[Ansteorra] Group Status Changes

Walter Ward barnabuslockman at yahoo.com
Thu Jul 17 07:02:26 PDT 2008


 
Lord Robin,
I agree with you that if there was wrongdoing or laxity in filing reports, the groups involved should have been sanctioned. Where we differ seems to be in our appreciation of what was done. The point (to us at least) is not that we have more or less paperwork but the dishonor and malfeasance shown by the Crown and its representatives, the Greater Officers of State. In November of 2007 the GoofS met and decided to dissolve the Western Region and 5 included shires. The Western Region dissolution was not a bad decision. To include the 5 shires was. I cannot speak for the other 4 shires involved but as the Seneschal at the time I can speak for Crossrode Keep. In January 2008 when we first learned of our dissolution, the charges given were "...a long history of problems, discussed via different venues." To correctly formulate a response to the charges as part of our appeal, we asked for specifics. To this date we have received none. Did my shire have
 problems? Yes. Were any of them, either singly or in the aggregate, worthy of our dissolution? NO! All of the specific charges that were leveled against us in writing were things that had surfaced AFTER the decision had been made and were either incorrect or minor in nature. We were in full compliance with both Ansteorran and Corporate law. Our reports were current. And yet we were dissolved. At no time in the memory of those in the group had the GoofS or anyone purportedly representing them stated that we were in non-compliance with any written rule or law either verbally or in writing. If in fact we had "...a long history of problems..." there would have been some kind of record of it. The fact that there was none in our historical records nor have any been forthcoming from the Crown seems to indicate that at the least the Crown and GoofS can be charged with misfeasance for not following the chain of actions outlined in the Corpora. This is not a
 minor misfeasance such as missing a report deadline, this is Identity Theft! They have taken from us what we worked very hard to achieve. They have WRONGLY taken our name and our status within the Kingdom that we were proud to be a part of. The pride is gone. In its stead is a tumultous mix of emotions that may take years to settle out. Do I believe that Crossrode Keep should be restored with an apology from the Crown? Yes! Do I believe it will happen? Not so much. The people from outside the effected region that seem to sense a problem with this action dont seem to be in a position to have any input into resolving whether the Crown and GoofS were wrong or whether Crossrode Keep actually deserved to be dissolved. I think, given a fair and open discourse we would prevail. There are those that will inevitably say that we have had our fair and open discourse already and were dissolved anyway. They will be wrong. This action has been railroaded thru from
 the beginning. Why else would the GoofS be sworn to secrecy...no individuals were being sanctioned, there was no private information involved? Why else would the Kingdom Seneschal say that it was "...a done deal.", in January 2008? Why else would the Ansteorran Ombudsman make disparaging remarks about the 5 shires at the meeting at Gulf War? Crossrode Keep is dead and buried. Our lives will continue. But the people that perpetrated this sneaky, underhanded and illegal action are still in your midst. How you deal with them determines how our lives continue.
In Service,
Pavel Poliakov (deceased)
Last Seneschal of Crossrode Keep
Kingdom of Ansteorra

From: Jay Rudin <rudin at ev1.net>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Group Status Changes
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008, 5:00 AM

R the O wrote:

>  If the admin system doesn't work for an entire region of our
> Kingdom, isn't it better to change the rules than to dissolve the
region?
>
>  The the current waterbearing system doesn't work under
> the current laws, isn't it better to change the rules than to
> dissolve the waterbearing?

That's exactly what they've done, in both cases.  Keep bearing water;
stop 
filling out officer reports.  Keep having guilds and practices and revels; 
stop filling out officer reports.

>  What's next to be dissolved?

Any branch that won't file reports consistently, as has been true for the 
history of the SCA.  This isn't the first time this has happened.

>  It seems like the framework that is supposed to support us has
> taken on a life of its own. It seems like the framework wants
> the populace to pander to it, instead of the other way around...

Pander to it how?  If you have a branch, play SCA and fill out monthly 
local reports.  If you don't have a branch, play SCA and don't fill out

monthly reports.  They've said to pander to the framework *less*, not more.

> I think the rules are supposed to let us safely have fun. Were
> the people in the Western Region dangerously having fun?

I suspect so, but I haven't been able to look into it.  Under the current 
SCA-wide rules, a kingdom can lose its status (and the SCA can lose its 
tax-exempt status or its insurance) if we don't get the financial and 
waiver reports in on time consistently.  I'm sure that if the branch 
officers reported consistently, this wouldn't have happened.  (But as I 
said, I haven't taken the time to find out what the exact issues were yet.)

>  Has anyone else noticed this trend, or am I just being weird?

You're not being weird; many people agree with you.  But I think you're
not 
actually analyzing the situation.  There is no activity except 
report-writing and bookkeeping that those groups have been asked to stop 
doing.

> If there were a good reason, I wouldn't neccesarily mind. But if
> there is a good reason that the general populace would agree
> with, why the secrecy?

This is a good question, and I don't know the answer.  I'll try to find

out.  But the unfair guesses about it that we've seen here won't help
us 
find out.

Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin 

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