Kevin Flynn

This is my personal Twitter. Friends are welcome here, but no city business. For Denver City Council tweets and discussion go to @FlynnCD2.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@ricksallinger Working around Rick was always a treat. I will always remember him as a great competitor and friend. I will always *especially* remember some of the stories about the time we spent in Seattle covering the neo-Nazi RICO trial in '85. A very good human gone too soon.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@SteveStaeger Missouri loves company.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny Not a failure. You're talking about a multi-candidate contest. In a single position race, no one hurts their first choice by voting for their first choice. The failure here is electing two at-large on one ballot by mere plurality.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny Everyone knows they can vote for two. But they "strategically" bullet-vote (or single-shot) their fav. I talked with lots of voters who did this.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny Why? Check out the voting history on our at-large contests. Massive undervoting. CdeBaca and I teamed up two years ago to try to convert the two at large to districts 12 and 13, with redistricting and termed-out incumbents. Failed at council 6-7.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny One person, one vote is the best way. No voter should cast more votes in a single race than other voters. We choose who makes the runoff by every participating voter casting a ballot for their choice, and the top two go to runoff.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny That doesn't make sense. You have to vote first to know what the results would be. If you knew ahead of time...? None of this justifies electing a mayor supported by only 20 percent of all the voters. RCV makes that possible in a large field.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny Would not be true regardless. Most Denver runoffs since 1983 Pena-Tooley have generated higher turnout than the first election. The meaningful say is your vote -- one person, one vote.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny Not sure I would agree. Those 60% get another vote in runoff and more time to study two contenders, which was lacking in the field of 17. With RCV, those 60% might as well never have voted at all if their ballots get "exhausted"

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny I do think what we do now works. But tell me more about your suggestion for a hybrid.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny True. But I'm not looking for cheapest way to elect leaders, I'm looking for the most authentic and true majority way. Only via runoff can you increase turnout; majority of Denver runoffs since Peña-Tooley 1983 have seen increased turnout.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny Actually they can't fill out entire ballot; most RCVs allow only three to be ranked. That means voters are disenfranchised even if they rank three who don't make the cut in a 17-candidate race. Horrible system. Only two-round produces majority winner.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny And in RCV, it's disenfranchising. And in nearly every RCV race I examined, it absolutely did mean that the winning candidate didn't get a majority. It's very rare that they do in fact.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny Majority winners are rare. Of 46 RCV contests I examined, only 5 winners had actual majority. 10 had less than 40% of the vote. And the more candidates in play, the worse the result. In 9 major city mayorals w/RCV, not a single one "won" with majority.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@chrisFnicholson @AndyKnny But it IS correct. I documented an RCV race in which 3 of every 5 ballots had to be thrown out before a "winner" was declared who had only 21% of the votes. RCV almost never produces a majority winner, and that's not a good thing.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@LoDoDistrict @denverlibrary Blake Street Bath and Racquet Club.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@LoDoDistrict @denverpost @GettyImages Mayor Tom Currigan talking with Dana Crawford while walking down 15th Street toward Larimer Street.

[Kevin Flynn @kflynncolo]

@MVitco @LoDoDistrict @denverlibrary Most likely Market Street. Old City Hall was at Cherry Creek and Larimer.