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BALLOT
Article 2: ¶8 When is an Admin Removed from Office
Question 1:
1. An Admin cannot be removed from office without due process.
A. Yes
B. No
Question 2:
2. Except for those special cases listed, no single violation or act of negligence will be sufficient to remove an admin from office. If a hearing is convened, a pattern of repeated violations or negligence damaging to the board must be shown, and an admin must have received warnings and Formal Complaints.
A. Yes
B. No
Question 3:
3. When an admin resigns or is removed from office, a new admin is selected to complete the term of office.
A. Yes
B. No
Question 4: Grounds for Warnings
1. Being absent from the board for more than 72 hours without notifying the other admins, except in personal emergency or computer failure.
2. Failing to repond in timely fashion to business-related emails and PM's from members and other admins
3. Posting hidden at times when the admin is needed to be visible.
4. Special treatment of posters or arbitrary enforcement of the by-laws.
5. Conduct Unbecoming an Administrator, such as discourtesy or intimidation, or attempting to influence poster behavior on other messageboards.
SELECT ONE:
A. I accept all five grounds for warnings, with 72 hour limit to absences
B. I accept all five grounds for warnings, with [#] hour limit to absences
fill in the hour limit you prefer
C. I do not accept grounds [#] fill in the number(s) of all grounds you do not accept
Question 5: Procedure for Warnings
1. The action or omission must be brought to the attention of the current
admins.
2. Two admins must agree that a warning is justified.
3. These two admins will notify the admin under complaint and give that person a chance to explain themselves. If the explanation is satisfactory, nothing more need be done.
4. If two current admins still believe a warning is justified, they will write briefly the reason and forward this to the Mayor by email.
5. If the current admins are in disagreement as to whether action is required, no warning will be filed.
6. Warnings are private and kept on the record by [options are given in the next question
7. Warnings are purged after the admin leaves office.
SELECT ONE:
A. I accept all seven steps of the procedure
B. I do not acccept step(s)[#] fill in the number(s) of all steps you do not accept
Question 6: How is the record of warnings maintained
A. The record of warnings is maintained by the Mayor and does not become public unless it aggregates to a Formal Complaint.
B. The record of warnings is maintained in a thread in the admin view post only section of the admin forum during the term of the admin in question, after which it is deleted.
C. The record of warnings is maintained by the Mayor. A member who makes a complaint is told if it resulted in a warning or not. [So warnings in effect are no longer private.]
D. The record of warnings is maintained in a thread in the admin view post only section of the admin forum during the term of the admin in question, after which it is deleted. A member who makes a complaint is told if it resulted in a warning or not. [So warnings in effect are no longer private.]
Question 7: Ground for Formal Complaints
1. Three warnings for the same action or omission.
2. Being absent from the board for more than two weeks and failing to notify the other admins in advance to arrange for a temporary admin.
3. Deliberate unilateral actions for which the by-laws require a majority of admins to agree, or any other deliberate and direct violation of the by laws.
4. Failing to convene and oversee an arbitration when required, or refusing to convene a hearing on a ban when this is necessary.
SELECT ONE:
A. I accept all four grounds for Formal Complaints
B. I do not acccept grounds[#] fill in the number(s) of all grounds you do not accept
Question 8: Procedure for Formal Complaints
Option A contains the following steps:
1. The action or omission that is the basis of the Formal Complaint must be brought to the attention of the current admins.
2. Two admins must agree that a Formal Complaint is justified.
3. These two will notify the admin under complaint and give that person a chance to explain themselves. If the explanation is satisfactory, nothing more need be done.
4. If the two current admins still believe a Formal Complaint is justified, they will write briefly the reason and forward this to the Mayor by email.
5. If the current admins are in disagreement as to whether action is required, the Formal Complaint will be filed but it will be marked “Disputed.†Disputed complaints are purged when the admin’s term of office ends and will not bar them from serving as a temporary admin.
Option B contains the following steps:
1. The action or omission that is the basis of the Formal Complaint must be brought to the attention of the current admins.
2. Two admins must agree that the matter justifies a Formal Complaint rather than a warning.
3. An arbitration for Formal Complaints will be convened to determined whether or not a Formal Complaint should be filed the convention would then have to consider what form this arbitration should take when they consider the judicial part of the agenda.
SELECT ONE:
A. I accept Option A as it is written
B. I accept Option A except for Step(s) [#] fill in all the steps you would like to have reopened for discussion
C. I accept Option B as it is written
D. I accept Option B except for Step(s) [#] fill in all the steps you would like to have reopened for discussion
E. I do not like either of these procedures and want this clause left open for discussion
Question 9: Time Limit for Formal Complaints
Formal Complaints are posted where all members can read them and are kept on the record after term of office ends for a period of [A, B, C below] after which they expire and are removed from the record.
SELECT ONE:
A. Six months
B. Nine months
C. One year
Question 10: Penalty for Formal Complaints
During the time that Formal Complaints are on record, the member may not serve as temp admin or begin a new term of office as full admin.
A. Yes
B. No
Question 11: Grounds for Removal of an Admin
1. Pattern of Absences, Failure to Respond And Other Warnings: If a series of warnings or violations results in three Formal Complaints, the other admins may consider whether to convene a hearing to remove that admin. If five Formal Complaints have been filed, a hearing is required. [Note: this means there must be at least 15 separate complaints about the admin.]
2. Desertion: An admin who deserts the board and cannot be contacted for a period of 30 days should be removed from office.
3. Extreme Abuse of Power: a hearing may be convened if an admin deliberately and maliciously bans a member who is entitled to a hearing or suspends posting rights without due process, except in the course of exercising extraordinary powers.
4. An Immediate Hearing is required if:
....a. An admin reveals private information obtained as a result of their office, such as profile information that members have made hidden or the contents of secret ballots cast by PM or email
....b. Gives another poster access to the admin panel
....c. Uses the board to boast about criminal behaviors and/or encourage other posters to engage in them
SELECT ONE:
A. I accept all four grounds for removal
B. B. I do not acccept grounds[#] fill in the number(s) and letter(s) of all grounds you do not accept
Question 12: Procedure for Removal of an Admin
1. Two admins must agree that the charges against an admin are sufficiently serious and not manufactured, and that a hearing is justified. The admin who is considered for removal will be notified by PM and by email, and the call for a hearing will be posted in the Jury Room.
2. The posting rights of the admin in question will be restricted to the Jury Room and Admin powers will be revoked for the duration of the hearing.
The convention will have to consider what form this hearing should take when they consider the judicial part of the agenda.
SELECT ONE:
A. I accept both provisions
B. I reject Provision #1
C. I reject Provision #2
Questions 13 through 19: Penalties for Removal of an Admin
An admin can be removed from office and barred from holding office in the future for a length of time commensurate with the offense. All penalties must be longer than three months because admins cannot serve consecutive terms anyway.
Questions 13: Pattern of Absences and Failure to Respond
A. 1 year
B. Other than one year [#] fill in the number you prefer
Questions 14: Extreme Abuse of Power
A. 1 year
B. Other than one year [#] fill in the number you prefer
Questions 15: Desertion
A. 1 year
B. Other than one year [#] fill in the number you prefer
Questions 16: Breach of Privacy
A. six months
B. one year
C. other [#] fill in the number you prefer
Questions 17: Access to the admin panel
A. six months
B. one year
C. other [#] fill in the number you prefer
Questions 18: Encouraging criminal behavior
A. 1 year
B. Other than one year [#] fill in the number you prefer
Question 19: The offices that currently exist are Mayor and Administrator. Should a member barred from holding office also be barred from serving on a jury?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I wish to discuss this question after we know what kinds of juries exist,
and amend this article accordingly at a later date
Question 20: We have a paragraph about admins who have to leave office for RL reasons and we don’t know where to put it or what to call it.
“An admin who finds that they will not be able to serve for a period longer than than four full weeks should resign, because it is not possible to replace them with a temporary admin. This will not affect their eligibility to serve as a full admin in the future or as a temp admin at any time, but their name will return to the bottom of the roster of full admins as if they had served their term.â€
SELECT ONE:
A. Call this a dismissal and include it in the paragraph about removals, because if a person is forced to resign then it is a dismissal and not a resignation.
B. Call this a resignation because it is not nice to say a person has been dismissed when in fact they have agreed to resign for the sake of the by-laws.
C. Give this provision it’s own paragraph: Article 2, ¶9 and title it “When Resignation is Required,†because it does not belong in the paragraph that deals with things an Admin might do wrong.
Newly added option based on Prim's suggestion:
D. Or have a paragraph that reads as follows:
“Incoming admins must agree to resign if at any time in their term they will be away from the board for a continuous period longer than four full weeks, because it is not possible to replace them with a temporary admin. Such a resignation will not affect their eligibility to serve as a full admin in the future or as a temp admin at any time, but their name will return to the bottom of the roster of full admins as if they had served their term. If an admin faces this circumstance and does not resign, then this is considered Grounds for Removal.â€