Tim wrote:So now the problem is with government waste?
I take exception with the word required. I doubt that voting was mandatory.
What in the world are you talking about?
ut it only happened after a business (Uber/Lyft] cost the City of Austin about a million dollars to call a special election to try to repeal a properly passed ordinance, which then required every citizen to take the time to vote in the special election (the uber/lift proposal was the only thing on the ballot).
Yes, it costs money for a city to hold an election. They have to pay for voting equipment, pay personnel to run the election, etc. The cost to the City was about $800k-$1mil, according to estimates. Uber/Lyft petitioned for a special election to recall an ordinance that Austin had passed and replace it with one that they wanted. There were no other issues on the ballot; if not for the Uber/Lyft petition, there would have been no election.
To the extent that this special election can be considered "government waste," it is waste that Uber/Lyft themselves entirely created, and yet it is the taxpayers who will foot the bill.
heyzeus wrote:Yes, it costs money for a city to hold an election. They have to pay for voting equipment, pay personnel to run the election, etc. The cost to the City was about $800k-$1mil, according to estimates. Uber/Lyft petitioned for a special election to recall an ordinance that Austin had passed and replace it with one that they wanted. There were no other issues on the ballot; if not for the Uber/Lyft petition, there would have been no election.
To the extent that this special election can be considered "government waste," it is waste that Uber/Lyft themselves entirely created, and yet it is the taxpayers who will foot the bill.
I think Tim's comment was about the phrasing in that you said it was required for every citizen to vote on the ballot when in actuality, voting is completely voluntary.
I don't think anyone is disputing the fact that it was a [expletive] and dumb thing for U/L to do.
heyzeus wrote:Yes, it costs money for a city to hold an election. They have to pay for voting equipment, pay personnel to run the election, etc. The cost to the City was about $800k-$1mil, according to estimates. Uber/Lyft petitioned for a special election to recall an ordinance that Austin had passed and replace it with one that they wanted. There were no other issues on the ballot; if not for the Uber/Lyft petition, there would have been no election.
To the extent that this special election can be considered "government waste," it is waste that Uber/Lyft themselves entirely created, and yet it is the taxpayers who will foot the bill.
I agree with all of this. And now there is a void that will be replaced by a better enterprise. Its possible Uber will change their practice.
But the idea that the voting was REQUIRED is not true.
heyzeus wrote:Yes, it costs money for a city to hold an election. They have to pay for voting equipment, pay personnel to run the election, etc. The cost to the City was about $800k-$1mil, according to estimates. Uber/Lyft petitioned for a special election to recall an ordinance that Austin had passed and replace it with one that they wanted. There were no other issues on the ballot; if not for the Uber/Lyft petition, there would have been no election.
To the extent that this special election can be considered "government waste," it is waste that Uber/Lyft themselves entirely created, and yet it is the taxpayers who will foot the bill.
I agree with all of this. And now there is a void that will be replaced by a better enterprise. Its possible Uber will change their practice.
But the idea that the voting was REQUIRED is not true.
If you want to be a good citizen, and believe that a corporation should not be allowed to rewrite the elected city council's ordinances, then yes, you do have to vote. No, you don't go to jail if you don't vote. But if someone forces an election, and that election has consequences for everyone in the city, then practical reality dictates that now I have to go vote, when but for U/L I would not have. About 170,000 people turned out to vote - their time has an economic value.
heyzeus wrote:Yes, it costs money for a city to hold an election. They have to pay for voting equipment, pay personnel to run the election, etc. The cost to the City was about $800k-$1mil, according to estimates. Uber/Lyft petitioned for a special election to recall an ordinance that Austin had passed and replace it with one that they wanted. There were no other issues on the ballot; if not for the Uber/Lyft petition, there would have been no election.
To the extent that this special election can be considered "government waste," it is waste that Uber/Lyft themselves entirely created, and yet it is the taxpayers who will foot the bill.
I agree with all of this. And now there is a void that will be replaced by a better enterprise. Its possible Uber will change their practice.
But the idea that the voting was REQUIRED is not true.
If you want to be a good citizen, and believe that a corporation should not be allowed to rewrite the elected city council's ordinances, then yes, you do have to vote. No, you don't go to jail if you don't vote. But if someone forces an election, and that election has consequences for everyone in the city, then practical reality dictates that now I have to go vote, when but for U/L I would not have. About 170,000 people turned out to vote - their time has an economic value.
Early voting is great. I think it went for like 10 days, and you can vote at any early voting polling place in the city. Anyway, I like voting, and I get to bring Zeus Jr. and all the elderly precinct volunteers love seeing cute kids, and I let Zeus Jr press the big red button. Then I give him a lecture about civics and he ignores it and tells me fun facts about dinosaurs instead.
I think there's a plethora of reasons. 1. The volatility and general negative sentiment have scared companies away. 2. Couple big name ipos have recently fallen back below their initial valuation (twitter and a couple others that I can't think of right now). 3. Venture capitalist are starting to value businesses higher (eg, Uber. Uber has a 62 billion valuation right now based on what they've been selling private investors. If they go public, it's possible those investors lose some value. So if you own 5% of a 62 billion dollar company and can operate and run funds as such, why risk becoming s 50 billion dollar company and open yourself upto more refulations?)