board77

Members of B77:

Here is a summary of the Charter Articles we have worked on so far. This is posted for you to discuss until May 2, and then we will have a ratification vote to approve or reject this text.

The full charter can be read HERE

Please discuss in this thread. If there are parts of the text that are very controversial, we will remove them before the ratification vote and save them for more detailed discussion with the membership later on. So please express your opinions freely.

Thanks!
Jn

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Article 1: Board 77 is a member-moderated board

Article 3 (summarized): Administrators

We will have five to seven full admins, depending on needs of the board. There are also admins-in-training, two at a time, who may exercise routine powers while supervised. ¶1

Terms of office are three months long, and appointments are staggered to ensure the presence of an experienced admin all the time. ¶1

Members who are 18 or older become eligible after 6 months of contributory presence on the board, at which point they may volunteer to enter the admin pool and may begin training. ¶1, ¶2

There will be an Office of the Mayor created, who will keep track of member join dates and eligibility, who will contact potential volunteers, schedule terms of office, and maintain other details concerning the activity of admins. ¶2 [How the Mayor is chosen, and how to contest his/her decisions will be decided later.]

Members who volunteer to be admins will not stand for elections. Their entrance into the pool of admin-in-training will be posted prominently, and the Charter provides for a private objection process in ¶3

Members will serve terms in the order in which they entered the pool. Exceptions to this, and the informal guidelines used in the selection of admins are in ¶3

Admins have Routine Powers listed in ¶4, and they have Special and Emergency Powers listed in ¶5. It is suggested that members read these in full.

There is an admin code of conduct ¶6which volunteers will read and agree to when they enter the pool.

The Charter also contains provisions for contesting admin decisions ¶7 and removing admins from office ¶8.

jn

Looks excellent but then it always does .

One question though since you're planning to move this over to business to discuss with the membership at large:

We're going to stick with the ratification process hashed out, right?

Discussion Time for Members: Ten Days
Duration of Vote: 10 days, two weekends inclusive
Quorum and majority for ratification: 67% majority with 30% quorum (39 members must vote, based on 127 members)
Quorum eligibility: Members as of March 12, 2005

If so, then it's perhaps necessary to check the voting rights of some members who registered past the date. I'd also like to suggest that a mass email is sent out to all members once we get to the voting state.


_______________
Resident witchâ„¢

Paul Klee, 'Ancient sounds'

Alandriel -

We're going to stick with the ratification process hashed out, right?

Yes, and that means that the discussion will go on for two weeks, actually. Or would you rather there be more than 10 days of voting? We're starting on a Friday, so we'll need 24 days to have the vote cover two weekends.

If so, then it's perhaps necessary to check the voting rights of some members who registered past the date.

I thought that everyone would be allowed to vote, and the March 12 date was for determining that a quorum would be 39 people. 25 people joined after March 23 and most have been contributing members. And of those who joined before March 12, a few have simply left. Some were never really here - they have no posts this year at all.

So I would think that all could vote, but we need at least 39 voters for the vote to count. Looking at the admin vote, this number seems to me still quite reasonable for our participation level.

I'd also like to suggest that a mass email is sent out to all members once we get to the voting state.

Excellent idea, Alandriel. If this admins have a way to do this, it would be wonderful.

Jn

What's the best way to do this, Alandriel? Use the "Administrator" ID and the B77 account? Jn should probably write it--she's been the voice of the constitutional process.

I also would like to put up a global announcement with a link to the discussion thread, so it's easy for people to click over there from any forum. I'll be removing the global announcement about the new forums tonight. I'll leave the election winner anouncements up into the weekend, by which time I hope I'll have the admin-related threads sorted out, pruned back, and updated.

I don't mind doing this, but I think the email would be just as effective coming from you, Prim.

We won't know the link until you move the thread ... but the other thread that folks will be referred to is the actual document in this forum. I'll put that link in the thread (along with a new intro) after you've moved it.

Jn

I won't be able to get anything done between moving the thread in the morning and doing the permissions at noon my time--I'll be in a meeting all morning. When did you want the email to go out? (And I can certainly write it if you wish, but if so I'd want to run a draft past you.)

Any time during the day, Prim. The email is a courtesy - an extra reminder to the members. I don't think it has to go out at the crack of dawn.

I will be online tomorrow on and off ... if you want to send me a copy of the email before it goes out, either a PM or the email account I use for the committee.

Thanks!

Jn

I was planning to crib most of it from your new intro to the thread.

Once it's written.

So I'll get something to you tomorrow afternoon after all the permissions are sorted, and then send out the email when you OK it.

Just trying to get this straight:
Discussion starts Friday (today ) 22Mar -> 10 days to Sunday 01May
Poll starts Monday 02May -> 10 days incl. 2 weekends ->concludes Sunday 15May (because of including two weekends)

... just want to make sure I've got this alright with dates

I have no quibbles for ALL members being allowed to vote (after all we're effectively closed till all this is sorted). I was (sadly!) just nitpicking there

As to sending the email: it won't matter from which Admin ID you're sending it from Prim. It will only read 'from the management' at the bottom (or some such thing) if you send it through: Admin pannel -> General Admin -> Mass email.
Depending how you've set up groups, you can exclude the RP ID's from receiving the email. They don't need to get one for obvious reasons

What I meant though was to send the email once we get to the voting stage which, if my schedule above is right, would be on 02May (so you still have time to come up with the wording - which I'm sure you'll do just fabulously )

Putting up a GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT from the start of the discussion is definitely a good idea and keeping it up there for the entire duration. Only with the email I would hold off until the time for voting comes.

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Resident witchâ„¢

Okay, I'll wait for the vote to email.

Moving this now!

Absolutely splendid work, everyone!

Jnyusa, you are a marvel!

Has it been determined or discussed, how long the term of Mayor is, and how the Mayor is chosen? Will the Mayor function in all the aspects of a full admin? Is s/he like an honorary admin (since it appears the Mayor will need access to the Admin forum). Those of you who have been working on this and have thought about it more, how do you see the office of Mayor comparing in demands of time and energy, to the office of admin.?

The Mayor wil preside at the Hundred-weight Feast and have flower dumped on his head.
I believe if you read the document so far, it details the Mayor's responsibilities. As far as I can remember, the Mayor has no admin powers, but is responsible for keeping track of the admins and posters voting rights etc. He/she is also going to be part of dispute settlement.
I believe the Mayor will be elected like the current admins, but for the life of me I can't remember if we discussed that part or not.
I think I should go and reread the document so far.

Thank you for the amazing effort you've put into this!! I'm going to print it out and read in the bus home.

Ok Cerin here is what has been discussed about the Mayor so far.


• The mayor will be responsible for keeping track of the eligibility of members, the order in which they enter the pool of full administrators, and the actual scheduling of terms of office. [approved April 9, 2005]

• The Mayor is held accountable for determining what constitutes a ‘continuous, visible, and contributory presence,’ approaching members so qualified to obtain their agreement to serve, and entering the names of those who volunteer into the pool of admins-in-training. That roster will be prominently posted, and volunteers will remain on the training roster for at least ten days. [approved April 18, 2005]

While volunteers are on the training roster, all members are responsible for reviewing the roster to determine whether they know any good reason why a particular volunteer would not make a good administrator and should not immediately enter the pool of full administrators when their training is complete. If no member expresses a concern or objection volunteers will enter the pool of full administrators without delay. If a member does have a concern or objection to a particular volunteer, these must be sent by email to the Administrators account, where they will also be forwarded to the Mayor so that the Mayor together with current Administrators can review them for merit. [approved April 18, 2005]

• If the concern or objection involves a serious violation of by-laws for which a formal action of some kind is required, then the volunteer will not enter the pool of full administrators until the issue is resolved. The Mayor and current Administrators together will inform the volunteer immediately, attempt to verify the merit of the accusation insofar as possible, and if it has merit they will initiate whatever procedure is called for in the by-laws. If exonerated, the volunteer may enter the pool of full administrators when training is complete. If restrictions are placed on the volunteer as a result of the procedure, they will not enter the pool of full administrators until the by-laws allow them to do so. [approved April 18, 2005]

• The Mayor will retain record of these concerns and objections and make sure that any full Administrator who is coaching the volunteer knows of them as well. When the volunteer expresses his/her readiness to enter the pool of administrators, including their correction of any prior deficiency, and the full Administrator who has been coaching them agrees, the Mayor will send an email to any member who has raised a prior objection and ask permission to lift the objection, explaining what has been done to rectify the problem. If the member still objects, they must explain why and the issue will be revisited as before. If no response is received within seven days, the objection will be lifted and the volunteer may enter the pool of full administrators. The pool of full administrators will be posted prominently. [approved April 18, 2005]

• Guidelines in the selection of Administrators: Members will generally serve their term of office when it is their turn, but it is also advisable that the group of administrators serving at any particular time provide coverage for as many time zones as possible and include at least one person whose native language is not English. The mayor may adjust the scheduling of terms to meet this ideal situation as long as this does not result in members jumping too far forward in the queue or having their term of office postponed more than once when it is their turn and they are available. Members who are entering the pool of administrators should read and agree to the Code of Conduct for Administrators, Paragraph 6, below. [approved April 9, 2005]

• The record of warnings is maintained by the Mayor and does not become public unless it aggregates to a Formal Complaint [approved by plurality, April 19, 2005]
• Warnings are purged after the admin leaves office.
[approved April 18, 2005 unless otherwise noted]

Holby - you're organised ?

Nin wrote:

Holby - you're organised ?

You are such a sweetheart Nin. I could just kiss and hug you till death.
Alas no I am not organized or intelligent or anything. I have just mastered the art of copy and paste.

sm0000ch

Holby, that was very sweet of you to cut and paste for me, rather than suggesting that I go and read the charter for myself.

Actually, I did read over the charter before asking my questions.

I was wondering, for people who have considered the idea of Mayor at length, and who have a better feel for what it really means to be an admin. time-wise and such, if they see the Mayoral duties as being a similar type of commitment with respect to time and energy, or if they think it will require a good deal more time and absorption, or a good deal less.

I think I would know better what I thought of the idea of a Mayor, if I knew how the Mayor would be chosen and how long the term would be, and stuff like that.

:):)

Voronwë would be the person to ask, as this is his baby. Or so I am led to believe.
I do think there should be some sort of overseer, but I am not sure if the Mayor would have that capacity.

We haven't discussed how the mayor would be elected, or for how long. But here are my impressions:

The reason for having a mayor is to have someone around over the long term who can maintain necessary records, keep charge of the admin volunteer list, handle the emails needed to move people into the training pool and on to admin status, etc. The shortcoming of our three-month admin terms is lack of continuity and some awkward handoffs; for example, there are one or two key passwords that will have to be changed every time an admin leaves office, which means at least eight times a year. It's probably best if not all of B77's records and administration have to be juggled from person to person like this.

But the members voted for short admin terms to keep B77 from having an entrenched power structure. Since the mayor would have a longer term, I'd think he or she would have concomitantly less power than an admin. Some of this is already provided for: The mayor handles all the communication relative to making a trainee into a full admin, but it's the full admin doing the training who decides when the trainee is ready. So the mayor is a record keeper, but not a gatekeeper.

The mayor is the one who judges whether a member has had the "contributory" presence on the board required for admin eligibility. When the committee gets into the specifics of the role, I will bring up the point that there should be some recourse if members or admins see the mayor making this judgment unfairly.

There's also been a little talk about "ceremonial" or "spokesman" roles for the mayor, but I am not certain what those would be. Again, nothing has been settled.

Thanks, Prim. That was very helpful.