Broadside of a Board Vol II No. 5

Flieg Hollander flieg at garnet.berkeley.edu
Fri Jun 16 10:25:50 PDT 1995


The following has been posted to the Rialto (rec.org.sca) and to
the following Kingdom mailing lists: West, east, middle, calontir,
atlantia,caid, ansteorra and antir.
Cross posting to other venues is permitted (and encouraged.)

Broadside of a Board Vol. II - No. 5
June Crown Special Edition

Board Meeting Coming Up
         The next Board of Directors meeting will be held in Pitts-
burgh, July 23, 1995.  The deadline for commentary is 30 June,
1995.  That is the date for receipt of letters at the Corporate
Office, not a postmark date.

Upcoming Meetings
         Further down the road, meetings are scheduled for October 21,
1995 and January 20, 1996.

Board Minutes Published Again!
         Board Minutes will once again be available by subscription in
July. The price will be announced, but will be on the order of $10
per year. We are told that a back issue for the Minutes of the last
year will be available.

A Guest Editorial
On the Non-member Surcharge
by Eoin Toirr an Dhragoin, OP
         The non-member surcharge, ordained by the Board of Directors
in April, 1994, is a fee of three dollars to be imposed on any
non-member attending most SCA events. The surcharge was seen as a
way to quickly raise enough revenue to offset a projected deficit
for that year. Of each three dollars collected, one dollar is
"kicked back" to the kingdom collecting the money.
         The West Kingdom was recently polled on its preference regard-
ing the surcharge -- whether to impose it as dictated by the Board,
to reject it altogether, to substitute another form of revenue
raising, or to do something else. The results of that poll, while
meager, indicate that there is still no clear mandate from the
populace on how to proceed, and that more education on the issue is
in order.
         I personally believe that the non-member surcharge is
unacceptable. (I am speaking here not as the West Kingdom's
Chancellor of the Exchequer, but only for myself.) I have two
reasons:
         First, it is unjust. The charge is being levied on non-mem-
bers, but it is being used almost entirely to subsidize member
services which are not provided to non-members. In other words,
it's the membership (as represented by the Board) which ran up the
bills in the first place, and it is the membership which gets the
kingdom newsletters, the Tournaments Illuminated, and the use of
the Society's administrative apparatus, but it is the non-member
participants who are expected to help pay for it. The non-member
surcharge amounts to a slush fund that is used to mitigate the
results of irresponsible spending, regardless of purpose. And since
it could conceivably continue in effect as long as the Board feels
it is necessary, it amounts to license to spend beyond the revenue
it legitimately collects from the membership for member services.
         In fact, the only cost that non-member participation may
influence is that of insurance. But let's look at that figure more
closely. The  cost of insurance is about $55,200 per year,
according to the 1995 budget. That's for everybody who partici-
pates. Since the ratio of member participation to non-member
participation is about 2:1 in the West Kingdom (and appears to be
about the same Society-wide), we should be expecting non-members to
be contributing about $18,400 society-wide to defray this cost. Yet
the Board expects to collect $50,000 from non-members! 
         It would be fairer, I think, to tie insurance costs directly
to site fees, since our insurance cost is a direct function of
total attendance at events. The cost would be included in the site
fee on the same basis as the usual costs of holding an event (toi-
lets, site fees, garbage disposal, etc.). Each kingdom would be
billed yearly for a proportion of the insurance cost in the same
ratio as the ratio of its populace to the general membership of the
Society as a whole (for want of better data, we will assume that
the ratio of members to non-members is consistent throughout the
Known World). The West Kingdom's percentage would come to about
$8000 per year, which we would pay from site fee revenues at
Kingdom events. 
         This method is the best one I can think of for raising revenue
which supports solid book-keeping and accountability of funds. It
is, in fact, essentially the system we are using here right now in
the West. But it would be the prerogative of each Kingdom to
determine how it wants to raise the money.
         The important thing is: Membership fees should be used to
subsidize membership expenses, and nothing else. Event participa-
tion fees should subsidize event participation expenses, and
nothing else. That's the honourable way.
         I have a second reason for disliking the surcharge. There's a
West Kingdom tradition, now almost thirty years old, that all His
Majesty's subjects are equal in His eyes, regardless of their
membership status in the SCA, Inc. Wile the existence of a
tradition is not an ironclad reason to keep it, I believe that this
tradition is a good one and should be maintained. The lack of
barriers between members and non-members contributes heavily to the
Western atmosphere of hospitality and is a powerful tool to welcome
new members. It would be a shame to scuttle it simply because the
Board of Directors needs another source of revenue to balance its
books.

-- Eoin Toirr an Dhragoin, OP

Have You Written the Board? Yet?
         There are two items of importance which are supposed to be on
the agenda of the July Board Meeting, consideration of the budget
(and the Board Tax/Non-member surcharge), and the new waiver text.
Up for consideration in October are the changes in the relationship
between the Soc. Sen. and the Exec. Director.  As mentioned in the
last Broadside the Board has also asked for commentary on the new
Waiver Text.  So why haven't you written yet?  Yes, I know, short
on time, short on energy; me too.  But it is important. Do it!

Where to write:
         SCA Office: SCA, Inc., P.O. Box 360789, Milpitas, CA, 95036-
0789. (If you are writing to the Board you can send your letter
here. If you write to individual Directors or to the Waiver
Committee, please send a copy to the SCA Office with a clear
indication of which Directors need not be copied. This is also the
address for the Stock Clerk.)

Proposed Changes to Corpora:
Society Seneschal and Executive Director
(The following was posted to electronic media by Tibor of Rock
Valley, who got it from the Midrealm Chronicler's list. This
presentation has been abbreviated, but no text has been modified. 
The full text is available at the B.C. Information Table.)
  
  The Board of Directors of the SCA. Inc. would like to solicit 
comment from the populace on the following proposed changes to
Corpora and the Society By-laws, and a proposed new Governing and
Policy Decision. Basically the changes mean that the Executive
Director/Executive Assistant cannot over rule the Society Seneschal
as was the case under the Executive Director model in place from
July 1993 until October 1994. The SCA has been effectively using
the proposed model since the October 1994 meeting. As before, the
Board of Directors remains the ultimate arbiter and authority over
the affairs of the SCA, Inc. and the Society and corporate
officers.
  If you have questions or comment about the language of the
proposals please direct them to the Board of Directors, [SCA
address given below] no later than September 30, 1995. Thank you.
[This was apparently written by Sedalia.]
  
  Proposed Changes to Corpora and By-laws
  
  Proposed Change to Corpora Article IV, Item B:
  B. SOCIETY SENESCHAL. The Society Seneschal (designated as
Executive Vice President in the By-Laws) is responsible for
coordinating the regional administration of the Society's histori-
cal recreation. This involves directing the activities of the
Kingdom Seneschals and of Society-level deputies for functions that
generally report to the Seneschallate. Where questions arise
concerning the intent of the governing documents or Board policies,
the Board specifically authorizes the Society Seneschal to make
interpretations and clarifications and report same to the Board at
the following meeting. The Society Seneschal's ruling will stand
until and unless overruled by the Board of Directors. [This removes
the possibility of over-ruling by the Executive Director. It is
otherwise the same as the current wording.]

By-laws - Article VI., item B currently states:
  B. NUMBER OF DIRECTORS: The authorized number of Directors of the
Society shall not be less than five (5) or more than seven (7)
until changed by amendment of this Article of the By-Laws.
  The Executive Director described in Article VII.A.2 of the
By-Laws shall be member of the Board. but shall not be considered
a "Director" for the purposes of Article VI.

Proposed changes to By-Laws, Article VII, item A, sub-items 2 and
3: [Includes change from "Vice President" to "Executive Vice-
President."]
  
  2. Executive Vice-President. The Executive Vice-President shall
manage the administration of the Society's historical re-creations
through a network of Regional Vice-presidents and shall supervise
the Executive Director. The Executive Vice-President may sign and
authorize instruments required for the conduct of the Society's
historical re-creations, and may delegate similar responsibilities.
The duties of this position are further defined in Corpora, as
provided in Article XIII of these By-Laws.
  3. Executive Director. The Executive Director shall supervise and
control all of the business and administrative affairs, specifical-
ly including all modern regulatory compliance issues, under the
supervision of the Executive Vice President. The Executive Director
(may/shall) also be given direct tasks and assignments by the Board
of Directors and shall be answerable to the Board directly on those
assignments. The Executive Director may sign and authorize such
instruments as he or she deems appropriate to conduct the Society's
proper business, and may delegate similar responsibilities. 
  (See also Governing & Policy Decision 7)
  In the event of absence or incapacity of the Executive Director,
the duties shall be apportioned at the discretion of the Board.
  [...draft of G&PD 18 on notification of changes...]

Editorial: Back to the Steward Again?
         The proposed changes remove all control except the Board over
the Society Seneschal (S.S.) and puts him or her in overall posi-
tion of interpretation and control of the day-to-day operation of
the SCA side and much of the mundane side of the SCA. The S.S. does
have to report to the Board, but the likelihood of the Board over-
ruling even moderately controversial decisions is small, especially
if they are already three months old.  In effect it brings back the
Office of the Steward under a new name.  The split of that office
into two parts was engendered by the idea that it was too much to
do and too much power for one person. Tony Provine showed us what
could happen if all the power was in the hands of the E.D.  Do we
need to wait until Sedalia or her successor shows us what will
happen when all power is in the hands of the S.S.? Write now to
suggest a plan of checks and balances.

Editorial on the Guest Editorial:
         We suggest you to write to the Board, urging them to cut costs
to the bone, urging them to establish Board-level fiscal policies
which will prevent future problems, and urging them to repeal the
Board Tax. 

Budget matters
         Last Issue I published a list of questions about the SCA, Inc.
Budget.  None of them were addressed at the April Meeting. I have
been assured that the Budget will be reviewed at the July meeting.
I'm going to send a copy of that column to the Board.  You should,
too.

West Kingdom ombudsman
         The West Kingdom ombudsman is: L. Jane Richards, 2925 South
7th St. West, Missoula, MT, 59801 (406) 721-9658.

Broadside of a Board is an occasional publication of news and
opinions on matters concerning the Board of Directors of the SCA,
Inc. and its various Kingdoms. We welcome contributions by any
subject of the Crowns of the Known World. All opinions contained
herein are those of the authors. Unattributed commentary and news
was written by the publisher. The publisher is Frederick of
Holland, (Flieg Hollander), 3334 California Street, Berkeley, CA
94703. (510) 653-3652  e-address:flieg at garnet.berkeley.edu  This
issue is Volume II, No. 5. The next issue is scheduled for
Purgatorio Coronation.

   *   *   *    Frederick of Holland, MSCA, OP, etc.
  *** *** ***   flieg at garnet.berkeley.edu
  _|___|___|_
 |===========|
  (((Flieg Hollander, Chem. Dept., U.C. Berkeley)))
 ================== Old Used Duke  =================
        [All subjects of the Crown are equal under its protection
          and no Corporation is going to convince me otherwise.]



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