User:Alexbarrella/sandbox

Alexander William Barrella (October 2nd, 1986), is an American cartoonist, designer, musician & politician who, since 2004, has maintained an online presence at butterflysmasher.com. In addition to personal / professional arts; he dabbles in political activism & has aspirations to transform society to be more equitable/humane via open advocacy for cool-good ideas.

Origins
Raised in Carrboro, North Carolina. Went to study at the Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, Georgia where he produced several short films & received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation.

Short Films

 * Last Meower
 * Tricky Lightbulb
 * Halt You Hoarders!

Cartooning Career
In the fall of 2010; Alex took an unpaid internship in Atlanta, Georgia at Radical Axis doing animation/design for [adult swim's] Squidbillies. Soon after; he retreated to Jacksonville, Florida to freelance on various projects like FX's Unsupervised before moving back to Atlanta to work at Bento Box Entertainment doing Key Animation on IFC's Out There & Hulu's The Awesomes. He would eventually rejoined the Squidbillies crew at Awesome Incorporated for more seasons / off-seasons.

Music
While unemployed in Boulder, Colorado in 2014; self-produced double-album Carfully Chosen Cat Coverlets along with bonus companion album The Z-Sides.

Released single 3LB on January 5th 2017.

Politics
=== 2017 Mayoral Campaign === On January 30th 2017; Alex announced via twitter his intention to campaign for the position of Mayor of Atlanta.

2017 Campaign Website

2017 Core Platform


 * Universal healthcare
 * Criminal justice reform
 * Roadway/sideway overhaul
 * Open government/ online voting
 * Basic income
 * Public internet

Went to be featured on the local news May 24th 2017 where he was framed as a creative outsider candidate. After failing to officially qualify for the ballot ; opted to continue the race as a write in candidate.

Censorship by Public Official/Entity
During the 2017 campaign; peer candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms; then sitting city council-member; blocked Alex on twitter for critical posting about (??). As per Knight Institute v. Trump; her publicly verifiable actions were openly hostile not just towards the goals of fair/open elections but to 1st amendment law as well. After taking office; the official @CityofAtlanta handle as well as several other public social media accounts run by the city began to systematically block Alex's main account @AlexBarrella; as well as some 30 alternate twitter accounts.

After submitting an open record request for the block list of @KeishaBottoms & @CityofAtlanta & receiving no response; Alex was featured on the news covering these blockings / subsequent unblockings. The unblockings coincided directly with the release of the record request.

=== 2021 Mayoral Campaign === Since claiming the results of the 2017 election undemocratic & illegitimate; Alex has continued running for Mayor settings sights on the election set to occur November 2nd 2021.

2021 Campaign Website

2021 Core Platform

 * Fix broken systems of democracy - make voting/ballot access equitable / democratic 
 * Basic income + reparations  -$1k to $1.6k a month + other transformative economic policy 
 * Housing/renters rights  -rent control, tenant rights, squatting rights 
 * Un-establish politics  -make open public participation in government as hindrance free as possible 
 * Roadway/sideway overhaul  -wholistic repaving of asphalt; comprehensive sidewalk coverage, traffic lights which have sense 
 * Public housing/utilities/transit  -shelter should be a right; data/power/water & transport should be a given as well 
 * Physical/mental healthcare for all - no one should go sick of mind / body because lack of funds 
 * Decriminalize justice - refocus enforcement efforts away from petty crime of desperation to more serious public safety tasks