Council has an executive meeting at 4pm, and the regular council meeting at 6pm. If the community decides they want to rally 40-60 people to practice their public speaking skills during agenda item #6 (which is Public Appearances and, coincidentally, earlier in the meeting than something like agenda item 8C7), then it could, theoretically, extend the meeting from its usual 2 hours to something like 5 hours.
You can literally talk about anything under Earth’s scalp-sizzling sun, as long as you follow the guidelines which, lately, don’t seem to be enforced (proceed with caution), even if you mention a colloquial term for feces on your sidewalk.
• You can read a chapter from your favorite book
• You can recite (or sing, I checked) lyrics from your favorite song
• You can perform a 3-minute puppet show, although this has been done before…
The objective would be to simply take up space and time. Well, and the camaraderie that arises from participating in a shared group activity, of course.
Why? Because we can.
We are the ones working to stay informed and engaged.
We are the ones taking care of our neighbors and friends.
We are the ones building the community we want to see in our hoods.
With eight people (so far) running for three council seats, this election cycle is already off to an interesting start. We need to show the present council and council candidates how much we value being able to speak and be heard. Even if we feel they are not listening, our communities are listening. And showing up and speaking out is one of the greatest forms of advocacy there is.
Whaddya say – CAVE people party at city hall? Meet outside 30 minutes beforehand to share donuts and other snackies while first-amendmenting on some topic or another?
• Shade canopy at transit stops
• Actual affordable housing
• MurderFox mascot proclamation
• A protest conducted entirely of call-and-response clapping cadences
• Demanding no more Chick Fillets in north Tempe
• Better animal welfare ordinances
• Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera
Also check out other Meetups in Tempe, Entertainment events in Tempe, Workshops in Tempe.
