NR - Northern Regional Tribute

[Decker, Terry D.]

Okay Dwen, here we go.

Corpora requires:

II. SOCIETY EVENTS

C. INDIVIDUALS IN CHARGE OF EVENTS. Each Society event must have one Society
member appointed by the sponsoring branch in attendance and responsible for
the general conduct of the event. Where an event involves only one type of
Society activity, the responsible member is the appropriate branch officer,
or someone designated by that officer. Where an event includes a variety of
activities, the responsible member is the branch Seneschal or someone
designated by the branch Seneschal. In addition, events including Society
combat or combat-related activities must have at least one warranted
marshal, designated by the Marshal of the sponsoring branch, in attendance
and responsible for those activities.


Please note that under Corpora the autocrat or steward is appointed by the
seneschal of the sponsoring branch.  As has been pointed out, the Region is
not an official branch but an administrative structure.  Since the host
branch was Namron and not the Region (which is not a branch and can not
sponsor an event), the co-ordinating autocrat should have been chosen by the
Seneschal of Namron.

As the Northern Regional Seneschal was acting as the Seneschal of Namron for
a time, her selection of an autocrat may have been a proper action, but in
view of the populace reaction, the choice is questionable.


Under Kingdom Law:

ARTICLE V: KINGDOM EVENTS
Section l: Events
	1.	All events shall meet at least the minimum requirements
specified in Corpora II.A . 
	2.	Every Event of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
shall have an autocrat "steward" or coordinating autocrat "coordinating
steward" whose name, address, and telephone number will be advertised with
the event announcement, or shall be the responsibility of an officer of the
sponsoring group, whose name, address, and telephone number are printed in
the same newsletter in which the event announcement appears. The autocrat
shall be acceptable to the Crown and the seneschal, and shall be warranted
as a deputy seneschal for a period needed to exercise the duties of
autocrat. An autocrat "steward" must meet the membership requirements for
the office of seneschal. 
	3.	There shall be three classes of "Society Events" in the
Kingdom of Ansteorra. 
		1.	A Kingdom Calendar Event shall be defined as a
gathering sponsored by an officially recognized branch of the Kingdom which
is listed in advance on the Official Kingdom Calendar of Events in the
Kingdom newsletter, and for which the date, time, and place have been
published, for free, in advance in the Kingdom newsletter, and which has one
or more duly warranted officers present and responsible for the conduct of
the event. 
		2.	A Regional Calendar Event shall be defined as a
gathering sponsored by three or more officially recognized branches of the
Kingdom which is listed in advance on the Official Kingdom Calendar of
Events in the Kingdom newsletter, and for which the date, time, and place
have been published, for free, in advance in the Kingdom newsletter, and
which has one or more duly warranted officers present and responsible for
the conduct of the event. 
		3.	An Local Calendar Event shall be defined as a
gathering sponsored by an officially recognized branch of the Kingdom which
is not listed on the Official Kingdom Calendar of Events in the Kingdom
newsletter but which has been listed in advance in a newsletter of an
officially recognized branch, in which the date, time, and place have been
published, and which has one or more duly warranted officers of the
sponsoring branch present and responsible for the conduct of the event.


Kingdom Law modifies Corpora by stating in V.1.2 that EVERY event shall have
an autocrat...The autocrat shall be acceptable to the Crown and the
seneschal...

If we consider the normal devolution of authority, if the Regional seneschal
has the authority to decide upon the autocrat for a regional event and if
the primary host and co-ordinating group is required to be a Barony, then
the Baron and Baroness should exercise the Crown's approval of the autocrat
unless overridden by the Crown.  

I am of the opinion that the proper course of action for Regional events
under our current laws is the Regional seneschal chooses the primary host
group and the seneschal and Baron and Baroness of that group select the
co-ordinating autocrat.  It would be courteous and prudent if the primary
host provided the autocrat information in their bid, permitting the other
sponsors and the Regional seneschal enough information to agree or disagree.

None of this prohibits the use of outside autocrats, but it needs to be with
the invitation and acceptance of the hosting group.  The problems of
"imposing" an outside autocrat are evident from the recent discussion on
this list and the best solution to the problem I see, concurrence between
the representatives of the Crown and the representatives of the
seneschallate upon the choice of autocrat, is already in our Kingdom Law.
Why not follow our rules?

As to the matter of sanctions, I hope it was a miscommunication or an
abberation in the heat of the moment.  Formal sanctions could be taken by
the Kingdom Seneschal writing up a statement of cause and petitioning the
Crown for sanctions against the group.  These can take many forms (most not
prescribed in law) including dissolution, but the greater the penalty the
more likely it will be appealed to the BoD or require BoD approval.  Formal
sanctions certainly require the approval of the Crown.

Informal sanctions are another matter.  The Kingdom Seneschal controls the
official calendar and the hosting of Kingdom Events.  He can refuse to allow
Namron to host Kingdom Events merely by awarding them to other groups.  He
can assign dates for events other than the perpetual events prescribed by
Kingdom Law.  And he could try to schedule events in other Regions on the
same weekend as Namron Protectorate.  Acts that may or may not be
necessarily honorable or just in a given circumstance, but perfectly within
the Kingdom Seneschal's purview.  

Part of my dissatisfaction over the events around this NRT is that Officers
of the SCA, Inc. have made policy decisions affecting a number of people and
they are not willing to publicly state those decisions, reasons for those
decisions, and any law pertinent to those decisons or present a reason why
the decision should remain confidential.  Instead, I receive a statement
full of innuendo and very little fact.  Better that the officers be silent,
than to present such a disservice to the membership.  And better they
provide a dispassionate statement of their decisions than be silent.  Please
note that this comment is not meant as an attack but as a general statement
of opinion upon how officers should perform.

While it is true that Namron is out and Northkeep is in, where NRT is
concerned, and that the problems under discussion are those of Namron, it
should be remembered that some of the decisions precipitating current events
were made at the Regional and Kingdom levels and that such decisions can
affect any group in the Region.  It would be to the advantage of all the
groups to help determine a common, equitable policy for the award, hosting
and autocrating of Regional events which our seneschals can follow.

Bear

   
 
> 
>     Further, I will await with interest clarification of the 
> issue of Master
> Richard's "sanctioning" of Namron as reported by Master Baron 
> Ulf.  As the
> founding Seneschal, former Reeve and current Chronicler of 
> the Wastelands,
> I'd have had a ring-tailed fit before I would support this Shire's
> sponsorship of an event without an Autocrat or "CO"-Autocrat 
> appointed from
> the Shire.  (Why hasn't anyone ever discussed the fact that 
> an event so
> large could do with more than one autocrat, by the way?)  Was 
> there no one
> from Namron willing to be an autocrat?  If that was the case, 
> then there
> seems to be wisdom in having another group be the lead group 
> for the event.
> (Bless Northkeep's heart for consistently stepping in to 
> offer support).  If
> there were qualified persons from the Barony willing to serve 
> as Autocrat or
> co-Autocrat, on what basis was the decision made not to 
> appoint him/her?
> How does this lead to the sanctioning of a group?  In what 
> form does that
> sanction become inacted?  By the Kingdom Seneschal or by 
> Royal Edict?  Or is
> it simply a personal matter between the Kingdom Seneschal and 
> the Barony of
> Namron?  I really am asking for clarification here and 
> welcome insight or
> information on the matter.
> 
>     I find discussions about how things work and how 
> decisions get made to
> be, on the whole, good for the populace.  None of the events we attend
> simply happen.  There is an awful lot of hard work that goes 
> in to their
> production.  It is my hope that this forum can remain a place 
> where what
> works and what doesn't work is analyzed and corrections are 
> made to be more
> respectful of the feelings of groups of people large and 
> small.  When people
> have more information they tend to make better decisions....
> 
> In Hope,
> 
> Baroness Ceridwen Tir Gwastraff
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