of responsive design. shocked they can fleece multiple municipalities like that.
that South Orange was lazily assigned folder \193 makes me think they may have sold it to almost 200 suckers, to say nothing of more recent sales.
grocerylist said:
i'm sick of the Torpey bashing but man that's a bad mobile build. that's a 2004 era chunky Treo phone concept of responsive design. shocked they can fleece multiple municipalities like that.
that South Orange was lazily assigned folder \193 makes me think they may have sold it to almost 200 suckers, to say nothing of more recent sales.
Sorry about the Torpey bashing, but when an ex-South Orange elected official makes a statement that is just not true and he knows that it is not true, that is too much.
It's been refreshing not to have to watch BOT meetings to police what is being tried next at taxpayers' expense for PR purposes.
Nah the bashing is fine. This thread was good for a chuckle yesterday. If only SO could afford to pay a little bit, maybe they'd end up with someone as experienced as Vic DeLuca. If you don't pay at least a small stipend, the individual in power is going to figure out a way to wheedle the same amount of money (or more) into croneyism or pet projects. We're lucky that Collum is a good egg.
cramer said:
The bit about allowing citizens to decide where tax money should be spent on the website was never adopted. It was a terrible idea. It's just an untrue statement.
cramer said:
yahooyahoo said:
Torpey is delusional. Here is an example from the article:
It all added up to a new way to think about governing. “When I took office, town council meetings were long, controversial and oppositional,” Torpey says. “More than any particular accomplishment, what we did was change the culture of how local government operates by changing how it engages with its citizens.”
That is total bs. Heck, he even ordered the trustees not to respond to emails from citizens.
Well, there is something called the South Orange Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, of which I am the Chairman. As I recall, the last year that Alex was VP, the CBAC was never once consulted on the budget. So the bit about allowing citizens to decide on where the budget money should be spent is obviously BS. He did change how government engages with its citizens, but not the way he thinks he did.
Rob_Sandow said:
cramer said:
The bit about allowing citizens to decide where tax money should be spent on the website was never adopted. It was a terrible idea. It's just an untrue statement.cramer said:
yahooyahoo said:
Torpey is delusional. Here is an example from the article:
It all added up to a new way to think about governing. “When I took office, town council meetings were long, controversial and oppositional,” Torpey says. “More than any particular accomplishment, what we did was change the culture of how local government operates by changing how it engages with its citizens.”
That is total bs. Heck, he even ordered the trustees not to respond to emails from citizens.
Well, there is something called the South Orange Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, of which I am the Chairman. As I recall, the last year that Alex was VP, the CBAC was never once consulted on the budget. So the bit about allowing citizens to decide on where the budget money should be spent is obviously BS. He did change how government engages with its citizens, but not the way he thinks he did.
Thank you Rob, I saw your extensive school budget South Orange/ Maplewood presentation and it was an eye opener.
Can we hope that you will throw your hat in the ring in the Spring election? I believe there are 3 spots that will be up for election.
Morganna said:
Rob_Sandow said:
cramer said:
The bit about allowing citizens to decide where tax money should be spent on the website was never adopted. It was a terrible idea. It's just an untrue statement.cramer said:
yahooyahoo said:
Torpey is delusional. Here is an example from the article:
It all added up to a new way to think about governing. “When I took office, town council meetings were long, controversial and oppositional,” Torpey says. “More than any particular accomplishment, what we did was change the culture of how local government operates by changing how it engages with its citizens.”
That is total bs. Heck, he even ordered the trustees not to respond to emails from citizens.
Well, there is something called the South Orange Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, of which I am the Chairman. As I recall, the last year that Alex was VP, the CBAC was never once consulted on the budget. So the bit about allowing citizens to decide on where the budget money should be spent is obviously BS. He did change how government engages with its citizens, but not the way he thinks he did.
Thank you Rob, I saw your extensive school budget South Orange/ Maplewood presentation and it was an eye opener.
Can we hope that you will throw your hat in the ring in the Spring election? I believe there are 3 spots that will be up for election.
I'd love to see that school budget presentation. Could somebody point me to it?
jimmurphy said:
Morganna said:
Rob_Sandow said:
cramer said:
The bit about allowing citizens to decide where tax money should be spent on the website was never adopted. It was a terrible idea. It's just an untrue statement.cramer said:
yahooyahoo said:
Torpey is delusional. Here is an example from the article:
It all added up to a new way to think about governing. “When I took office, town council meetings were long, controversial and oppositional,” Torpey says. “More than any particular accomplishment, what we did was change the culture of how local government operates by changing how it engages with its citizens.”
That is total bs. Heck, he even ordered the trustees not to respond to emails from citizens.
Well, there is something called the South Orange Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, of which I am the Chairman. As I recall, the last year that Alex was VP, the CBAC was never once consulted on the budget. So the bit about allowing citizens to decide on where the budget money should be spent is obviously BS. He did change how government engages with its citizens, but not the way he thinks he did.
Thank you Rob, I saw your extensive school budget South Orange/ Maplewood presentation and it was an eye opener.
Can we hope that you will throw your hat in the ring in the Spring election? I believe there are 3 spots that will be up for election.
I'd love to see that school budget presentation. Could somebody point me to it?
I'm sure Rob will respond with a link but if you go to the website the presentation was I believe in the January Town Hall, either the first or second. Great presentation. So check the archives for the video, also the transcripts.
Morganna said:
Can we hope that you will throw your hat in the ring in the Spring election? I believe there are 3 spots that will be up for election.
Election is not until next May Seats held by Clarke, Schnall and Dubowy will be up for election
Does the CBAC still exist? An acquaintance of mine asked this question a few months ago and was told that the CBAC did not hold any scheduled meetings and has not released an analysis of the proposed SO budget. What gives?
michaelgoldberg said:
Morganna said:
Can we hope that you will throw your hat in the ring in the Spring election? I believe there are 3 spots that will be up for election.
Election is not until next May Seats held by Clarke, Schnall and Dubowy will be up for election
Yup, next Spring, so is it too soon for us to start discussing it? I often think there are people out there mulling it over, and then thinking it might be too difficult to pull off. Also many people do not know the process. For example, I've heard conversations about folks running independently or running on a ticket. Any information about this would be helpful. It also might help if people understood the time commitments. Also what kind of skills are helpful. I notice that BOT members often appear to handle one main area. For example Schnall deals with many of the art events. Clarke does some of the environmental topics. Does one have to have those particular interests to fill one of the seats that are coming up for election.
When does one file or announce.
In other words Michael tell us anything you know that would be helpful.
Inspired by this years Presidential election, wouldn't it be great to see more women get involved?
To answer your questions:
1) I do think it is a bit early to be discussing it - but if someone intends to run, it is never to early to start getting involved, building your network and making a name for yourself. Rarely have people run successfully when they have had no experience in town "issues" and just show up publicly for the first time when they want to be elected.
2) Anyone can run, as long as they are a legal voting resident and they get the required number of signatures on a petition (usually around 125 or so). There is no requirement for a "ticket", but people do generally run on a "ticket" in order to pool resources and be able to cover more ground. Sharing financial resources is another big consideration - local municipal campaigns generally cost $10k-$25k (mailings, lawn signs, robocalls, handouts etc)
3) Time commitment is totally up to each person. When I served, I generally had and average of 2-3 meetings per week in the evening, and periodic other meetings with residents, as needed. When Doug Newman was VP, we also had a tremendous amount of email communication to share information (not decision making, since that is prohibited by the Open Public Meetings Act), as well, but when Torpey came along, all information sharing stopped. There have been (and are) some members of the BOT that show up twice per month for the formal meeting when the TV cameras are on, but you virtually never see them otherwise. There have been (and are) some members of the BOT that treat it as a full-time job and are very engaged in research, communication, problem solving, attending events, meeting with residents etc.
4) Skillset is a personal choice. People tend to focus on areas that are of interest to them. The examples you gave are based on those individuals personal interests. There is no "requirement" for any particular skill, but clearly people who have an interest in serving others rather than trying to gain something for themselves have been the most successful.
5) Timing - for the May election, the filing deadline is in early March.
I hope this helps.
Re point #2. Employees of the Village are also not eligible to run/serve. 
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"What did Torpey do? He not only balanced but gamified his city’s
$33.5 million budget, so citizens could download, manipulate and
visualize the data, performing exercises as though they were mayor. He
incorporated into the city’s books a “Citizen Guided Budget Line;” using
an app, citizens were empowered to decide how the funds in that budget
line should be allocated—for a tax refund, say, or to rehab a city park."
http://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/alex-torpey-power-to-the-people/
eta - The interactive "game" which cost $3000/yr, which Torpey wanted to codify, and which no one used since it was worthless, is no longer being used, thank goodness.