<!-- Begin

SkriptID="00240"

Head1="";
Text1="A successful hood needs certain rules and routines. This is the basis of any community structure, and it would need a Hood Council to ensure those rules are obeyed, but also that the structure is benefiting the majority residing in hood. Your hood can either elect just one single Spokes Sim (mayor) or go for a full Hood Council counting several individuals.<p>Before you elect a Hood Council, you need to know how much and what kind of administration there will be and how many sims that need to get involved. If the hood counts only 10 households it might be enough to hire just one Spokes Sim, chosen by the residents. If the hood is expanded or involves a certain level of administration, then a Hood Council counting 3 to 5 members might be a better option. some might even require the Spokes Sim/Mayor to have a job in the Politics career.<p><img vspace=10 border=0 src=\"img/00240a.jpg\"><p>This article will deal with the election of a 5 members Hood Council. We'll see how this is done in Simmerville, as of April 2004, and I suggest each hood to do their own adjustments of this routine to match their local needs.";

Head2="Detect the interests and needs of your hood";
Text2="When deciding the number of Hood Council members, you should first check what community matters would they be in charge of? Most hoods are different in terms of social status, economy, interests and jobs.<p>In your hood there might be a large group of sims with certain interests, i.e. superstars, children, old sims, pet owners, artists etc. Such groups should actually be reflected in the hood administration, and they might even deserve their own representative. In any hood there will be some conflicting interests between groups, and it's easier to solve such conflicts when the groups have their representatives.";

Head3="";
Text3="A fair election routine ought to represent as many sides of the community as possible.<p><u>Interest groups</u><br>If half the residents work as musicians there should be at least one Hood Council member with an expressed interest in music.<p><u>Demography</u><br>Many teens in the hood would justify a teens' representative.<p><u>Geography</u><br>Make sure that the Hood Council represents several parts of the hood. A large hood can be split into several election zones. Simmerville has 3 such zones, given by the hoods history.<p>In Simmerville we have both a Parents' representative and a Pet Owners' representative. They made sure parents/children were happy, and that pet owners had enough parks to walk their pets. They also spoke up when the Hood Council introduced new taxes affecting these groups. In your hood there might be other groups, look around!";

Head4="Hood Council members";
Text4="Nobody would like a job that contains no agenda and absolutely no responsibility. When deciding the Hood Council positions, keep in mind that there must be ways they can actually achieve something. The more vague the agenda is, the harder it will be to do something that residents will recognize and applaud. Below are the 5 positions of the Simmerville Hood Council up for election April 2004:<p><u>Spokes Sim (chair, mayor)</u><br>Head of the Hood council, foreign affairs (includes downtown, Magic Town etc) and community planning at large. This member leads meetings and co-ordinates the work of the other councillors, always knowing what is in the works.<p><u>Finances</u><br>Head of the hood's economy including hood taxes. Local stores and businesses. Building restrictions and welfare services including general SimCity services.<p><u>Culture and sports</u><br>Secure the hood's past as well as future through cultural activities and recreation arenas.<p><u>Parents' representative</u><br>Ensuring family values and security, as well as a good environment for children. <p><u>Pet Owners' representative</u><br>Ensure a good environment for pets, regular contact with the local Kennel Club.";

Head5="";
Text5="Each position will require certain qualifications based on skills, personality and interests, see below. Locals who would like to get elected can read up on related subjects. Also note that these jobs will not suit all hoods, you should look for your own local combination.<p>If your hood is split into regional zones, you would need to assure there are representatives from all zones and avoid a zone to become over represented. It might take a couple tricky adjustments to make it all fit, but as long as all members qualified in the first candidate round it ought to be accepted to hire a runner up if he/she lives in a not yet represented election zone. In Simmerville each zone is allowed no more than 2 members.";

Head6="How to run the election";
Text6="In a modern democracy a Hood Council would be elected, but in most Sim hoods it would be more fair to pick the Hood Council members based on their skills, interests and how much they get involved in community matters (non household friends could be a good indicator, although you might disagree). You might prefer completely different indicators for your election.<p>When electing the Hood Council members you could start finding the residents who qualify on a general basis. This will allow you to narrow down the number of candidates, making the rest of the election process easier.<p>In Simmerville any candidate must have a political interest at 8 or higher, at least 2 non-household friends and at least 5 skill points (total). If these requirements result in too few candidates, adjust them and try again. Summing up political interest points, number of individual friends and skill marks will give each candidate a total score that you will need to rank them. In Simmerville this set of requirements gives 8 candidates. If you do the same, you should now have a rather limited list of candidates and you can begin to look for more specific qualifications for each position they should fill.<p>When counting points, it might be useful to use a diagram. Fill out the information and start by deciding the positions that are obvious. Below you see the results of the Simmerville election.<p><img vspace=10 border=0 src=\"img/00240b.jpg\">";

Head7="";
Text7="The Spokes Sim is obvious, and so is the Parents Representative. Note that because they both live in the same zone of Simmerville, the 3rd candidate (Arthur Gamming) from that zone is excluded from the Hood Council.<p><u>Spokes Sim</u><br>The candidate with the highest total score.This is probably the easiest pick. In Simmerville Juliana Valentino had a total of 45 points which is 7 more than the runner up.<p><u>Finance</u><br>The candidate with the highest economy interest.Only 2 of the remaining 7 candidates do have a significant interest in money. Angela Gobelin would be the first choice, but the runner up, Marta T. Mervil, would be preferred if Mrs Gobelin is needed for any other position.<p><u>Culture & Sports</u><br>The sim with the highest music+sports interest.In Simmerville Arthur Gamming scores 11 points, but he is excluded because his zone has got 2 councillors already. So this position goes to one of the 3 runner ups that all are scoring 10 points. None of them has been chosen for other positions and it's difficult to choose either of them. At this point it's totally up to the hood to decide which criteria should count. In simmerville it counted that 2 of those 3 candidates represented zone A, which also has the higher population. Finally, Clive Appleton was chosen with Marta Mervil as the runner up, because of Mr Appleton's higher total score (28).<p><u>Parents rep.</u><br>The sim with best average relation to same household children. The 2nd obvious candidate is BB Hanssen for Parents' Representative, because none of the other candidates (except the Spokes Sim) have got children.<p><u>Pet owner's rep.</u><br>The sim with best average relation to same household pets. Steve Grumblin has the best (average) relation to an same household pet, 48 points. Angela Gobelin is the runner up with only 2 points less.";

Head8="After the election";
Text8="As soon as the Hood Council is elected, the Spokes Sim should be told to host a first meeting, which can be quite a challenge if they didn't already meet.<p>Also remember to inform all residents of who the new Hood Council members are. It might be a good idea to introduce them at a local community meeting. It will also be a good idea to let the old and new members over lap with a month. This depends on how many changes are caused by the election.<p>From now on these fine men and women will be your hood's voice, being heard in local debates or even on the SUN boards.";

Head9="";
Text9="";

Head10="";
Text10="";

ExtraText="<img align=left hspace=5 border=0 NOSAVE src=\"../../services/hood_school/hoodschool2.gif\">Congratulations! You just completed the first chapter of our Hood School! The next chapter will focus on <a href=\"62248.html\">the hood's finances</a>.";

Photo="";

/*
Normal="font face=\"arial\" size=3"
Title="font face=\"verdana,arial\" size=6><b"
Ingress="font face=\"arial\" size=4 ><i"
Mini="font face=\"arial\" size=2"

Colourextra="purple"

Colourbox-family="green"
Colourbox-fortune="blue"
Colourbox-knowledge="brown"
Colourbox-fame="yellow"
Colourbox-romance="red"
*/

document.write(Head1);

// End -->

