Office of former Governor Oakvale: Adios, all, and thank you!

[Oakvale]

*resumes duties*

I'd like to thank the Lieutenant Governor for handling the region's business while I was away, and the legislature for passing the much-needed regional version of the Hiring Incentives Act.

Secondly, I'm running for JCP whip, so, y'know, vote for me.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Yay, he's back, and I'm done.

[Oakvale]

So, what's in the news?

The Pacific gubernatorial debate between Xahar and I is underway, and it's sure to be good, so take a look!

In other news, I've got two interviews, in The Voice of Kalwejt and The Porcupine, where I talk about my plans for the Pacific.

So, yeah, check them out.

Actually, I've read my opponent Xahar's interview in The Porcupine and he makes an interesting point:

If by some sort of warp in the space-time continuum I were elected, I would try to replace the Legislature with a real elective Legislature.

[...]

Elections to a small legislature would allow new Pacificans to get involved in the process and also give lawmaking to a representative sample of the people, rather than whoever is involved enough to vote or reliable enough to be PMed to vote.

I actually think this is a good idea.

I've been considering proposing some kind of elected legislature for the Pacific - I've dorkily been calling it a "Pacific Council", but something less Star Trek would be nice - albeit I was considering a bicameral system, with the popular legislature still existing, as opposed to out and out replacing it.

Still, I think this is, broadly, something me and Xahar agree upon. A small, influential "upper house" would increase activity and engagement amongst Pacific citizens, and, if elected, I'll introduce a bill to create such.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

So, what's in the news?

The Pacific gubernatorial debate between Xahar and I is underway, and it's sure to be good, so take a look!

In other news, I've got two interviews, in The Voice of Kalwejt and The Porcupine, where I talk about my plans for the Pacific.

So, yeah, check them out.

Actually, I've read my opponent Xahar's interview in The Porcupine and he makes an interesting point:

If by some sort of warp in the space-time continuum I were elected, I would try to replace the Legislature with a real elective Legislature.

[...]

Elections to a small legislature would allow new Pacificans to get involved in the process and also give lawmaking to a representative sample of the people, rather than whoever is involved enough to vote or reliable enough to be PMed to vote.

I actually think this is a good idea.

I've been considering proposing some kind of elected legislature for the Pacific - I've dorkily been calling it a "Pacific Council", but something less Star Trek would be nice - albeit I was considering a bicameral system, with the popular legislature still existing, as opposed to out and out replacing it.

Still, I think this is, broadly, something me and Xahar agree upon. A small, influential "upper house" would increase activity and engagement amongst Pacific citizens, and, if elected, I'll introduce a bill to create such.

It's a grand idea and Pacific Council isn't that Star Trek-y.

[Oakvale]

Presenting my not exactly original re-election, er, signature sticker:



Obviously, I will  now certainly win.

[Oakvale]

Please, everyone, vote in the gubernatorial election.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Good luck!

[Oakvale]

I would like to congratulate myself () on winning a full term in the gubernatorial election. Commiserations to my opponent, Xahar, and, needless to say, I hope he and I can work together in the coming months.

I'd also like to congratulate my eminently capable Lieutenant Governor, ArchangelZero on winning a full term of his own, unanimously.

And, of course, thanks to everyone who supported and voted for me. Sure, it's the Pacific, but no election's a sure thing, and it's nice to see people are willing to vote for a relative newbie.

In the next few weeks I'll be proposing some major reforms of the Pacific's government.

First up is resurrecting the extinct position of Pacific Chief Justce - albeit with some important changes to make sure it doesn't fall into the same... obsolence it apparently did last time. The most obvious way to ensure this is to make every piece of legislation passed from now subject to automatic judicial review, but we can discuss the specifics when I've worked out a preliminary bill.

[Oakvale]

In which Oakvale creates an unwieldy bureaucracy, Part I

Okay, I've been elected to a full term, so time to get to work, I think. Here's the draft of one of a few governmental restructuring ideas that I plan to introduce to the legislature shortly.

I'm hoping to introduce my governmental reforms as a single amendment. So what I'm doing here is trying to iron out the problems, section by section, so that the entire project doesn't fail because of a missing comma or something.

What's on the drawing board? This and a dedicated wiki editor, really. I'm also going to take a tentative look at some form of elected legislature, but that obviously might need to be an amendment in its own right if it proves controversial...

If you've got any suggestions, it would be better if I hear them now as opposed to having to amend the, er, amendment while it's already before the people.

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Let me just preempt a few criticisms:

We've already had a similar position, and it was useless. How is this different?

The main difference is that the Justice has to automatically review the constitutionality of each bill passed. Now, in most IRL legislatures this would be unreasonable. However, this is Atlasia, and we really don't pass such a volume of legislation that it's a daunting task for the individual involved.

And hey, anything to get some activity.

A life term?

Personally, I think the life term helps keep the office non-partisan. However, I want to stress that I'm open for debate on this. If y'all think that more traditional terms are a good idea, I'll include it.


PS: Not that it's entirely significant, but I've decided to call this the "Pacific Justice" rather than "Pacific Chief Justice", as the previous position was called. Because, um, we don't have any associate justices, so "chief" seemed a little OTT.

[Хahar 🤔]

How about you just give the Lieutenant Governor that job?

[bgwah]

It's an intriguing idea, but it sort of seems like a position for the sake of having a position. Maybe the office of Lt. Governor should be tweaked to be made more relevant before we create another one.

[Oakvale]

I did consider merging the position with that of the Lieutenant Governor, but take a look at this before passing final judgement.

That's right, it's:

In which Oakvale creates an unwieldy bureaucracy, Part II

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I'd originally planned to have the, er, wiki-editor-guy as a seperate position, but it occured to me that

a) I could kill two birds with one stone.
b) Despite the workload being much less daunting than it appears, it could be hard to find people willing to volunteer to actually do the job.

I decided that the most appropriate course of action was to make this the realm of the Lieutenant Governor. Indeed, constitutionally, the Lieutenant Governor is already tasked with doing so, but... yeah.

Anyway, I'm obviously open to tweaking the two bills, so fire away.

PS: I don't necessarily agree that the Justice's job is 'a position for the sake of a having a position', especially since it automatically reviews laws, but I do agree that we should probably work out what the Lt. Governor's going to do first.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

As Lt. Governor I am willing to do whatever you want to give me.  So yes, please make my position relevant before making a new one.

Also, I'd be willing to do both jobs as maintaining the Wiki isn't something that needs to be done as much as reviewing laws, and I'd like to feel useful until I end up in another position (I was thinking about running for Senate) or I get defeated in an election.

It just feels like I'm not doing enough for the region, and I'd be happy to have more on my plate.

[Oakvale]

As Lt. Governor I am willing to do whatever you want to give me.  So yes, please make my position relevant before making a new one.

Also, I'd be willing to do both jobs as maintaining the Wiki isn't something that needs to be done as much as reviewing laws, and I'd like to feel useful until I end up in another position (I was thinking about running for Senate) or I get defeated in an election.

It just feels like I'm not doing enough for the region, and I'd be happy to have more on my plate.

I'm going to go ahead and introduce the "Giving The Lieutenant Governor something to actually do" amendment. 

[Oakvale]

Just a quick update -

1) I've been somewhat dormant in Atlasia in the last week or so, but fear not, I'm still technically alive.

2) The Eight Amendment to the Pacific Constitution, in which we gave the Lieutenant Governor something to actually do, passed the legislature handily. The explicit role of the Lieutenant Governor is now to mantain wiki articles relevant to our region. To his eternal credit, the Lt. Governor has got to work at an impressive and admirable pace - at this rate our "parts" of the wiki will be by far the best organised and up-to-date there are.

It seems like a minor thing, and maybe it is, but the wiki's in such a permanent mess that I think it's a good idea to have a position like this - it's working very well so far.

3) I've registered in Alaska for no real reason. Just to let you all know.

4) Finally, and most importantly, I'm currently tweaking my proposal to resurrect the position of a Pacific Justice, albeit in (hopefully!) a reformed and hopefully more practical form. There's been suggestions to merge this position, also, with that of the Lieutenant Governor's, and I see the logic in that, but I'm cautious on making it a political, elected position. Still, I'm obvious open to compromise on this, and I should have the latest draft of the amendment posted in a few days for debate.

[Oakvale]

Some other stuff -

It's election season in the Mideast, so I'll make some irrelevant endorsements.

In the Governor's race, the region has a difficult choice between two good candidates, but I'm endorsing the incumbent, Governor tmthforu. He's doing a great job, IMO, and is easily one of the most active Governors in the nation.

In the Assembly, it's more or less moot since there are as many candidates as there are seats, although I would give special mention to Barnes. That said, the other candidates aren't exactly shabby.

[tmthforu94]

Thank you, Mr. Oakvale! You're doing a great job as well.

[Barnes]

Thank you, Oakvale! That was very kind of you!

[Oakvale]

Firstly, I'd like to congratulate my gubernatorial colleague on his landslide re-election victory, and my friend Barnes on his own election to the Assembly. I think we can, as a region, learn a lot from the Mideast, some of which I mention below.

Secondly, here's the new and improved draft of my amendment establishing a - hopefully - useful "Pacific Justice" position.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

NB: I'm more than willing to consider an elected position rather than appointed one, although my instinct is to introduce the current version as is. If it passes, great, if it fails, I'll start tweaking it to make it more acceptable.



_____________________________________________________


But, much more significantly, there's a bigger conversation I want to have - namely, I want to discuss - discuss! - the possibility of introducing an elected legislature to the region, whether as an "upper house" or a total replacement of our current popular legislature.

As I see it, an elected legislature carries with it a major advantage - regular elections would greatly increase activity and interest in regional politics - we've seen it in the Northeast and Mideast, for example - and, really, that's my objective as Governor - to make the Pacific active, lively, and, above all, interesting.

So yeah, there's the Justice amendment I plan on introducing, but, more  to the point, an elected legislature? What say you?

PS: Naturally, if the Justice position is created, I'll immediately introduce a ton of unconstitutional laws just to liven things up a bit.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Boo, you didn't merge the positions.

Nevertheless, I still support the initiative.

[tmthforu94]

Thank you Oakvale! And good for you, introducing this. I hope it passes.

[Oakvale]

Boo, you didn't merge the positions.

Nevertheless, I still support the initiative.

Well, it may easily fail to pass, and if so I'll happily merge the positions, so it's not over yet.

[Oakvale]

Just to re-iterate, voting has been open on my latest ill-advised governmental restructuring amendment for the last couple of days, so you should all pop into the legislature and prompty vote it down.

No, but seriously, it's a good bill, and will hopefully make our region a little more interesting.

More to the point, once we get this out of the way we can move on my most important, and interesting idea - a (partially or fully) elected legislature, and the merits or lack thereof of such a thing.

[Oakvale]

My Presidential polling complete, I can, at least until I do another poll, put aside objectivity and loudly, publicly, and enthusiastically endorse the Fritz/Kalwejt ticket in this month's Presidential election.

I may be a member of the JCP, but it's still not an easy decision. It's not like the last time, when there was a clear choice between competence in the form of Purple State and shrieking nonsense in the form of RossettaStone's absurd campaign. I like and respect both AndrewCT and Duke, and I'm confident that, if elected, they'd do a fine job.

But, alas, I disagree with the central message of Andrew's campaign - that the Constitutional Convention has been a failure.

Now, I agree that Purple State's Presidency hasn't magically reawakened mass interest in the game, but that was never going to happen. The Constitutional Convention had quite modest ambitions - maybe too modest for some, I concede - but its goals were sound. Making the Constitution more legible to newbies is a noble aim, and I for one applaud the administration for their work.

We have a good choice this election, and my backing of Fritz and Kalwejt is no slight to Andrew and Duke, two fine public servants. Yes, all candidates are, to use Atlas lingo, "FF"s. But the choice doesn't come down to personality, or even ideology. I don't care that Fritz is in the JCP, or that Andrew's in the Populares. That's irrelevant.

 It comes down to the three simple words that are my guiding philosophy as Governor, and I believe should be the mantra of any new President - activity, activity, activity. ()

Why do I believe Fritz is in a better position to promote activity than Andrew?

It's simple. Fritz has been a fantastic and diligent RG, and he's stated that his dream is to have two hundred votes regularly cast in Atlasian elections. I think that's the kind of future we can look forward to under a Fritz administration, and that's why I'm going to be voting for him.


- Oakvale

[tmthforu94]

I'll take a line from the West Virginia Republican's playbook...

Fritz is an outstanding RG. We couldn't survive if we lost him in that position. He will get plagued down and swamped as President, and will take orders from Bgwah and Marokai Blue.

AndrewCT is a true reformer. He won't be a rubber-stamp to Bgwah, and will fight for you, the average Atlasian. This month, vote for change. Vote for AndrewCT/Duke.