Sierra Club endorsements

The NC Sierra Club chapter has approximately 19,000 members and the national club has approximately 1.3 million "members and supporters." NC contributes the current national president, Robbie Cox (from Chapel Hill), and a current Board member and past president, Lisa Renstrom. We have contributed other national leaders in the past as well. I don't know the Orange or Chapel Hill counts but Joe's Orange-Chatham Group number looks about right to me.

It's been a long time so it may well have changed, but I was once on the political committee--a volunteer opportunity open to any member--and at the time there were no written criteria. Members of the committee discussed the answers given and the records of those with a record and determined who to recommend to the Group Executive Committee who, in turn, recommends to the Chapter. The discussions ranged over a wide set of criteria and included things like commitment to the environmental agenda promoted by the Group (local), the Chapter (state) and the Club, creativity, collaboration, effectiveness, etc. Incumbents do have an advantage (or, for some, a disadvantage) in that they have had an opportunity to demonstrate many of these characteristics.

So, like you when you go into the voting booth, it is (or, rather, was) a combination of objective information and subjective judgment. Unlike an individual, the Group has a shared vision and a consensus-building process.

Join the Club and volunteer to be an activist, then you'll know how the decisions are made.

Just to be clear, when I said:

Not sure how many people this represents.

I was referring to the number of people on the local Sierra Club political and executive committees who met and voted on the endorsements.

Overall, I have been surprised and impressed this election season with the quality of debate on both of the main political forums in Orange County. The threads have, for the most part, been substantive, and have, quite interestingly, often offered lucid arguments that have reflected each other engagingly on many of the same issues.

That's why I decided to make a little offering here. Oh that, and the fact that STP is currently under attack froma blog-swamper - and Ruby, I've read elsewhere (I think maybe Blue NC) your views on those sorts of trolls!

I believe it's not unfair to suggest that I try, with my occasional contributions, to keep people honest and consistent. Yeah, I know. Not everyone likes it - and people in both camps (STP ansd OP) think I favor the other. Probably means I'm getting the balance about right.

Anyways, endorsements. Which I'm on record as disliking, because they are, in my opinion, simply another form of special interest. So, Ruby, with respect, do I detect a little inconsistency...?

It seems that one moment you are saying: don't look at what they say; look at what they do. and the next you seem to be saying: well, don't actually look at what they do; look at what they might do...

Hmm?

In any event, having been an incumbent in my time also, remember that incumbents are always going to have a 'better' record of 'doing.' They're in government. They can push the buttons and pull the levers. Just turning up is 'doing.'

The measure has to be higher for incumbents. It's not so much the quantity of what they have done, as the quality. The consistency. The meeting of election pledges. It's as much about what they haven't done, what they might have ignored, as it is about racking up points for simply being in office.

In contrast, I'm sorry, I disagree: you so have to look at what challengers are saying. It may be all that they are able to offer - in total good faith.

The speech that Neloa Jones made in respect of Rogers Road was met with universal acclaim by all activists across Orange County. Do we discount what she said simply because it is not yet matched by achievement? She may not be running for office (this time), but I think the point is still good.

Which is not to say that what challengers are saying should not itself be challenged passionately, to ensure that what is being said is internally consistent and genuinely believed. I hope, in some small way, that's something I've been helping to do. From time to time. And will, maybe, one day, do again...

How many Sierra Club members actually live in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange Cty? I asked this question last time around and never got an answer. My guess is that it's a much smaller base than folks would guess...