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LC Debate #1
Location: Discord
Moderators: Concrete Slab, British Bharat
Candidates: Drew Durrnil, Evinea, Chillicothe, TescoPepsi, and Osheiga.

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Concrete Slab: What is your biggest talking point as an LC candidate? To put it simply, what differentiates you from the rest of the pool?

Drew Durrnil: The creation of a cards guild/Recruiting people to a TSP cards guild.
To put into more detail, I will try to expand the SPACE program currently in revival in the RMB and get RMBers into cards/the cards guild.

Chillicothe: My main issue is freedom of speech. I think that you should be more able to express your opinions. I will generally tolerate opinions more.

TescoPepsi: I'm really just that person who posts a lot, I've got quite general points.

Evinea: My biggest talking point is attempting to expand the Local Council beyond a team of moderators. Often, we have seen individuals limit the scope of what the Local Council could be doing. I have been very active in creating events and doing fun activities outside of moderation, such as SwanVision, an event that went to great success. I plan on continuing such ventures with new ideas and hoping people will take interest.

Osheiga: I think being able to be consistent with events that I’m planning, like with much more frequent polls or giveaways. The card component of my campaign is something I’m leaning into a lot as a talking point but is also shared with Drew Durrnil so I’d only call that half unique :p

Also I think having an extinct species on the LC would be a fun novelty!

Concrete Slab: WHAT IS ONE SPECIFIC EVENT YOU PLAN ON HOLDING

Drew Durrnil: SwanVision, but that's not unique so a TSP Baseball Classic (if people are interested) in the first weeks of my potential term, since the World Baseball Classic starts tomorrow.

TescoPepsi: Maybe in co-operation with the MoC, the LC and MoC could hold a sort of literary competition involving nations writing poems, stories or whatever and having that being voted on by TSP's community and having the winner have their piece on the WFE.

Chillicothe: I would organize a TSP survey or census to see where citizens stand on certain issues.

Osheiga: Poll Tournaments, where I ask a (probably silly) question, a bunch of people submit ideas/things/whatever that answer the question, and they all battle it out in very short polls (likely lasting 12 hours or 1 day) until we have a definitive BEST answer

More generally, I want to make polls much more interactive for the RMB so I’ll also be maintaining a table with poll suggestions from the RMB for my term if I get elected as well.

British Bharat (replying to Chillicothe): Issues such as what?

British Bharat (replying to Drew Durrnil): How will that baseball classic work?

Evinea: I have talked about it on the RMB, but I plan on creating and launching a “Purgelympics” in April, hopefully. The general idea is that either in a system of two teams, duos, or a free-for-all, nations will battle it out in an ultimate battle-royals to determine the winner. The winners would likely win a card or have their flag made as the region flag for a while. I think this would be a very interesting event and would attract a lot of people and a fun one to watch. I will either use a pre-made Hunger Games simulator webpage or a “spin the wheel” mode to randomize events and outcomes in the battle. I like creating large events where multiple people can join and have fun, so I think this would be a fantastic idea to launch.

Drew Durrnil (replying to British Bharat): Like the TSP Cup (nations get into pools, top x candidates from each pool advance to the next round, best of 1 elimination rounds until a best of 3 final).

Chillicothe (replying to British Bharat): Both in game and irl issues.
Stuff like spamming,moderation,cards,etc.
Also about economics, social issues and other important issues.

Concrete Slab: Next
SAY ONE GOOD THING ABOUT EACH OF YOUR COMPETITORS
It can be brief

Evinea: I appreciate having some fresh faces join the election.

Tesco: Young and new. Reminds me when I first ran.
Chillicothe: Interesting platform they have going on,
Drew: Somewhat tenured, but has a good future ahead
Osheiga: Seems good enough, reasonable choice

Osheiga: I’m really happy to see TescoPepsi in it this time since they got screwed by residency tiebreaker last time, I also always see them in the RMB which is great for an LC!
Drew has a bunch of the same policies as I do so obviously I agree with a lot of his platform :p
Evinea is really professional and experienced for LC and they’d obviously make a great choice
Petea has been a really great LC for the past few weeks and they’re really great to be around in the RMB
Chillicothe has some interesting ideas for the LC and could shake things up I think
Curlyhoward has the first recorded post in TSP RMB history, can’t get much more experienced than that
Thunderwave Cave has a really cool nation name and thunder is a good sound to use to scare away potential trolls

Chillicothe: Durnil-Very committed to his main issue
Tesco-Irish Republican and good person
Evinea-Experianced
Oshegia-Probably an alright person

Drew Durrnil: Osheiga: I really like your policies, it's always welcome to see another card-focused campaign on here.
TescoPepsi: Your activity on the RMB is always welcome for an LC.
Evinea: Really good candidate, their previous terms as LC were excellent
Chillicothe: Also very active (ditto TescoPepsi).

TescoPepsi: Chillicothe: Wants to try to break the status quo, get the RMB some more representation.
Drew: Good motivation to keep running.
Evi: Experienced LC.
Osheiga: Wants to try to get the RMB involved in Cards.

British Bharat: I may try one, how many hours a day on average would each of you think you’d be able to be active in the RMB without neglecting anything IRL?

Chillicothe: Maybe 2-3 on a normal day. Probably 4 on a weekend.

Osheiga: I already spend ~3 hours daily on cards plus up to an hour on the RMB. If I were LC I would definitely prioritize the RMB more and use some of my time just being present there, so I would say 2-4 hours daily

Drew Durrnil: At least three, maybe up to 5 on the weekends and 8 in the summer.

Evinea: It depends for me. On weekdays since I have school, I can get about 4-5 hours give or take. On a weekend or days without school I can easily get up to 8-10 hours, and occasionally more, watching the RMB (not necessarily posting).

TescoPepsi: When not at school, probably around 10 and maybe 8 when at school. Things may vary but I'll try to notify people.

Concrete Slab: So
Why should the Local Council exist
go

Chillicothe: To represent the interest of the RMB.They should also be the main elected governance. They in my opinion are vital to TSP democracy.

Drew Durrnil: There has to be an RMB-based branch of the government responsible for moderating the RMB and getting RMBers into TSP politics/the SPSF (although Slab already does that), and of course they have to be elected by the RMBers that they serve.

TescoPepsi: To allow for the RMB to choose who they would want to represent them and for them to be able to effectively voice the concerns and moderate and serve the community through entertainment and such. It shows the RMB ways of getting involved in TSP's government and are a way for the RMB to have fun, frequent elections.

Osheiga: Giving people on the RMB more access to elected officials, since a lot of what happens in the gameside is disconnected from stuff like the forum.

Also, the LC needs to be active to give new nations a good first impression - a lot of the ministers and CRS are not too active on-site and are more active on the forum or discord, but new nations that haven’t joined these platforms yet will be using the RMB and should have access to official moderation/staff all the same. It makes people feel like the people on the front of the region’s WFE page are visible to them and accountable to the community even if they aren’t on the other TSP sites

Evinea: The Local Council should exist if individuals plan on fulfilling the role properly and honestly, and expanding the job beyond moderation. For way too long, the LC has simply become a lukewarm moderation force that largely failed in the realm of engagement. I can speak to that as I was part of the Local Council team when the GC was largely in it’s prime. Democracy is important, but it will not last if we are electing or promoting people unready for the job. This is one of the major and necessary critiques of the Local Council. Why would we expect the institution to survive when we elect people that fail to do their job, run amok, and even fail to recognize what is right and wrong, only serving to boost a fragile ego. We have seen that in the past election, and possibly and likely seeing it now. Lots of us always complain about the LC being removed. Well then, actually give it a reason to live and stay because for the most part, we have failed to do so, so it is up to the electorate and the candidates to ensure that we are revitalizing the institution. Proper democracy does not need the Local Council, but the Local Council needs proper democracy.

British Bharat: I would ask for how you would plan to deal with transphobia and homophobia on the RMB, a thread for reference:
https://thesouthpacific.org/c/lampshade-bar/6

Evinea: For this question, since I answered it on the RMB, I will copy my answer from there, since I gotta go.

While no sort of bigotry, discrimination, hatred or anything similar to that should be tolerated, we have to be strategic and methodical in the way it is handled and approached.

It can be argued that spewing bigoted messages shouldn’t not warrant being called “opinions” as such, we cannot perform instaban on nations who tell such views immediately. A chance may be given: an opportunity to change, a moment to realize their wrongs and make up for what they did. These opportunities are something I have tried to be strong with when dealing with people with hostile views to hopefully let them be here in good faith. It is up to the individual to take up the opportunity to change. You can’t change people who refuse to, and we have seen multiple instances of people who do that. So of course, when a person refuses to participate in good faith, they will likely be banned. And it will also matter on the tone and degree of their bigotry as well - that will affect action taken.

This isn’t a matter of “free speech” or “protect all opinions” as some people like to tout. Everybody in this region no matter their opinion has to be respectful and in good faith, even in disagreement. We aren’t here to harbour toxicity and BS, but we have to do so in the right way where it is accepting and respectful of everyone.

Drew Durrnil: I would have a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination, first offense a very stern warning, suppression of the post, and a reminder to not be discriminatory again, but if those views are ever reiterated later on, or if the nation is clearly there just to troll, then a ban may be warranted. As we have seen recently, a small amount of transphobia/homophobia can go a long way.

Chillicothe: I think I answered this on the RMB and I have not changed my mind. We should not be in the business of banning opinions. We should allow folks to freely express their opinions. We must be committed to freedom of speech. Of course, I do recognize when things go too far. If anyone wishes harm or death on someone, they should be banned.

British Bharat (replying to Chillicothe): But are we banning opinions? Or are we banning Behaviour stemming from opinions?

Chillicothe (replying to British Bharat): We should ban behavior NOT opinions

Osheiga: we need to be looking on the side of people who feel uncomfortable and see what they want from us first. Ultimately I think people are going to know their own feelings better than the LC will and we should be basing our moderation around that. Having people comfortable in our community should be our top priority when moderating and I feel like we have been focusing too much on punishing/confronting the perpetrator and not enough listening to those who have been hurt. That’s not to say we don’t dole out punishments at all, but I think our starting reaction should be different in these situations.

Obviously, we also need to be stricter on stuff like second/third/fourth chances - this might sound harsh, but the TSP RMB gets new members all the time so if someone’s being legitimately problematic there isn’t any reason to let them stay and cause harm to others.

TescoPepsi: I would hope to educate the people on the harm that this causes to others, a first offence is a strict warning and probably a suppression but past that, where it starts to become blatant rule violation, that's when things will have to get more serious.

Concrete Slab: How would you go about dealing with a spammer on the rmb

Drew Durrnil: If they are purely there to spam, then I will suppress every spam post of theirs and ping the delegate/CRS for a ban. If not, then I will suppress every spam post of theirs, give them a very firm warning/reminder to stop, and welcome them to the region as per standard practice.

Chillicothe: Suppression until they get banned

TescoPepsi: First, you teach them the rules, gotta try to get them to read the ettequite, if they still refuse to follow the rules after that and it doesn't seem like they will start following the rules, it becomes a ban.

Osheiga: If it looks like it could be an honest mistake, suppress their post, quote it with the -snip- tag, and remind them of the rule (and maybe link the LC RMB rule dispatch)

If it’s just clear spam with no good intention, suppressing all their posts and pinging Border Control on the discord server for a quick ban. If people are freaking out I’d remind everyone to just ignore the posts since it’s better not to give trolls or spammers the attention they’re aiming for.

Evinea: On normal circumstances, a person who spams or sends out a message that fits the jurisdiction of spam will have their post(s) suppressed and will be warned immediately. The rule book may be shown to them, showing that they are breaking the rules. If they continue with the spam, continued suppression will happen and the correct officials may be contacted in order to call for a ban. In the case of a prolific spammer, no sympathy will be given to them and there will be an immediate call for a ban from region officials, and depending on the seriousness of the spam, a GHR will be sent to NS Moderators.

British Bharat: Now, do you consider the Local Council as a vital part of RMB culture? Why is that? What do you think will happen when the LC is replaced?

Chillicothe: Yes,they are pretty much the most vital to protecting the interests of the RMB. If replaced, we could see a exodus of people from TSP. That would include me.

Drew Durrnil: Not exactly vital, though their election is one of the most important parts of RMB culture. I think the RMB culture will decrease upon the LCs' removal, although if popular LCs are appointed (like the current group of LCs) then the removal of the LC wouldn't be as impactful.

TescoPepsi: I believe it is a significant part of the culture, but not sure about vital. It certainly does seem like a time when the RMB can come together and vote during elections, however, that's not to say it's necessary, often LC are voted in based on popularity rather than merit. If it were replaced it certainly would cause a shift in terms of culture from older RMBers but newer ones I don't think would mind as much as they wouldn't have really got to see many LC cycles and the diversity of the role.

Osheiga: Honestly, I don’t think it’s vital, since theoretically you could appoint moderators to do moderation and have the Ministry of Culture be much more engaged in providing on-site events. However, the fact the LC is elected for these tasks makes it much more transparent for people in the RMB and the LC election is probably the most exciting time for a lot of RMBers in terms of our democracy. If they were removed I think we would lose this core aspect of the TSP culture, even if on paper the same actions could be carried out by other positions.

Evinea: The Local Council is a definite part of RMB culture. The terms I have been on have overseen projects to spruce up this culture, and the reason why it is important is because culture is needed to make a region lively and create engagement in the region. I have already mentioned projects such as SwanVision which have been a recent success in RMB culture and I wish to continue on that path I started on as I think it is necessary for the Local Council to bring engagement to the region. Now, if the Local Council is replaced, there will definitely be a discontent and possible estranged relationship in this weird "gameside vs RMB" thing we have had going on in the region for the while. However, I think people are taking this too seriously. There is too much emotional attachment to the Local Council and I think people who would leave the region in furor or whatnot would rather be seen as an embarrassment to people, and be seen as a "good riddance" by sum. You cannot let emotions get over you in such matters. I would encourage people who still want to create culture in the region to join the Ministry of Culture and push of RMB engagement. While the Local Council served as the most direct means for RMB culture, there are still other means, and I think people need to take advantage of such tools instead of this overdramatic whining that has unfortunately clouded this issue. Maturity needs to be maintained.

Drew Durrnil: Should we end this debate here? Most of the candidates are now gone.

British Bharat: We should.

TescoPepsi: AND THAT ROUNDS OFF THIS LC DEBATE!!!!!

British Bharat: The first LC debate is finished, Evinea and Osheiga remember to answer missed questions.

LC Debate #2
Location: Discord
Moderator: Lile ulie islands
Candidates: Drew Durrnil, Evinea, and Chillicothe.

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Lile Ulie Islands: 1. If elected, how do you plan to cooperate with the offsite, forum-centered government?

Chillicothe: Try and negotiate with them. We should cooperate and coordinate more with each other.

Lile Ulie Islands (replying to Chillicothe): What do you mean by "negotiate with them." Are they, or should I say myself, a different political entity? Have different intentions? Are not part of the same region as you?

Chillicothe (replying to Lile Ulie Islands): Often times offsite users try to impose themselves on the on-site users. We should negotiate more seeing as many times we have differing interests.

Evinea: I plan on cooperating with the ministries that generally have similar goals of the Local Council, that being the Ministry of Culture. The Local Council recently has been getting better with cooperation with the Ministry of Culture in events such as the Chief Animal contest and the TSP Cup. That relationship continues to be strengthened over months and will continue to show its strengths in new events, particularly the upcoming Pride Month in June. Since the Local Council are on the RMB, we can be strong promoters of projects and recruiting so that can go for any ministry if they need more assistance from RMB players.

Drew Durrnil: I would encourage nations to join the forums and participate in the various activities there, as well as recruit nations into the cards guild/offsite WA voting. I will also advertise MoC events like Geoguessr.

Lile Ulie Islands: 2. Why should a voter trust you as their Local Councilor? Do you have the de facto experience needed to win the seat and be an effective leader? Are you a leader?

Chillicothe: Although I may be new, I have integrity. I'd also get people's opinions when making changes.

Drew Durrnil: From my experience in both the RMB and on the NS Forums, I have watched other people moderate so I know how to moderately fairly. I am also apolitical on the RMB, meaning that I will not let my political beliefs get in the way of my moderation decisions. I do have the experience needed to win the seat and be an effective leader. Since I am one of the longest-tenured nations on this RMB, I have seen numerous examples on how to moderate fairly and effectively. I am a leader as proven by me refounding the TSP cards guild.

Evinea: I think there are two main reasons why I should be trusted to be a Local Councillor:
1. I have a good track record and steady improvement and 2. I am supportive of engagement. When I was LC for the first, I did not get of to a smooth start, but with the help of Drystar and CD, I listened to them and applied their knowledge and improved myself as time went on. Even going into my second term, I continued to change my self for the better to protect the interests of the RMB, and provide them engagement. Ever since my first term, I sought to branch the LC beyond moderation and I think I have done so well. With the great success of SwanVision, it proved to be a move in the right direction and I wish to continue that trajectory with new events. With all this combined, I believe this makes me a leader for the RMB, willing to work hard to keep the RMB safe and engaged.

Lile Ulie Islands: 3. Would you encourage RMB users to get involved in the offsite regional government (in the Assembly, SPSF, through executive assistance etc...)?

Chillicothe: I would not push it as heavily as it is now. But I would encourage it somewhat.

Drew Durrnil: Yes, definitely. I feel like there aren't enough TSPers in offsite WA voting, so I wish to increase turnout there. I also feel like TSP is lacking compared to other regions in cards, which is why I want to get RMBers into cards and the TSP cards guild. I believe active participation in government is key to an active and lively region, which is why I will try to recruit RMBers, one of the most active hotbeds of activity in a region, to the Assembly.

Evinea: This is an interesting one. This isn’t a major goal of mine but I do believe it is important to get more individuals to work in our government. Participation is key so it may be effective in recruiting people to join. However, it should be a joint effort with the ministries, and possibly lead by the ministries to start up a recruitment campaign of sorts to get people more involved. However, I am always willing to cooperate with our ministries so I have no problem with trying to encourage people to join the government.

Lile Ulie Islands: 4. What is one thing you hope to achieve if elected? What's your main priority?

Chillicothe: Protecting freedom of speech. I will make sure nobody is punished for having an opinion.

Drew Durrnil: If elected, I would try to grow the community of the RMB as well as get RMBers into cards and the TSP cards guild. My main priority is getting RMBers involved offsite/in cultural events.

Evinea: My main priority (this one will be short because I have said it multiple times) is to create events. Event making should be a major priority of any Local Council so I hope to continue that. Literary Library, SwanVision, and Purgelympics are the three events I wish to run. In addition, I will help with any Pride Month activities.

Lile Ulie Islands: 5. If there was a mass spammer on the RMB--stuff that would get you deleted from the site--who is the first person you would notify? If someone was breaking the RMB rules for our region--but not the site rules--who would be the first person you would notify?

Chillicothe: I'd first contact fellow LCs to help. If that doesn't work, I'd contact the CRS.

Drew Durrnil: If there was a mass spammer breaking the site rules, the first people I would notify are the delegate/CRS. If someone was breaking the RMB rules (but not the site rules), I would first notify the other members of the LC.

Lile Ulie Islands: 6. Who is your biggest role model or icon on NationStates? Why?

Chillicothe: Curlyhoward, he was probably the most inviting LC in my opinion.

Drew Durrnil: Concrete Slab, they have really risen up in NSGP and the TSP government recently, and have inspired me to get into the WA community. With their actions, Concrete Slab has set a model of what I am trying to do in NS.