November 15, 2005 Curia Business Meeting

23 Thescorreans present (including Robyn), plus felines Melisande and Leonardo
Steffan, Seneschal
Cedric & Peregrine’s home

The Night of A Zillion, Million Votes

1. Baronage Election Nominations
Steffan reopened the floor for additional nominations. [Sigvaldi: “Crickets? Crickets?”] Hearing none, Steffan closed the nominations.

2. Policies & Procedures Proposals
There were numerous policy changed proposed by Orianna, Katja, and Steffan. Steffan recited each of the policy changes so that each could be discussed and voted upon separately.

Regarding the Baron & Baroness’ announcement to continue in office or not, replace “announce intention…at the College of Three Ravens” with “announce intention… on or before the College of Three Ravens.” The proposal passed 21-0-0.
Remove sections 5.4.2, 5.4.2.1, and 5.4.2.2. since they duplicate 5.4.1. Proposal passed 21-0-0.
Regarding when the baronial nominations will open, replace “will open at a business meeting” with “will open at the first Baronial business meeting following publication in the Fewmet of their Excellencies’ intent to step down.”
- Steffan initially argued against this one, saying he felt it forced the start date of the election. Orianna explained that it initiated just the nominations, not the election itself. Katrina asked if anything in the policies note exactly when the election process starts. No, there aren’t any specifics on that, Orianna replied. OK, Steffan noted, so there’s no linkage between when the seneschal has to send the ballots and when the nominations start? He said he was concerned that if there was, then we wouldn’t have any time to correct our policies if needed, just as we are doing right now. After a little more discussion, the proposal passed 22-0-0. (Carlo concluded making coffee in the kitchen and joined the meeting.)
Per kingdom law, change the voting age from 14 to 16.
- Orianna suggested a change to her own proposal, saying she’d prefer “per kingdom law” instead of 16, so that if the age lowered we wouldn’t have to change our policies again. Sigvaldi suggested changing it to “per minimum kingdom law.” Orianna accepted the friendly amendment to change it, and the proposal passed 22-0-0.
Also per kingdom law, change the decision maker in the event of an election tie from the current Baron & Baroness naming a tie-breaking game to the Crown making the decision.
- Several gentles bemoaned the loss of the Barony’s authority in this decision and the method (“Tiddlywinks!!”), but agreed the change had to be made to comply with kingdom law. It passed 22-0-0.
Add the Thrown Weapons Marshal to the list of marshal deputies who must be warranted.
- Katja explained that she’d noticed that the policies regarding the four martial activities were not in sync, and thus had suggested several nitpicky changes to this section of the policies. Passed 22-0-0.
Add “in a timely manner” to the end of the sentence regarding the chirurgeon turning over the Barony medical supplies to his or her successor. Passed 22-0-0.
Modify or add the requirement, to all four martial activities, of sending non-member practice waivers to the kingdom waiver secretary on a monthly basis, as per kingdom policy.
- Katja explained that the policies currently either had this missing from the marshal’s duties or incorrectly directed the waivers to the kingdom marshal for that activity. Passed 22-0-0.
Add two requirements to the chatelaine’s duties: “to act as press contact in interactions with the media,” and “to act as a contact for teachers, scout leaders, and other seeking educational or recruitment demos.”
- Several gentles disagreed with these proposals, including Sigvaldi, who expressed concern that it excluded others from cultivating contacts and possible demos in their jobs or schools. Katrina agreed, adding that the seneschal is the legal representative for the Barony, not the chatelaine. Katja explained that she felt that the policies should spell out this important duty somewhere and didn’t really mind if it was under the chatelaine, seneschal, or whichever officer was most appropriate. Further, she didn’t mind if the proposal was dumped or rewritten so that it was not exclusive; she just wanted the duty included in the policies and the issue discussed. Steffan noted that this fell under the duties of the media liaison on the kingdom level, and that there well could be a Barony-level job requirement in the future. He tabled the proposal so that he could gather information on this from the kingdom level.
Add the requirement that the chronicler publish the laws & policies every two years or as needed. Steffan noted that the Barony would cover the cost of the printing. Passed 22-0-0.
Correct the spelling of “exchequer.” Since this was simply a typo, it did not need a vote.
Query: where is the autocrat’s handbook mentioned in Section 2.6? Is it on our webpage, or is it a kingdom resource? It’s a book Alison has, several people replied. Since this was a question rather than a proposal to change the policies, it did not require a vote.
Add “online credit card reservations, if available” to the policies regarding event reservations. Katja explained that some events are now accepting online reservations, and our current policies state that only mailed reservations are accepted, the online ones are prohibited unless we change the policy. Passed 22-0-0.
Delete Section 3.8, since it duplicates 3.6. Delete the duplicated “balances are above” in Section 4.3. Also, delete the extra space after the hyphen in “four-year term.” [Katja’s comment: I’m an editor. It’s my job. Shoot me. J] Again, since these are typos, they did not require votes.
Add the subheading “Procedure for Vote of Confident” to Section 5.4 Steffan commented that he’d proposed a complete rewrite of the entire election section, so he was skipping this proposal.
Change the date of the Baron & Baroness’ intent announcement from the College of Three Ravens to Pax. Several gentles asked why Katja proposed this; she said she’d done it before seeing Orianna’s proposal (which had passed earlier in the evening). Again, she didn’t mind if the proposal was changed or dumped. The proposal failed 0-22-0.
Delete 5.5 since it duplicates 5.4.1. Change the words “crown” and “heirs” to uppercase in 5.6. Delete 6.1.2 since it duplicates the previous paragraph. Correct the spelling of “jewelry-making.” No vote needed to correct the typographical errors.
Add the names of the Baronial Orders to 6.2 and 6.3 (Talon and Broach). No vote needed, since the policies currently refer to them as the Orders of Merit for Martial Arts and for A&S, and say their names are pending.
Per Corpora, add “the Seneschal is the only person within the Barony authorized to sign legal documents.” Steffan noted that in the past seneschals had allowed autocrats to sign site rental contracts, but it wasn’t allowed anymore. Passed 22-0-0.
Modify the paragraph on the seneschal’s responsibility of maintaining the baronial policies to add “by the next baronial business meeting. Distribute the finished documents to the web minister and the chronicler for publication in a timely manner. Changes to the Baronial Policies and Procedures must be published in the Baronial newsletter in a timely fashion.” Passed 22-0-0.
In Section 3.6.1, change “Corpora” to “the appropriate Laws, Policies, and Procedures,” per Corpora and kingdom law. Passed 22-0-0.
Regarding decisions on baronial expenditures, change “checking account” to “combined bank account” in Sections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3. Steffan noted that we have a savings account in addition to a checking account, and that the seneschal could prevent anyone from requesting baronial expenditures simply by directing the exchequer to move most of the funds into savings. Passed 22-0-0.
Delete the entire current 5.4 (Baronial Selection Process) and replace with rewritten policies on the announcement of intention, the vote of confidence, the nominations, the weighted voting process, the vicarage, the inclusion on the ballot of the choice to remain a barony or change status. et. al.
- “We’re not allowed to dissolve?” someone asked jokingly.
- There was some discussion on the vote of confidence’s trigger number – whether it should be 50% plus 1 vote or 51%. Grendel and Bronwyn both suggested rewriting it to be a simple majority. Orianna noted that this was simply for the vote of confidence for the current Baron & Baroness, not for the election of a new Baron & Baroness. Since the vote could be only “yes” or “no” in this instance, she agreed it should be “a simple majority of the Barony in favor.”
- Grendel questioned the timing of 5.4.1.2 of the vote of confidence: if the Baronage did not receive a simple majority, did they step down immediately? When their term expires? Steffan said that the section does not prohibit the Baronage from serving out their term. Orianna suggested modifying the section to state that in the event of a less than simple majority, the Baronage must step down at the end of their current term.
- There was some discussion of 5.4.3.3 and the straight ballot used for an election race of only one or two candidates versus the weighted ballot for three or more candidates.
- Everyone thanked Steffan for doing such a good job on rewriting the whole section. The proposal passed, with the stated modifications, 22-0-0. [“Make it so, Number One,” Orianna joked.]

3. Officer Reports

Youth Marshals: Steffan read Mairghread & Nivah’s report, stating that they’d held a tournament at Coronation as well as presented the King and Queen with gift baskets. One new fighter was authorized at that event, for a total of five new fighters this quarter! They have clarified waiver procedures from the kingdom level, and are awaiting further changes. They have practice twice a month at the Adams Street Center on Monday nights. Nivah expects to receive her adult marshal warrant soon.
Exchequer: We have $3,533.78 in checking and $1,107.54 in savings, Alina said. She submitted the third quarter report. The Barony has a surplus of $1,097.30, but there is an advance of $100 for which she needs the receipts. She reiterated kingdom policy, wherein all cash advances must be cleared within 60 days of receiving them. Also, she still needs a deputy.
Baron & Baroness: Cedric offered a box of cloth bits to those present.
Rapier Marshal: We play at Adams Street Center on Mondays, Yasmina reported; we were outdoor in September and now we’re indoor. We have two new fencers!
Webministers: Steffan read Donal & Sorcha’s report, since they were out of town. In the past quarter, they’ve had one new subscription to the Barony Yahoo list and one unsubscription. The Threadworkers Guild has a Yahoo list now. Katja provided both past meeting notes and the recipes for the Cauldron Bleu’s vigil cookies to the Barony webpage. The webministers said they wanted very much to show off how diverse and skilled the Barony is. They thanked several people for providing material to the webpage (Collette, Eldjarn, Katja) and encouraged others to help build up the web presence. If anyone runs a practice or meeting, please consider providing some information on that to the webministers; it doesn’t have to be an entire webpage, although they do encourage and welcome that. The webpage is the easiest way for new people to find out about us, they added. Vettius asked if we could have more photos on the webpage. Some folks mentioned the issue of gaining permission before posting photographs.
Archery: Those present eagerly awaited Cedric’s latest report, which he recited:
Since my last report, three months have passed.
The weather outside is still warm.
‘Tis proof the gods want us to shoot at RIT,
While they protect us from cold winter storms.
To show our thanks, a contest we devised
Which required archers in bathing suits.
For some disapproved of naked archery
And we needed more recruits.
It was a sight to behold, with bikinis and Speedos,
But the outcome was a surprise.
You would think yourself accursed, if you were not there,
For it was Peregrine who took first prize.
We’ll stay at RIT until the weather gets cold, he concluded.
Chatelaine: Dubheasa said it has been three months since she and Sigvaldi took on the office. Nine Thescorreans participated in the Astronomicon demo and had a lot of silly fun. One of the highlights was Crows Feet dancing Quen Quer Que with Darth Maul, Anakin Skywalker, and a stormtrooper. River Tam later posed, with several of Cedric’s weapons, over the bodies of several “Reavers,” Grendel pointed out. Katja added that there were incriminating photos of several Thescorreans in garb wearing the stormtrooper’s helmet. In other chatelaine news, we’ve welcomed two new semi-regular members, plus one SCAdian displaced by the hurricane disasters.
Sigvaldi reported on the archery boy scout demo in Mendon, saying the kids had a great time shooting, despite the miserable weather. He added that he, Bronwyn, and Robyn did an ADEPT demo with 70 Freddie Thomas students for over an hour.
There have been several donations to the new demo box, including absolutely gorgeous books from Phillipe and cards of castles from Caradawc. Peregrine made a phenomenal suggestion last week that all Barony guilds and groups donate something to the box, he said excitedly.
Dubheasa reminded folks about the DePaul demo on Tuesday, November 29, 1931 Buffalo Road from 5:30 to 8 p.m. We will have another demo at Freddie Thomas in December or January.
Chirurgeon: Phillipe noted that Porterville EMS announced it can no longer be the on-site 24-hour service to Pennsic. {Katrina, who attended the Pennsic staff meeting where this was first announced, noted that there will be an EMS service at Pennsic – there has to be, by modern law.) Second, per Society policy, no one under 18 can be treated anymore by the chirurgeonate unless the parent or legal guardian is present or the minor has a signed waiver to allow the treatment.
Chronicler: We have 32 subscriptions, although four are past due, Eldjarn reported. We have four comps and four exchanges. We’re doing okay, and thanks for all the articles, he added. He noted that he’d like to see stuff from new contributors.
Herald: Matilda said she’d sent in several name and 1 device submissions. She worked as a field herald at both Crown and the Herontir events, plus served as a court herald at Pennsic. Pleasance is her deputy. Her office is up in January and she welcomes bids; if there are no acceptable bids, she will continue in office.
A&S: Kadlin was not present since she has strep. Siggy asked for anyone who has done A&S stuff to let her know for her report.
MOL: Bronwyn noted that she met with both Karana at Coronation and Leonora at Crown, so all her paperwork is up to date and she had a grand time. She asked if there would be fighting at C3R? No, it’s hands-on classes, not tournaments, someone clarified.
Steward/Seneschal: Steffan combined his offices, saying “We have stuff” and “We have people,” respectively. He also thanked the “kind elves” who moved the kitchen stuff from his garage to their proper place in his basement while he was out one day. [Katja admitted it was her and Grendel.]
Coffee Boy: Tonight’s flavor is Rainforest Crunch, Carlo reported, “and it’s nearly gone.” He also offered cocoa and blueberry tea.
Middle Eastern Drum & Dance practice is tomorrow night at the Adams Street Center.

4. Youth Voting Petition
After all the discussion on the list, and Fridrikr’s proposed wording, and Orianna’s proposed rewording, “and biscuits!” at a meeting at Matilda’s home, Carlo presented the petition. He said he hoped everyone signed it, jokingly threatening folks with a really big axe if they didn’t. Phillipe noted that the petition should stress that including teenagers in the SCA voting process may get them to vote in later life in modern elections. Carlo agreed, saying he’d mentioned that before and hoped that people would stand up at Æthelmearc Curia “on a tree stump” and add stuff like that.
Steffan closed the meeting so that people could line up to sign the petition.

5. Errata
Lavena called Caradawc from Florida just before the end of the meeting. Everyone yelled hello in unison at his cellphone.
Katrina noted that Grimms will no longer rent tents, as of January 1.