Admin Policy 1: At the Start of Term of Office
1. After each election is decided and the results announced by the EVC, the first business shall be acceptance of office by candidates.
2. If an elected candidate does not accept his or her office, the office will be offered sequentially to the runners-up, starting with the next most popular candidate. Note: If an elected GC candidate turns down the office of GC, they have also turned down being Contender, as not being a GC candidate removes oneself from the eligible list for Contender.
3. If no member can be found to fill a vacancy (e.g. TC), the GC may appoint a member to serve in that office and with those responsibilities for the remainder of the term, with the exception of the position of Contender, which will remain unfilled.
4. If the vacant office is that of the GC, another popular vote must be held as soon as is practicable. The EVC may appoint an Acting GC until such time as a GC can be elected to serve out the remainder of the term. The EVC may appoint him or herself as Acting GC, but may not run for the post in the elections.
5. Once all elected offices have been filled, the second order of business shall be filling of appointed offices, starting with Officers who have oversight over other Officers. This includes both those Officers with remits pertaining to Phoenix itself, and those Officers with remits representing Phoenix to outside bodies, etc.
6. The third order of business might then usually be a review or a plan of what work needs to be done in the coming months.
7. All elected Coordinators serve until the announcement of the election results at the start of the next term of office (i.e. until they are either re-elected, or replaced by popular vote), at which point the EVC will facilitate and expedite smooth transfer of powers and responsibilities. In the case of a new EVC taking office, the GC is responsible for facilitating and expediting smooth transfer of powers and responsibilities.
Admin Policy 2: Appointing Officers and Junior Officer
Preamble. This paragraph is to make it explicit that selection for appointments, training, etc. shall be on the basis of merit as comprised of aptitude and ability. As far as is reasonably possible, all members will be enabled to develop their potential, and the talents and resources of the community will be fully utilised to maximise the strength and cohesion of the club. The appointing Coordinator or Officer will be open and accountable regarding their reasoning behind the appointment if asked by a member. The same holds true for removal from office.
1. Any Coordinator may appoint Officers to existing offices or to new positions established to respond to such needs as may arise, provided one week’s notice is given to the GC in advance of the Officer being announced.
2. The GC may seek to dissuade the Coordinator from appointing said Officer, but unless the appointing of said Officer would break Phoenix published policy or rules, the GC may not prevent the Coordinator from appointing the Officer.
3. Any new positions thus created only become ‘permanent’ positions with a vote by the General Membership. i.e. if the GC were to appoint a member to a new position but the club didn't run a referendum on that position, the position would cease to exist after the next election. Whereas if the GC appointed the same member and successfully ran a vote, the position remains (vacant on the completion of the elections) for the next GC to appoint someone to. If the next GC doesn't want to appoint someone to this office, he or she would have to run a referendum to remove the position from the Roles and Responsibilities.
4. All duly appointed Officers serve until the announcement of the election results at the start of the next term of office (i.e. until their appointing Coordinator either resumes office or is replaced).
5. Subject to all other Phoenix published policy or rules, a Coordinator may remove any Officer(s) under them and appoint new ones. It is good practice for their reasoning to be publicly available, unless sensitivity requires privacy. All appeals on the grounds of unfair dismissal are to be made to the GC. In occasions where an Officer was removed by the GC, the Officer may contact the Contender or appeal directly to the membership.
6. Subject to all other Phoenix published policy or rules, any and all members have the right to call for a vote to dissolve any office below the level of Coordinator.
Admin Policy 3: Appointing Junior Officer
This paragraph is to make it explicit that all Officers vacate their position at the end of each elected term, so each new elected Coordinator has a clean slate for appointing officers and likewise each Senior Officer has a clean slate for appointing Junior Officers. Obviously it might well be that an individual will serve numerous terms one after another in the same Officer positions, but such Officers should not think that their office is perpetual. Once an Officer position is voted into permanence and added to the Roles and Responsibilities (see Policy 2.3), the position remains permanent unless voted into dissolution, but the individual Officer filling that position leaves office at the end of the current admin term. It is then up to the next appointing Coordinator or Senior Officer to either re-appoint the previous post-holder, or appoint a new Officer to fill the position.
1. The power to appoint Junior Officers may be delegated to Officers by their immediately responsible Coordinator with the written consent of the GC, issued on an individual case-by-case basis. E.g. the GC may give the GM Support Officer (GMSO) the power to appoint an Area GM Support Officer for the Firefly sims, and may later give the GMSO the power to appoint an Area GM for the Star Wars sims.
2. The GC may 'secure' a Junior Office position, meaning that the position cannot be dissolved without the GC's consent or a membership vote, provided that the relevant Senior Office has been voted into permanency on the R&R as per Policy 2.3. The Senior Officer or the Senior Officer’s Coordinator may, however, remove and replace any Junior Officer under them under the same terms as Policy 2.5.
Admin Policy 4: Principal of Proxy for Coordinators
1. Where a member is elected to a Coordinator position but becomes temporarily unable to fulfil their duties, they may appoint a proxy to act in their stead for no more than 90 days in any term of office.
2. The Coordinator appointing the proxy must notify the GC of their choice of proxy in writing, and right of proxy cannot be granted to members merely claiming to be designated proxies where no such notification has been given by the absenting Coordinator.
3. Where no proxy is appointed, it falls to the GC to appoint a proxy or a replacement. In all cases of 90 days or less absence in a term, proxies should generally be considered before permanent replacements.
Admin Policy 5: Principal of Proxy for Officers
1. Where a member is appointed to an office but becomes temporarily unable to fulfil their duties, they may appoint a proxy to act in their stead for no more than 90 days in any term of office.
2. The Officer appointing the proxy must notify their Senior Officer or Coordinator of their choice of proxy, in writing, and right of proxy cannot be granted to members merely claiming to be designated proxies where no such notification has been given by the absenting Officer.
3. Where no proxy is appointed, it falls to the absenting Officer’s line manager (in the case of a Junior Officer the line manager is their Senior Officer, in the case of a Senior Officer, the line manager is their Coordinator) to appoint a proxy or a replacement. In all cases of 90 days or less absence in a term, proxies should generally be considered before permanent replacements.
So, for example, the Moderator of the main OOC forum would be able to appoint a temporary replacement if he or she became unavailable for a temporary period/temporary periods of up to 90 days per term of office, and could return to duty when able.
Admin Policy 6: Reasonable Despatch
Preamble. It is important that business should be transacted with reasonable speed.
1. Unnecessarily long discussions reduce public spirit. If it is evident that nothing new can be said on either side in a particular discussion, the thread moderator is justified in moving the matter forwards (e.g. the GC might move a matter forwards by instructing the EVC to put a motion to the vote) even if there are still members wishing to speak. Usually, however, the state of affairs is not so clear and in such cases the thread moderator should ask leave of the membership before moving the matter forwards.
2. Long absences from Coordinators, Officers, and Sim Leaders cause missed opportunities.
3. It is thus necessary that Officers and Coordinators are required to remove from office any Officer under them (including Sim Leaders who are all under the GC) who is absent from office for more than 90 days in a term. Special cases can be considered, of course, in discussion with the GC, and particular consideration will be given to those with health difficulties or major RL upheavals who have nevertheless remained in contact with their Senior Officer or Coordinator as far as seems reasonably possible to the same Senior Officer or Coordinator, and the GC.
4. Replacement of any Officer removed under Policy 6 Article 3 would occur following Policy 1 Article 5 and Policy 2, etc., above, with the replacement Officer serving out the remainder of that current term of office.
Admin Policy 7: Communication among Coordinators, Officers, and Deputies
1. Coordinators, Officers, and all Deputies/Assistants must be available to communicate both via e-mail correspondence and on the Phoenix Roleplay forums in all matters concerning their post.
2. This availability must be within the site AWOL policy at the very least. The GC may, however, determine a need for swifter responses from a Coordinator, Officer, or Deputy/Assistant if a more urgent issue arises.
3. The GC will handle all complaints with regards to response time of correspondence.
4. No other form of communication (than email and the Phoenix Roleplay forums) may be required of the officeholder.
5 Other forms of communication may, however, be utilised from time to time with the consent of all affected.
Admin Policy 8: Inclusion in Off-board Admin Discussions
1. Any off-the-board (i.e. email) discussions which include the GC and regard policy or forward planning should as good practice include the Deputy GC and Contender at their individual choosing, and often the TC and EVC as good practice as well, except where written policy requires one of these to be included (i.e. in such an instance they don't have a choice and have to be included).
Admin Policy 9: Referendum Voting
1. At any point in a discussion, any member may move that the motion under discussion be put to the vote.
2. If the discussion is taking place in Management, the GC will instruct the EVC to put the motion to the vote upon a member’s request only if the GC is of the opinion that the motion has been sufficiently discussed. If the discussion is taking place in the Elections and Voting forum, the EVC must inform the GC that a member has requested the motion be put to the vote, and the GC shall instruct the EVC to put the motion to the vote only if the GC is of the opinion that the motion has been sufficiently discussed. If the discussion is taking place in a thread in any other forum, the moderator must inform the GC that a member has requested the motion be put to the vote, and the GC shall instruct the EVC to put the motion to the vote only if the GC is of the opinion that the motion has been sufficiently discussed.
3. The EVC cannot put a motion to referendum vote without instruction to do so from the GC.
4. Every referendum vote must be made by an affirmative vote of a majority of those who vote.
5. The members must, therefore, know exactly what they are being asked to decide and each proposed motion must be put in a form that can be answered "Yes", "No," or "Abstain".
6. From this it follows that all motions be affirmative in form, e.g. "The motion is that Phoenix does adopt the proposed legalese"; it is never necessary to move that a motion be rejected.
7. In attempting to reach a decision, the community may from time to time be faced with multiple solutions, some may be mutually exclusive, others may be matters of detail subsidiary to the principal issue.
8. Where there is more than one solution to a problem, each solution may be put separately to the vote.
9. Where the alternatives are mutually exclusive, it may be desirable in the first instance to discuss them together until the general trend of opinion is apparent and then to put only one of them to the vote.
10. A motion, once voted in a referendum, becomes a resolution and is immediately binding.
11. All referendums, regardless of the outcome, must be recorded in this Policies document.
Admin Policy 10: Amendments and Negating Resolutions
1. An amendment which in substance negates the principal resolution should not be allowed, because it is confusing and unnecessary. An amendment shall not have the effect of negating a resolution.
2. An amendment to a resolution may omit words, insert words, or both omit words and insert other words.
3. If an amendment is carried, it shall take the place of the original resolution and will be the resolution upon which any further amendment may be moved.
4. If a member wishes to move that a resolution be negated (i.e. a Policy be abolished or an Office dissolved), this shall be considered a new motion.
Admin Policy 11: Election Voting
1. As per Roles and Responsibilities “Section IV – The Elections and Voting Coordinator”, the EVC is responsible for coordinating elections to decide Phoenix’s elected Coordinators, moderating the nomination process and campaigning done for elections, facilitating and expediting the transfer of office for all other elected officials.
2. The EVC will normally run two elections in their term: the first at the start of the EVC’s term to elect a GC and TC, and the second at the end of the EVC’s term to elect an EVC to serve the next term. The elections for the next EVC should be closely supervised by the incumbent GC.
3. The GC/TC elections shall not be held in the same month as the EVC elections.
4. Where there is only one candidate running in an election for a position, a vote will nevertheless still be concluded and publicised in order to offer an indication of the candidate’s approval rating.
5. Where there is only one candidate running in an election for a position and that candidate withdraws, the EVC may call for fresh nominations to begin another election for this position, or the EVC may invite the GC to appoint a candidate to serve for that term. In either case, the previous incumbent remains in office until a replacement is found by whichever means.
6. Where there are only two candidates running in an election for a position, the winner will be decided by majority vote.
7. Where there are only two candidates running in an election for a position, and one withdraws, the EVC may refer to clause 4 of this policy, or the EVC may call for fresh nominations to begin another election for this position.
8. Where there are more than two candidates for a position, voting will be by ranked pairs, i.e. voters will be presented with the opportunity to rank the candidates in order of preference and the most popular candidate will win.
9. Using ranked pairs enables us to determine the next most popular candidate running for a position in an election in the event that any candidate withdraws their candidacy after the voting is tallied, sorted, and locked.
10. As per Article 3 of Roles and Responsibilities “Section IV – The Elections and Voting Coordinator”, the EVC must publicise election results making them easily available to the General Membership.
