[jboot]

In order to obtain the franchise, public employees should have to prove that there is no conflict of interest. Once again, the bar should be high.

I forgot to mention in my first post that there should be a limited number or petitions considered in any given year.

[fieldmarshaldj]

There was a reason why residents of DC were not supposed to be casting votes, for that very reason of conflict of interest. Briefly, after the Civil War, they gave DC a Delegate and elected Mayor. The Republicans elected were a fiasco (one of whom went on an orgiastic spending spree that was so bad, they had to dump the office of Mayor for the next 100 years and go to appointive Board of Commissioners).