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Man Dressed as Darth Vader Defends Flock Cameras to San Diego City Council

79 pointsby 24d agothehill.com
15 comments
24d agoHN ↗

A reminder that city council public comment meetings can be more like Parks and Rec than anyone imagines.

That said, showing up and making comments at local meetings can really matter. The number of people who actually participate in meetings like this is low. Showing up with a reasonable argument (probably not in a Darth Vader outfit) can have an outsized impact.

24d agoHN ↗

probably not in a Darth Vader outfit

Why not? it worked didn't it? Media outlets all over the country picked up the story.

24d agoHN ↗

All hail the intersection between character acting and activism, spirituality. Etc.

24d agoHN ↗

It depends on what your goal is in talking to the council.

Here, the goal was media attention.

If you want the council to actually engage with your comment - because it’s reasonable and not insane - then wearing an outfit probably will not help. Though I’m all for more Lord Bucketheads in politics.

24d agoHN ↗

but they don't, though. They don't engage with normal people

only by capturing more attention (much more) can you get on their radar

and even then, you'd be lucky to get anything more than lip service

24d agoHN ↗

I hear the complaint reversed far more often. The standard complaint is that city councils weight complaints from normal people far too highly. Only a small unrepresentative subset of a city's population will show up to council meetings to lodge a complaint, so that small subset is massively over-represented in council decisions.

24d agoHN ↗

City council listens to old residents with too much free time when they argue against an outcome you want. City councils ignore residents when they argue for an outcome you want. Such is the internet view on city councils.

23d agoHN ↗

The standard complaint is that city councils weight complaints from normal people far too highly.

In most cases, what happens is they give a lot of weight to input from those who agree with the predestined outcome, and none to those who differ.

In these city meetings, all the decisions have been made behind closed door already (often with substantial greasing of the wheels), the open hearing are just for show.

24d agoHN ↗

My mom used to work for our local city Parks and Rec department when I was a kid, in north county San Diego no less. She swears the writing team for that show must have come from a small city parks and rec group, because every time we watched that show she would say “this literally happened, I experienced this first hand.” Anecdotal, but I like to believe it’s true. People are just wild out there.

24d agoHN ↗

Usually, it's Darth Vaders dressed as men that defend Flocksafty cameras.

24d agoHN ↗

isn't that the point? to show who is really behind those defending those cameras?

23d agoHN ↗

In another town he would be asked to remove his costume helmet and if he even tried one hand gesture of his dark powers, the police would knock that hat off his head, twist his arm around his back and frog march him from the room. Don’t mess with ______ township.