Lyndhaven - Shire Policy (May - 2008)

Table of Contents:

1 POLICIES OF THE SHIRE OF LYNDHAVEN

Accepted at the Annual General Meeting of 17 May 2008

1.1 GENERAL NOTES

The term "SCA Law and Policy" shall include: East Kingdom Law and Policy (EK L&P), Corpora, the By-Laws, Corporate Policies, Decisions of the Board of Directors of SCA Inc., and the published policies of the officers of the East Kingdom.

If any conflict should arise between the policies in this document and SCA Law & Policy, SCA Law & Policy shall be deemed to be authoritative.

1.2 OFFICER REQUIREMENTS

All Shire officers, deputies and event autocrats must maintain a membership in the SCA Inc. as per Corpora VII.K.3 (Rev 5 Dec 2006)

A copy of every officer's regular report (if any) shall be filed with the Seneschal by that officer. This lets him or her know that the officer is fulfilling their reporting requirements.

Inter-officer communication is essential.

Officers are discouraged from holding more than one office, where possible. The encumbering of offices shall conform to EK L&P VII.H.

1.2.1 TERM OF OFFICE

The term of office is one year, beginning from one AGM and running until the next AGM.

There is no limit on the number of terms a person may serve.

If an officer needs to leave their office before their year is over, the outgoing officer will appoint a successor to hold the position until the next AGM. Should the position become vacant without a successor being designated, the Executive shall appoint a new officer by majority vote. Regardless of date of appointment, all offices are included in the next regular election.

1.3 ELECTIONS

Elections will be held every year at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). All positions will be open and nominations will be solicited from the floor. Unless they indicate otherwise, incumbents will be considered to be nominated for their current positions.

Where two or more people are nominated for an office, a vote by secret ballot shall be carried out. Each office shall be dealt with, in the order shown, below, before nominations open for the next office.

Offices deemed non-essential by SCA Law & Policy may be left vacant.

Voting is restricted to members of the Shire of Lyndhaven, as defined at the bottom of this document.

Members are reminded that our elections provide the East Kingdom with the name of the person that we would like to have hold that office, but that it is entirely the purview of the relevant EK officer to accept or reject our recommendation.

1.4 EXECUTIVE

1.4.1 Constitution of Executive

The following offices, when encumbered, constitute the Executive of the Shire of Lyndhaven:

  1. Seneschal
  2. Exchequer
  3. Pursuivant (a.k.a. "Herald")
  4. Knight Marshal
  5. Minister of Arts and Sciences
  6. Chatelaine
  7. Minister of Lists
  8. Chronicler
  9. Captain of Archers
  10. Marshal of Fence
  11. Web Minister

Additional executive positions may be added to this list by the shire by majority vote at the AGM.

1.4.2 Role of Executive

The Executive shall meet as a body and shall be responsible for the following actions:

  • Approve all financial expenditures within the shire;
  • Approve all events to be held within the shire, appoint the autocrat for any event approved, and review and approve the budget for any event approved;
  • Make all administrative decisions "not requiring a general meeting".

1.5 MEETINGS

The Seneschal shall chair meetings.

All meetings, including general and executive meetings, shall be held in general accordance with Robert's Rules of Order as contained in O. Garfield Jones' book, "Parliamentary Procedure at a Glance."

Minutes of meetings will be made available as soon after the meeting as is practical.

1.5.1 EXECUTIVE MEETINGS

Executive meetings will be arranged on an "as-needed" basis. Unless the circumstances are extraordinary, Executive meetings will be open for all Shire members to observe.

Approval by the Executive of any matter shall be by majority vote of officers present, with the Seneschal not voting on any matter, except in the case of a tie, in which case the Seneschal shall cast the tie-breaking vote.

1.5.2 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

There will be an Annual General Meeting, to coincide with the event held on the Victoria Day weekend. At that meeting:

  • policy will be established;
  • budgets will be ratified;
  • officers will be elected; and
  • other business will be conducted as it appears on the agenda.

Anyone who comes to attend the meeting, but is not staying for the event, is not required to pay to attend.

Should circumstances prevent the holding of an AGM on the Victoria Day weekend, the Seneschal will schedule an alternate date and publicize it at least 30 days in advance.

1.5.3 GENERAL MEETINGS

A general meeting may be called by the Seneschal on two weeks notice for any matter that lies beyond the authority of the Executive to decide.

1.5.4 DECISION MAKING HIERARCHY

In the event that a decision must be made on short notice, the Seneschal shall make such decisions as are absolutely required, and shall call an Executive meeting as soon as possible. The Executive shall be informed of the decision made, and shall be required to ratify and/or modify the decision as necessary. Any decision made by the Seneschal may be reversed, modified, or overturned by a majority vote of officers... so long as the result conforms to SCA Law and Policy.

Any decision made by the Executive and/or the Seneschal or other officer may be reversed, modified, or overturned by a majority vote of the Shire membership present at a general meeting where the matter is raised... so long as the result conforms to SCA Law and Policy. Any member may request that a particular matter be added to the agenda for the next general meeting.

Any member of the Shire may propose a motion to modify these policies, or to create a new policy, or to review, modify, or reverse any decision made by the Executive or the Seneschal. Eligibility to vote in shire meetings shall be determined in the same way as eligibility is determined for voting in elections. A majority vote of members present will be required to pass any motion.

1.6 EVENTS

Any person wishing to run an event within the Shire shall present to the Executive a written proposal, including a description of the event, including proposed date and location, activities, theme (if any), and a tentative budget. The Executive will then meet and approve the event by vote.

Before any financial expenditures are made on the event, a detailed budget must be presented to the Executive and approved. The Shire shall not be obliged to pay for nor reimburse any expenditure not included in the approved event budget, but such expenses may be presented to the executive for reimbursement after the event.

It is the autocrat's responsibility to check for scheduling conflicts with other events in the region.

It will not be Lyndhaven policy to post a day-tripping price for a multi-day event, but individual autocrats may propose what they please.

Event autocrats shall establish and advertise a "pets policy" for their events.

1.7 ORGANIZATION OF OUR FAR-FLUNG SHIRE

Each centre of SCA Activity in New Brunswick may elect officers to function as local deputies to the officers listed above, should the Shire officer not reside in their local area. Local deputies must be elected by majority vote of the shire members resident in that area. The exact method for holding such elections shall be determined internally in each area. Deputies are not to be elected for any position for which the shire officer is locally resident.

Local deputies will be responsible for the organization of activities related to their office in their local area. Local populace meetings are to be organized and conducted by the local deputy seneschal.

Deputies in outlying areas of the shire should report regularly (i.e. monthly or as required by the Shire officer they report to) to the equivalent Shire officer on activities they are holding within their area. The Deputy Seneschal for a region should also submit to the Chronicler regular updates on activities and meetings in their local area, including schedules for coming activities, for inclusion in the newsletter.

1.8 Definitions

1.8.1 Member

In this document, "member" refers to who has voting rights at our meetings. A person is considered to be a member of Lyndhaven if they:

  • reside within the borders of the Shire of Lyndhaven (i.e. New Brunswick); and
  • either are an active member of the Shire (i.e. have attended three SCA activities, such as official events, shire meetings, dance practice, fighting practice, etc., within the Shire during the last calendar year) or are a paid member of SCA Inc.

1.9 References

As of the time of this writing,