forums? The principal feature that sets the E-democracy model apart is its
focus on local issues.
Local issues are issues that are uniquely local or have a disproportionate
effect on the Hamline Midway neighborhood, which is bounded by University
Avenue on the South, Pierce Butler Route on the North, Lexington Avenue on the
East, and Transfer Road on the West. If an issue affects citizens in other
neighborhoods as much (or more) than it affects us, then it is does not meet
the criteria to be a local issue, and members should therefore post about it in
the St. Paul Issues Forum: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/stpaul-issues.
For an issue to be considered local, it is not sufficient that it "be
important" or that it "affect" people in the Hamline Midway area. There must be
something in particular about the issue that is specific to our community OR
the effect of the issue must be disproportionate within our community, as
compared to other communities.
Sometimes it is appropriate to talk about the effect of a national or regional
issue/policy on our community, in the Hamline Midway Neighbors Forum, but only
if we are very explicit about what that local effect is or what the local
connection is.
When using the forum to address a general or national issue, it is the
responsibility of the poster (and anyone who responds) to make the Hamline
Midway connection very explicit in their message. Do not presume that, just
because there is a uniquely local aspect to an issue, other participants will
recognize it.
If a topic focuses on an issue that does not meet the local criteria, the forum
manager will encourage the topic to be brought to a forum of appropriate scope,
likely a city-level issues forum, such as St. Paul Issues Forum:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/stpaul-issues, state-level forum
(Minnesota Politics and Issues Forum:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/mn-politics) or nation-level forum
(United States Issues Forum: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/us) Please
consider joining any of these forums to discuss your interest in issues that
are not particular to the Hamline Midway Neighborhood.
Donโt hesitate to ask the Forum Manager your questions about what forum is best
for a particular topic!