An Alternative to abolishing the Curator

[Scorch]

Well, here is the basic idea. There are two main reasons that people are in favour of abolishing the position of Curator, firstly, the workload it puts on one particular candidate is very high, and secondly, not many people apply, which results in us having to choose between candidates none of us genuinely want. I propose that instead of abolishing the Curator, we share the role. That is, we have three Procurators. The official duties of the Curator (that is, vetos, tie-breaking votes and other things) can be easily given to the Speaker of the House, while the time-consuming housekeeping/administrative duties can be easily shared between three separate officers. This solves both of the problems we are faced with. It drastically reduces the burden and workload placed on one person, and will most likely result in many more candidates applying, presenting us with more viable options, in choosing a Curator ... or in choosing three Procurators, rather.

So, thanks to significant input, help and hard work from Scar Face as well as myself, I present to you our proposal:

Proposer: Scorch
Written by: Scorch and Scarface
Supporters: Trax, Atterdag, Scar Face

Section 2 - The Legislature

The Executive shall create within the Forum a place for all Citizens of the Site to discuss and propose Decisions that affect the governing of the Site and Site Policy, and also to amend this document. This place shall be known as the Curia and shall be a place for an exchange of ideas. As the Curia is considered the heartland of the Citizens right to influence their community, infractions of Forum Rules and the Terms of Service made in this forum are considered to be doubly serious.

Article 1 - Curia

The Curia is broken into distinct sections.

• Curia - For general discussion of governance matters. Polls are not permitted within the Curia main.
• Prothalamos - An area specifically for the proposal and discussion of legislation and decisions. Polls are not permitted within the Prothalamos
• Curia Votes - An area strictly used only for voting on matters that bind the Curia
• The Tabularium - A record chamber and archive.
• Consilium de Civitates - A special council chamber visible only to those elected members of the council as defined in Article 5

Additional areas may be added at the discretion of the Citizens following an appropriate Decision being passed.

Article 2 - Election Procedure

When the Curia is required to elect an Officer or Rank, or ratify an appoint, the following process shall be applied.

Ratification Votes

When a member has been duly appointed as a Staff Officer, and where required, is ratified by his branch. After two weeks have elapsed from his appointment the Speaker of the House shall post a poll in the Curia Votes forum. The Speaker shall state which position the member has been appointed to, and that they have been ratified by their colleagues if appropriate. The vote shall last for one week, and the member shall be ratified if they receive a simple majority of non abstaining votes.

Election Votes

When a Curial Election is required, the Curator one of the Procurators shall open an application thread in the Curia and the Speaker of the House shall post an announcement in any relevant forum. Applicants for the vacant position must post their reasons for wishing to hold the position and any relevant qualifications in the application thread. Any comments, debates or off topic posting shall be deleted. The thread shall remain open for no longer than one week.

The Council may veto applicants, and should more than six members apply for any position, may shortlist six members to stand for the election. Once applications are complete, the Curator one of the Procurators shall open a poll in the Curia Votes. The vote shall last for one week, and the member who receives the plurality of votes shall be elected.

Where more than one of the same position is vacant, the procedure is the same, and the members with the highest votes are elected. In the case of ties, a run off vote is held between the tied members lasting 3 days.

Where the vacant position is that of Curator the Procurator, the Speaker of the House shall undertake the Curator's duties in relation to the vote.

Votes of No Confidence

At any time, any Citizen of this site may initiate a vote of "No Confidence" in any Officer, with the exception of Moderation or Technical Staff not on the Council, for neglect of duty or abuse of authority by posting their case within the Curia. Frivolous use of this procedure may result in disciplinary proceedings. In all cases, a vote of "No Confidence" is exempt from veto, however the vote is non binding except in the case of elected officers. The debate and vote on a motion of "No Confidence" shall follow the same procedure as that of a bill as per Article 3 below, but shall be conducted in the Curia Main, and not the Prothalamos.

Article 3 - Legislative Procedure

Any Citizen may table a bill for discussion by posting a thread in the Prothalamos. This citizen will remain the sole proposer for this thread. Bills can take two forms:

• Amendments - A proposal to alter the text of the Constitution. Amendments can alter or remove existing text and add entirely new text.
• Decisions - A proposal for the creation of an official Decision of the Curia on a topic relevant to the functioning of TWC. The Curia has authority to direct the Officers of TWC in this way on any topic of which the primary say has been delegated from the Officers, who shall take such Curia Decisions under strong advisement. The Speaker of the House shall determine if proposed Decisions fall within the jurisdiction of the Curia.

Each version of the bill requires named support from three Citizens. The final draft of the bill must be debated for at least three days in the Prothalamos before the proposer can request the bill be moved to vote. When a bill is moved to vote, the debate thread is left open, and the Curator one of the Procurators shall post the newest draft of the bill, the name of the Proposer, the Bill's 3 named supporters, and a link to the debate, as a new poll in the Curia Votes forum. All bills shall be voted on for one week. Subsequent posts in this thread are limited to notification of having voted. Messages lobbying to vote for or against, including via Signatures and Avatars, are prohibited except in the original debate thread. All bills shall pass on the basis of a two-thirds majority of non abstaining votes in favour. If any bill fails a vote, no re-vote on a substantially similar bill will be permitted within twenty-eight days.

Where a Decision requires the Curia to choose between multiple options, two polls shall be run concurrently. The first poll shall be as a normal decision, the second poll shall outline the various options to choose from if the decision passes. Whichever option receives the plurality of votes shall be implemented, but only if the Decision also passes in the usual manner. Both polls shall run for one week.

All citizens are honour bound to not view the results of Curia Votes until they have themselves voted, unless necessary for the execution of any other duty to the site.

Upon passing a vote:

Amendents

The Curator One of the Procurators shall post the text of all passed amendments in a stickied "Amendments" thread in the Tabularium and numbered consecutively in the order they pass. The poll is closed, moved to the Tabularium, and renamed to reflect the whether it passed or failed, and the numbers of votes. The sticked "Constitution" thread in the Curia is then edited to reflect the changes made by passed amendments. When a Section or Article is added or removed, all subsequent Sections and Articles are renumbered by the Curator appropriately.

Decisions

The Curator One of the Procurators shall post the text of all passed Decisions in a sticked "Decisions" thread in the Tabularium and consecutively in the order they pass. The poll is closed, moved to the Tabularium, and renamed to reflect the whether it passed or failed, and the numbers of votes.

All Amendments and Decisions are considered to have immediate effect and no retroactive effect unless specifically stated otherwise.

Minor Formative Changes

The Curator Any of the Procurators shall have the power to amend the text of the Constitution and any Curial Decision for the sole purpose of correcting any spelling and grammatical errors that are found within the documents. The details of any such changes must be recorded in the amendments thread of the Tabularium.

Should any such change be challenged by any Citizen, they may request that the Speaker of the House review the change and uphold or discard it. Further challenge may be put to a Curia Vote to veto the change via the procedure in Article 3.

Article 4 - Curial Committees

At any time, a member of the Council can establish a Curial Committee to investigate and discuss an issue. These temporary committees are to last one month, and after one month, are subject to ratification and extension by the Curia.

To form a committee, the Speaker of the House will create a thread in the Curia asking for applicants. When the Council decides it has enough applicants, it will choose however many it deems fit, and create a subforum in the Curia for the Committee. The temporary committee can be dissolved at the discretion of the Council. It can also add and remove members when it sees fit. Each committee shall also contain a Council Officer as Chairman and the Speaker of the House.

After thirty days, the Speaker can create a vote for a one or two month extension, following the vote procedure in Article 3 above.

After a Decision is made by a temporary committee, it shall be posted in the Prothalamos for three days, prior to implementation. If three or more Citizens state an objection, implementation will be postponed. It will be at the discretion of the Curator Speaker of the House, Committee, and Committee Chairman whether to take the proposal back to the committee for revision (the objecting Citizens are therefore expected to take part in the revision discussion), or continue the discussion in the Prothalamos until there are no more than two objections.

Membership

The full membership comprises of:

• Twelve elected Citizens, who may discuss and vote on all matters within the Consilium de Civitates Forum
• Council Officers, who may discuss all matters within the Consilium de Civitates Forum, but have no vote.
• Curator Speaker of the house, who may take part in all Consilium de Civitates discussions, and has the deciding vote only in the case of a tie. The Curator Speaker of the house has veto powers over any Consilium de Civitates decision.

Elected members of the Consilium de Civitates and the CuratorSpeaker of the house must actively participate in discussions and votes, Council Officers participation is optional.

Elections

Consilium de Civitates members are elected as per Article 2 of this Section - with the added requirements that candidates have no Staff warnings at the time of election and hold their rank for three months. Each elected Consilium de Civitates member has a term of three months starting from their date of election. When their term expires, new elections will be held for membership to the Consilium de Civitates.

If a member of the Consilium de Civitates resigns during their term, or if during elections less than twelve eligible Citizens apply in the candidates thread, the vacant positions may be filled by a volunteering Staff Officer with at least Citizen rank.

Removal from Office

A Consilium de Civitates member may resign from office, or can be removed from office by a majority vote of the elected councillors, such a vote being triggered by any of the following:

• A successful vote of no confidence by the Curia
• Incurring a warning level of one
• Incurring 2 cautions in the space of 3 months
• Being subject to proceedings laid out in Section 4 Article 1
• Prolonged inactivity, as decided by a simple majority vote in the Consilium de Civitates

Article 6 - Council of War

A number of members shall be elected to the Consilium Belli to facilitate and improve relations between the modding community, the Curia, the Wiki Officer and the Council itself. The duties of the Consilium Belli shall also include, but are not limited to, overseeing all projects designed to promote the TW sections of TWC to the modding community and the general membership. When necessary, reports shall be submitted to the Curia by the Speaker of the House.

A forum shall be set up within the TW Modding Community publicly viewable and accessible by all, but posting and voting rights will be restricted to members of the CB.

All members of the Council, the Wiki Officer, and the Modding Registrar shall have permanent membership of the Consilium. Other members are selected with either of the following processes.

Application threads will be opened in the TW and Modding community forums and the Curia. Applicants are free to state any information or experience they wish; the applications will then be reviewed by the Council, which will select a varying number of members at least 50% larger than they wish elected and submit these for election, the vote thread to be placed in the TW Modding Community forum, with announcements in the Curia and the TW and Modding community forums.

The CB will also have the option to submit any member of TWC to the Council for consideration as a complimentary member of the Council of War. Any member of TWC may submit themselves to the administration should they wish to contribute in a specific area. The Council reserves the right to remove any member of the CB or to disband the CB at any time.

Article 4 - Curial Officers

A Curial Officer shall hold his office for a period of three months from the day they are elected. In the event an office is vacant, its duties shall be assumed by the ProcuratorsCurator until an officer is elected.

If the office of a ProcuratorCurator is vacant, the duties shall be assumed by the Speaker of the House.

A Curial Officer shall hold his office for a period of three months from the day they are elected. In the event an office is vacant, its duties shall be assumed by the Curator until an officer is elected. If the office of Curator is vacant, the duties shall be assumed by the Speaker of the House.

If, in the judgement of the Council, an Officer has neglected their duties or abused his position, the Speaker may dismiss the Officer, and ask one of the ProcuratorsCurator to arrange new elections.

Permanent Officers

The following are permanent Curial Officers:

• The Curator - responsible for the day to day administration of the Curia, including but not limited to any tasks outlined in this document and any duties he may be given in the Curia by the Speaker of the House. The Procurator - there should be three Procurators at a time, to share the responsibility of the day to day administration of the Curia, including but not limited to any tasks outlined in this document and any duties they may be assigned by the Speaker of the House. Additionally, if one of the Procurators is dismissed through a vote of no confidence, then the elected replacement's term is considered to expire at the same time as that of the other two.
• Modding Registrar - The Registrar shall be responsible for maintaining the Modding Registry, answering questions about the registry and resolving disputes between members concerning the registry in a fair and impartial manner.
• The TWC Wiki Editor - Answering to the Chief of Content, is in charge of overseeing the Wiki Project.

Further Permanent Officers may be created by amendment. Any member of Citizen rank may apply unless otherwise stated.

Non Permanent Officers

Non Permanent Curia Officers may be created to oversee specific short term Curia Projects not covered by Curia Committees. They may be created by a Curia Decision and cease to exist upon the completion of the project.

Article 2 - Community Medals

A “Medal” can be awarded to any member who has in some way contributed and achieved something which was of benefit to the wider community. Medals are controlled and run by the Curia. The qualifications and procedure by which each medal is awarded to a user can vary according to the wishes of the Curia. In order for a medal to be created it must acquire the majority in accordance with the Legislation section of the Constitution. Every Curia approved medal is to be listed in the appropriate section below along with its Qualifications.

Large Size

Divus

To achieve apotheosis and Curia vote, the nominee must be supported by three fourths of non abstaining elected members of the Consilium de Civitate. The nominee must have served as a Council Officer (or previous equivalents), made a clear and distinguished contribution to the community and provided exceptional service to TWC in their capacity as an administrator. They cannot be nominated within three months of resigning their Officer Position.

Any Citizen can nominate a former Council Officer and does so by PMing a Consilium de Civitate member. The Consilium de Civitate will contact the nominee and ask if he or she will accept the nomination. If the nominee should decline, or fails to respond within one month, no further action need be taken and the nomination declared null and void.

If the nominee should accept, the Consilium de Civitate will create a thread within the Consilium de Civitate Forum to investigate the legitimacy of the nominee’s accolades. The Consilium de Civitate has the right to request any and all relevant material from the Staff Officers to ascertain this, with the approval of the Council. The Consilium de Civitate will discuss the nominee and his qualifications for at least a week before the vote is held.

Should the nominee receive the support of three fourths of non abstaining Consilium de Civitate members, the Curator Speaker of the House shall create a discussion in the Prothalamos lasting at least three days and then move the nomination to vote as per the procedure in Section 2 Article 3. The vote shall last one week and the nominee shall require a two-third majority of non-abstaining votes to become Divus. A nominee who fails the vote is not eligible to be nominated again for a six month period.

Addendum: If this bill passes, Elrond should continue his term until three new Procurators are elected, at which time he should step down. He is also free to apply for one of those three positions, if he wishes. Also, all three Procurators should be elected at the same time.

[Scar Face]

I support, naturally.

[iudas]

Wouldn't this add even more bureaucracy? I don't support.

[Scorch]

More bureaucracy? It turns two official offices into one and makes the Curator into what it should be - someone who makes sure the Curia runs properly and effectively. With such a big workload, three people will do it so much better. The Speaker of the House is the bureaucrat, the Procurators are there to run things.

[iudas]

The thing is it somewhat complicates the running of the Curia. I understand why it's beneficial, but I don't really understand why three Curators would be "so much better" than one. Yes, one's responsibility is given to three, but will three Curators be found, if only two applied for the last election?

[Scorch]

The thing is it somewhat complicates the running of the Curia. I understand why it's beneficial, but I don't really understand why three Curators would be "so much better" than one. Yes, one's responsibility is given to three, but will three Curators be found, if only two applied for the last election?

Yes, because the reason we only got two is because of the huge workload, which will now be split between three, and will be much less of a deterrent to potential applicants. I know I wouldn't have applied for curator, but will apply if this passes, because sharing the job between three people allows much more people to have the time to dedicate to the role. Also, I don't think it would be all that complicated if three people were responsible, since their job has been changed to more administrative duties, and the bureaucratic roles ported to the Speaker.

[iudas]

Makes sense. You say people didn't apply because they were scared of the 'workload'?

The citizen list is out of date. I would support this amendment just because it would solve the problem with dated documents. But the procurators wouldn't be able to view the CdeC after the amendment, giving the responsibility of informing and/or appointing citizens (according to their votes) to the Speaker. Will the Speaker edit the citizen list?

[Scorch]

Makes sense. You say people didn't apply because they were scared of the 'workload'?

Well it stopped me from applying, and many others I've talked to. I really do believe sharing the role out will generate more candidates.

The citizen list is out of date. I would support this amendment just because it would solve the problem with dated documents. But the procurators wouldn't be able to view the CdeC after the amendment, giving the responsibility of informing and/or appointing citizens (according to their votes) to the Speaker. Will the Speaker edit the citizen list?

Well, if he wants to. It doesn't seem as thought it would be too much of a burden. Perhaps if the speaker was to forward the PM to the candidate informing them of their success to one of the procurators as well, then it would work.

Either way, I'm sure it's something they can sort out between themselves.

[Atterdag]

This has my support.

I have spoken!

[Trax]

Interesting :hmmm:

I support

[jimkatalanos]

The procurators will have access in the cdec?

[iudas]

The procurators will have access in the cdec?

Have you read the bill? I'll help you: no.

[Hotspur]

Oppose.

Having the Speaker on both Hex and the CdC is...troublesome.

[Scar Face]

Oppose.

Having the Speaker on both Hex and the CdC is...troublesome.

It would be hectic if we had three ProCurators with access, as well as holding the power for veto and tie breaking votes. Regardless, the Speaker of the House already has access to the CDEC being a member of the Council, the only difference being he lacked the Curators powers and now his participation is mandatory.

And would you like to explain why giving the Speaker these powers is troublesome? Both of the powers we have given him in this bill are rarely used, only in special circumstances.

[Hotspur]

It would be hectic if we had three ProCurators with access, as well as holding the power for veto and tie breaking votes. Regardless, the Speaker of the House already has access to the CDEC being a member of the Council, the only difference being he lacked the Curators powers and now his participation is mandatory.

And would you like to explain why giving the Speaker these powers is troublesome? Both of the powers we have given him in this bill are rarely used, only in special circumstances.

You do realize that your statement contradicts itself, right?

It would be hectic if we had three ProCurators with access

Both of the powers we have given him in this bill are rarely used, only in special circumstances.

But to answer your question, because I distrust too much power in too few hands.

[Scar Face]

You do realize that your statement contradicts itself, right?

Perhaps hectic wasn't the right word to describe what I meant, but it does not contradict itself. I just didn't explain properly- having three people with no vote, who have to participate in the discussions crowds the CDEC unnecessarily.

But to answer your question, because I distrust too much power in too few hands.

As I and Scorch have said, the power is rarely used, and even when it is it hardly allows them a large degree of 'power'. Even if it was misused, we always have the ability to remove him. In this case, its wise to centralize power on one figure instead of having it spread out over three.

[Scorch]

Well, basically, the curator's influence on the CdeC was this:
- tie-breaking votes
- moving stuff

That has now been moved to the Speaker, who is already a member of the CdeC by default, as he is on Hex. Not much really changes, except the person that moves threads and the person that votes in the event of a tie (which, in many months on the CdeC, I have only seen happen once).

To save your problem, hotspur, vote for a speaker you can trust.

[Hotspur]

To save your problem, hotspur, vote for a speaker you can trust.

Really scorch? Is that all it takes to keep someone from abusing their power? Voting for someone I trust? Anymore nuggets of wisdom you'd like to share?

Perhaps hectic wasn't the right word to describe what I meant, but it does not contradict itself. I just didn't explain properly- having three people with no vote, who have to participate in the discussions crowds the CDEC unnecessarily.

In the discussions about downsizing the CdC, I don't believe overcrowding was ever an issue.

Even if it was misused, we always have the ability to remove him. In this case, its wise to centralize power on one figure instead of having it spread out over three.

When was the last successful VoNC? It is far easier to remove the temptation than it is to remove the officer.

[Scorch]

Really scorch? Is that all it takes to keep someone from abusing their power? Voting for someone I trust? Anymore nuggets of wisdom you'd like to share?

More accurately, vote for someone you trust not to abuse their power. The fact is, this bill doesn't create any powers that weren't there to abuse beforehand. It, as I said, transfers the power of a vote-breaking tie (which is difficult to abuse in the first place, given the rarity it is used and the validity of either side, given that it requires the opinion of the most trusted group of citizens to be evenly split) and the responsibility of moving citizen votes. That is it. There is no way this bill gives the Speaker any powers that can possibly be abused at all.

In the discussions about downsizing the CdC, I don't believe overcrowding was ever an issue.

No, it wasn't, and the CdeC really isn't crowded as is. But it would be fairly useless to have three non-voting, non-discussing, non-housekeeping members of the CdeC, realistically. Why should three Procurators who really have nothing to do with the CdeC and nothing to do in the CdeC be given access?

When was the last successful VoNC? It is far easier to remove the temptation than it is to remove the officer.

Then write a bill and do it yourself. This bill does nothing to reduce or further the temptation for abuse of power, so I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree.

[Hotspur]

The fact is, this bill doesn't create any powers that weren't there to abuse beforehand.

But it does unify them into one office.

...transfers the power of a vote-breaking tie...and the responsibility of moving citizen votes. That is it. There is no way this bill gives the Speaker any powers that can possibly be abused at all.

Yes, I can't see how the power to veto any CdC decision could possibly be abused.

No, it wasn't, and the CdeC really isn't crowded as is. But it would be fairly useless to have three non-voting, non-discussing, non-housekeeping members of the CdeC, realistically. Why should three Procurators who really have nothing to do with the CdeC and nothing to do in the CdeC be given access?

Horse before the cart. The rational given for stripping the Procurators of their CdC powers was that it would be "hectic" and "crowds the CDEC unnecessarily", according to Scar Face.

Then write a bill and do it yourself.

Or I could just argue against yours and maintain the status quo, which I have no problem with.