SC - OT-Short Digests

[MollyMoses@aol.com]

>   In defense of the Baron and Baroness though.  They are only reletively
> new to the thing, and live very far away from the rest of the Barony, so
> most of the running is left to the Senechal who they trust implicitly.
>    Our Seneschal and his wife are too full of their own worth (They ran
> for
> Baron and Baroness and didn't make it.)  So they pretty much run things
> how
> they want it.  The seneschal had the idea to raise the fees, saying that
> the extra $10 odd on top of the standars non-member fees making an avarage
> feast cost $28 or so dollars would encourage more people to join the SCA.
> This was designed to boost membership.  It lost the College of St Guildas
> a
> lot of members since it was too expensive for just one event.
> 
>From the sound of this, your Kingdom already has non-member fees in place to
encourage paid membership.  By adding additional fees, your Seneschal may
have stepped on Kingdom law.  You need to carefully read the applicable
sections.

In any case, the Seneschal appears to have place an onerous burden of
questionable worth on the participants in the College.

>   To give you an idea of his wife, well, she and two other girls were the
> baronesses ladies in waiting for the last year.    During this year she
> has
> allowed the other two girls no chanceto actually wait on the Baroness.  It
> was a fight just getting her away from the casket in which the awards are
> kept.  Everyone is convinced that its the power that goes with it.
> 
This doesn't mean a thing in terms of what you are trying to do.  While the
stated behavior is discourteous and disgusting, it is not unlawful or
actionable.  Only the actions of the office should be considered.

I would recommend you keep the behavior in mind when next being polled for
selecting a new Baronage.

>    The populace have asked the Baron and Baroness if we can replace them,
> but the Baron and Baroness who don't mingle much in their own Barony,
> doesn't see any problem.  The populace it between a rock and a hard place.
> Me.......I stick to the kitchen, the roasts aren't powermad, and neither
> am
> I
> 
> **************************************************************************
> ****
> Marina Denton
> sianan at geocities.com
> 
If you feel the Seneschal is misusing his office, you may petition his
superior to replace him.  You will need to state specific cause.  I would
recommend that you get the majority of the populace to sign the petition.
You need to request that action be taken within a specific time (usually 30
to 45 days or as established in the Complaint and Appeals section of Kingdom
Law).  You need to send a copy of the petition to the Seneschal and to the
Baronage.  You may have some problems here, because the Baronage may take a
formal petition as a vote of no confidence. 

If his superior chooses not act, you appeal the decision to the next level
in the Seneschallate and repeat the petition process until you reach the
Kingdom Seneschal.  If the Kingdom Seneschal fails to act, you may next
petition the Crown.  Failing that, you may next petition the Society
Seneschal and after that the BoD.

>From what has been said, members of the populace haven't gotten anywhere
talking to the Seneschal or the Baronage, so maybe you can get their
attention with a formal petition.  Hopefully the Seneschallate in your
Kingdom is smart enough to straighten out the problem early on; the formal
process can be a pain. 

The populace as a whole can force the issue informally by simple refusing to
work with the Seneschal and notifying the Baronage of the fact.  This will
not work if the offending party has enough adherents to run the Baronial
events.

For your next Seneschal, try to find someone who believes the duty of the
office includes assuring that the letter of complaint which will remove them
from office is correct and proper within Kingdom Law and the Organizational
Handbook.

Bear
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