Michael
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Imperial Allthing Comments - Very Long - 2005/02/17 08:18
These comments are my own opinions. I am voicing them right away in hopes of sparking a legitimate debate on issues that are important to the proper running of our Empire. My comments are in Italics.
Imperial Prime Minister Candidates
Lady Lillith of the Iron Mountains Duchy
Obviously I support the one candidate on the ballot and I thank Lady Lillith for stepping up.
Allthing: Proposal #1
In regard to:
12.B. The Circle of Knights (Belted Circle)
Add:
12.B.a.l. In order to vote upon a candidate, Knights must have attended six times within the last six months counting attendance in his or her home group, special events anywhere in the Empire (coronations, midreigns, quests, etc.), or Imperial Events.
12.B.a.2. Any knight residing in the Iron Mountains who does not meet the minimum attendance requirement may attend and speak in the Belted Circle, or otherwise communicate his/her opinion to the Emperor/Empress, but he/she will not have a vote counted towards approval of a candidate.
Rationale:
Under the current system, any knight living within the Iron Mountains has a vote that is counted for or against candidates, even if that knight has not been out to a single event or game day in years. This will allow for a more fair system of measurement.
Obviously this ballot item is to be combined with ballot item #3 below. Unless ballot item #3 is adopted this ballot item is meaningless. Under our current system the Circle of Knights votes but the Elected Representative of the People (i.e. the Emperor/Empress) makes the actual decision. On this basis there is no harm in allowing a knight whose attendance has lapsed to have some input. At times, some of our greatest knights like Moss or Talisen have either had their attendance lapse temporarily or come very close to it. I still think this kind of person has as much right to judge a candidate as any of us. In the end the Emperor will decide. If you are voting yes on Proposal #3 below this one also makes sense but I think proposal #3 is very much ill-advised and I would thus suggest a no vote on both of these items.
Allthine: Proposal #2
Regarding the Principality appendix, change:
"1.B.d. No province of a Principality may be more than 500 miles from any other province in the Principality."
To:
"1.B.d Every province of a Principality must be within 500 miles of every other province in the Principality."
Rationale: This is to clear up any confusion that may have occurred after the initial proposal was passed in the last allthing about location and which groups may join a principality.
I suggest a yes vote on this item. It doesn’t look like it actually changes something but it does clear up confusion.
Allthing Proposal #3
Change:
12.B.d. The Emperor/Empress should have the Circle of Knights' approval by a simple, open ballot plurality vote for approval to knight a club member.
To:
12.B.d. The Emperor/Empress may choose to knight a club member who has received approval from the Belted Circle by a simple, open ballot plurality vote.
Add:
12.B.d.l. The Emperor/Empress may not knight any club member who has not received approval from the Belted Circle by a simple, open ballot plurality vote.
Add:
12.B.d.2. The Emperor/Empress is not obligated to knight a member who has received approval from the Belted Circle; the Emperor/Empress holds veto power over any candidate.
Rationale:
Currently, regardless of the opinion of the Belted Circle, the monarch may knight anyone he/she chooses. The only change this makes is to restrict the monarch from knighting anyone who has not received a majority "yes" vote from the Circle; the monarch can still decide whether or not to knight someone who received a majority yes vote, but cannot knight someone who received a majority no vote.
Compared to the current system this takes ultimate power over knighthood out of the hands of the Empress who is the elected representative of the people and puts it in the hands of a committee who never have to answer to the people (that is the Circle of Knights). I understand that there is some risk that a bad Emperor could be elected and could make a bad knight just because he wanted to. We have used this system for a long time in the Iron Mountains, ever since the inception of the Kingdom and no candidate has ever been knighted without the approval of the knight’s circle. Every single monarch has had this power and not one has ever felt compelled to use it. That is a good thing. Even Amtgard wide where most kingdoms have this system, it has happened less than ten times and that is counting all the ones in Goldenvale this year. On the other hand the Wetlands, who gives the final say to the knights rather than to the representative of the people, things appear to be seriously wrong. A candidate who has pissed off key members of the knight’s circle will never be knighted no matter what great things they do for the Empire. Under our current system the people could at least elect an Empress who was willing to knight the person. In fact it gets worse. In the WL a single fighting company controls more than 50% of the knights circle. If that company decides to vote against a candidate that person is screwed. Not that the Rogues actually abuse their position in this way. They certainly could, though. It also leads to wheeling and dealing in the Knight’s circle. I know that in the WL, the Rogues and Raiders (a group that formerly had the second most WL knights) talked about cutting deals to vote for each other’s candidates. Allowing the elected representative of all of us the power to cut such corrupt and disgusting practices off by over-ruling them prevents those very practices from developing. The whole system maintains a greater degree of integrity. I hate the idea of giving knights in our game more power. By virtue of being around so long and having prestige and contacts, we already have far too much power. As a knight who would always be voting anyway, I strongly suggest voting against this proposal. Every member of the Iron Mountains has a stake in keeping the Knighthood of our kingdom of the highest caliber. Only by allowing our elected representative to hold the final say do we protect that stake.
Allthing Proposal #4
In Section I, Club Membership, Change:
"1.C. Contributing membership in a province translates to contributing membership to the Empire as a whole and entitles you to the following Imperial privileges."
To:
"1.C. Contributing membership in a core province translates to contributing membership to the Empire as a whole and entitles you to the following Imperial privileges."
Rationale: By adding "core" into this statement, a loophole is closed that currently allows contributing members of non-core provinces to run for Imperial offices.
This is a great clarification. It brings this section of text in line with practice.
Allthing Proposal #5
In section 21, regarding Sponsored Provinces, change:
21.A. Sponsored provinces differ from Core IM provinces as defined in section I.A in that they are outside the 150-mile radius of Denver. The IM sponsors these groups because they are comfortable with our people, often because they are members of the IM who have moved. These groups differ from core provinces in that they do not pay or receive any money to or from the 1M coffers but neither do they get to vote in any IM elections or allthings.
To:
21.A. Sponsored IM provinces differ from Core IM provinces as defined in section I.A in that they are outside the 150-mile radius of Denver. The Iron Mountains sponsors these groups because they are comfortable with our people, often because they are members of the Iron Mountains who have moved. These groups differ from core IM provinces in that they do not pay or receive any money to or from the Imperial coffers, but neither do they get to vote in any Imperial elections, allthings, or run for Imperial offices (including, but not limited to, Emperor/Empress of the Iron Mountains, Consort of the Empire, Imperial Prime Minister, Imperial Champion, Imperial GMR, the Iron Mountains Board of Directors, and the Iron Mountains IRCA representative).
Rationale: Additional measure to close the loophole allowing non-core contributing members to run for Imperial offices.
This is a great clarification. It brings this section of text in line with practice.
Allthing Proposal #6
In section 17, regarding qualifications for Knight of the Crown, change:
17.B.a. Qualification criteria: Must have held and served with excellence in three positions, one of which must be Emperor/Empress or Duke/Duchess, and one of which must be Emperor/Empress, Imperial Regent or Imperial Prime Minister. The final position or positions must come from the following list: Emperor/Empress, Imperial Regent, Prime Minister, Duke/Duchess, Ducal Regent or Baron/Baroness.
To:
17.B.a. Qualification criteria: Must have held and served with excellence in three positions, one of which must be Emperor/Empress or Duke/Duchess, and one of which must be Emperor/Empress, Imperial Regent or Imperial Prime Minister. The final position or positions must come from the following list: Emperor/Empress, Imperial Regent, Imperial Prime Minister, Duke/Duchess, Ducal Regent or Baron/Baroness.
Rationale: This appears to be a typo, and the word 'Imperial' is missing from the current wording.
It is always nice to clean up typos. I suggest a yes vote.
Allthing Proposal #7
In the BOD appendix, regarding BOD meetings, change:
1.4. The B.O.D. shall meet to discuss business not less than once every three months.
To:
1.4. The B.O.D. shall conduct a Scheduled Meeting to discuss business not less than once every three months.
And change:
1.5.1. Chairman of the Board - responsible for setting meeting dates and locations, creating the agenda, and running the meetings.
To:
1.5.1. Chairman of the Board -responsible for organizing Scheduled Meetings, determining the location of Scheduled Meetings, creating the agenda, and running the meeting.
And add:
1.8.a. If the scheduled BOD meeting is to be held at a restaurant, up to $10 of each BOD member's meal will be paid for by the Empire, up to a total of$50.
Rationale: This is to establish a name to the required meetings and to encourage BOD members to attend these required meetings.
It has been a long time since I was on the BOD and I am saddened that attendance is so low that this seems like a good idea. I do how ever assume that it was proposed by a member of the BOD who knows better than I do what works. Still at 4 meetings a year and $50 a meeting we are paying $200 just to get the BOD to do their job? I am pretty undecided on this but tending towards a no vote.
Allthing Proposal #8
The Iron Mountains Sponsored provinces of:
The Duchy of River's End
The Barony of Desert Rose
wish to join together to form a principality in the Western reaches of the Empire.
Utah and Nevada have strong and growing Amtgard and are well on their way to kingdom status. This is a logical step and we should help them with a yes vote. Also once they have this step on the journey to kingdomhood and have proved they can work together other groups in the area will be much more interested in joining them. The number of people who stepped up when Fitz decided to withdraw his candidacy shows the depth of commitment to the goal of kingdom status.
Allthing Proposal #9
The Iron Mountains Sponsored provinces of:
The Duchy of Querna Tema
The Shire of Olympus
wish to join together to form a principality in the Western reaches of the Empire.
Eastern Nebraska and Iowa have strong and growing Amtgard and are well on their way to kingdom status. This is a logical step and we should help them with a yes vote. Also once they have this step on the journey to kingdomhood and have proved they can work together other groups in the area will be much more interested in joining them.
Thank you and in service to the Empire,
Michael Hammer of God
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