Office of Lincoln Governor Lok (Lincoln's next governor!!!)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Congratulations, sir!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Governor Lok, this bill is awaiting your signature or veto.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Technically, the governor does not sign/veto constitutional amendments — once passed by the Assembly, they are put to a public referendum.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Hey lok, heard you were appointing Scott an Assemblyman. That’s fine except he’s still in office. I’d like to ask you if you’ll follow Atlasia law and have him step down from his current office instead of letting him stay in two offices at once like some have criminally gotten away with before.

The Constitution of Atlasia specifically allows for the appointment of sitting officeholders to additional offices under the republic, so long as they are not elected to multiple offices which they then proceed to hold simultaneously. This principle was endorsed and adopted by the Constitutional Convention in 2016 and subsequently enshrined in precedent by both Federalists and Laborites. If you disagree with this practice, that is of course your right, but to call it "criminal" is simply inaccurate.

EDIT: Furthermore, Scott is not actually a delegate yet—he has been nominated, but not sworn the oath of office—so even if it were against the law to occupy two offices at once (it is not), no crime would have been committed simply by Lok nominating him for the position.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

As you've been unfairly accused of misconduct yourself, Fhtagn, I'm sure you understand that these issues are rarely as simple as an officeholder just plain not doing their job because they're a partisan hack, or whatever. Speaking as someone who has on several occasions in the past two weeks alone spoken with the governor on the state of the region, I can testify that Lok is by no means "choosing inactive Labor Party members" as a matter of policy—the depressing fact of the matter is that the number of willing applicants for these positions has dwindled to near zero, people don't respond to private messages or public appeals for applicants, and (especially in the last month, as final exams and then the holiday season have sapped attention from the forum) national activity has entered a seasonal slump. This is not a problem unique to Lincoln—from what I can tell, it's happening everywhere—but Lincoln was in the weakest position going into the fall, due to festering structural problems that long precede this administration.

You say the governor has installed "inactive" candidates in office—but that's not quite accurate. Griffin, Clyde, and Sam Tilden were not zombie voters plucked from the census to fill a seat; all three were active posters, chosen for their history of activity and their demonstrated initiative. Griffin actually completed his (albeit brief) tenure competently; he was succeeded by Clyde and then by Tilden, both of whom entered office full of promise only to disappear without warning. That's not the governor's fault, any more than it is the president's fault when their predecessor unexpectedly vanishes minutes after declaring World War III.

The argument that the governor ought to be constrained by partisan considerations in times of inactivity, especially after an election in which the number of candidates equalled the number of seats (thus rendering the argument that any particular party emerged from thence with a mandate), strikes me as a poor one—as I recall, the old Northeast once mandated that those appointed to fill vacancies in the Assembly share a party with their predecessor, until it was finally recognized that this only hurt the region by requiring the governor to select sub-optimal candidates to adhere to a rigid understanding of representative governance. Furthermore, unless I am mistaken, Scott will not hold this seat indefinitely; with the next elections more than two months away, his nomination constitutes a temporary appointment until a special election may be held, at which point the voters will have the opportunity either to extend his tenure (should he choose to run) or opt for an alternative.

What worries me hear is that everyone seems to be focussing on a single individual as the source of all evil while ignoring the broader structural and practical problems facing the region. Despite the aforementioned scarcity of applicants, the Assembly has recently voted to create yet another appointed position—the Election Administrator—a bill that passed with bipartisan support with votes from the very same people who bemoan the paucity of good appointments.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I'd also add that I'm yet to hear anyone give a real explanation for why Scott is an unacceptable choice to (temporarily) represent Lincoln in the Assembly. The argument that he "has his hands full" in the Senate doesn't hold water; his term ends the day after tomorrow. Scott is far from a raging extremist or an empty suit for the Labor Party—he is one of our nation's most distinguished citizens, a dedicated public servant with impeccable credentials, one who has enjoyed bipartisan support throughout his long career. Until a few hours ago, I had never heard anyone suggest a vote for Scott was a vote for "generic Labor" or "putting party interests before the country," and I'm a somewhat baffled that this seems to be the narrative. I do wonder what it is imagined Scott will do in the course of this next week that will constitute so hideous a rebuke of the will of the people that his nomination must be opposed simply because he is a Laborite.

Perhaps the leviers of these criticisms were unaware that the appointment made was temporary only, in which case I can sort-of see where they're coming from—though I'd argue this is one more example of the importance of actually reading the constitution before jumping to conclusions.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I know at least 2 people, of which I have told lok about, who would be elated to be appointed to the assmbly. It is less an issue od scarcity of applicants and more an issue of not being willing to look at applicants on the opposong side of the poltical aisle.

I don't know what you and Lok talk about in private, though I'm afraid I don't see how it is that the governor is unwilling to "look at applicants on the opposing side of the political aisle" when you (a Federalist) are currently serving as his appointed Lt. Governor, and the poster who created this vacancy was himself appointed to this seat while a member of Citizens. Tilden, of course, was appointed to replace a Laborite—yet none raised concerns that this subverted the will of the people then.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

People who are actually registered in the region have every right to question the Governor's motives, and it would mean much more for the Governor to defend himself rather than current and former Labor Party leaders (one of which is registered in Fremont, not Lincoln).

I never said they didn't. Not sure what my being registered in Fremont has anything to do with it