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Report from the Grand Council: September 2004

A. COMMITTEE ACTIVITY

The council spent the majority of this quarter continuing the
deliberation and the re-writing of Grand Council Charter. The
controversial imposition of "term limits" consumed a greater amount of
time than anticipated and as a result the final deliberation on the
Charter Revision is delayed until the final quarter report for 2004. A
draft of the approved amendments to date is attached for review.

The Grand Council wishes to reaffirm that some strong opposition to term
limits remains and although a majority decision was able to be reached
it in no way represents a consensus and the wishes of the council as a
whole. Of the options considered, the Council preferred allowing two
consecutive three year terms followed by a one year hiatus

A vocal portion felt that irreparable damage to the council and it's
usefulness to the board may result from wholesale "cleansing" of council
senior members resulting from improper implementation of these term
limits.

B. COMMITTEE STATUS AND COMMENDATIONS

A number of Councilor posts became vacant under the Council's current
rules. They will be filled as soon as possible.

C. PUBLISHABLE SUMMARY

The Council continues to work on revision of its charter.

D. REQUEST FOR THE BOARD

The members of the council require some feedback from the Board of
Directors on direction and scope of the charter revisions:

Regarding Kingdom representatives: No current guidelines exist for the
form of their representations. Does the Board have any input to the
council for consideration to the development of guidelines for Kingdom
Reps?

The Council has one one proposal for phased departure of those who must
leave because of term limits. It understands the Board would like to see
departures handled in this way. It hasn't debated it yet, or considered
other options. It would like, if the Board has no objection, to defer
implementing the new charter until it can come to an agreement on this
issue.



 Respectfully submitted,

Tom Pilcher, Secretary
SCA:James Llewellyn ap Gruffydd - #31393
Barony of Seagirt, Tir Righ, An Tir

tpilcher@shaw.ca
(250) 995-8526






Attachment - Partially completed re-write

SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE GRAND COUNCIL

1. The Grand Council (GC) will consist of a body of volunteers, diverse
in knowledge, experience, and geographic origin. The primary purpose of
the GC is to examine specific issues put before it by the Board, and
return actionable recommendations to the Board on these issues. It will
do so within reasonable time limits set by the Board.

2. The GC may also examine other issues on its own initiative, again
always with the goal of producing actionable recommendations. However,
each project must be managed so that the GC can appropriately discuss
and make recommendations on all it has been asked to consider.

3. The GC will primarily discuss matters that affect the modern
administration of the Society. Sometimes such matters may also affect
the Society's medieval recreation as well, in an ancillary fashion.

SUMMARY OF PROCEDURE

4. The Board will submit topics to be discussed to the GC one week after

the regularly scheduled meetings of the Board.

5. Reports on deliberations and voting results will be compiled and
submitted to the Board for consideration in the quarterly report to the
Board. Should the GC need more information during its deliberations, the
chairman may approach an officer of the corporation immediately or ask
the Board for clarification at its next meeting either by including the
question in the GC quarterly report or by transmitting an independent
inquiry to the GC ombudsman. In such cases, final deliberation and
voting will be postponed until a response has been communicated to the
GC by the chairman.

RELATION TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

6. The GC is an executive committee to the Board of Directors and has no
power to enforce the recommendations it makes. However, given that the
GC is made up of Society participants from a large cross section of the
populace, its recommendations should be considered with respect to this
diversity of membership. The Board will therefore consider the proposals
and recommendations of the Grand Council at open meetings.

7. The Board will designate one director to serve as Liaison of The GC.

8. Each kingdom is entitled to a voting member on the Grand Council. The
individual Kingdoms are responsible for the selection process for their
prospective representative. Once selected, Kingdom representatives are
bound by the same conditions as the "at-large" members. Kingdom
representatives are not bound by any geographical constraints, save
those imposed by the selecting Kingdom itself.

9. The remaining, "at large", members of the Grand Council shall be
selected by the nominating committee which is responsible for ensuring
that enough members exist to support a full quota of officers and to do
the work of the Grand Council. The nominating Committee shall commence
selecting replacement councillors if they deem the need exists or under
direction from the Chairman.

10. The term of any member of the Grand Council shall be three years. A
member of the Grand Council may serve two consecutive terms upon
affirmation their of own willingness to do so. At the end of the second
consecutive term the member must resign his/her position and wait one
full year before reapplication will be considered.

11. Resignation from the Grand Council is via email notice to the Clerk
and the Chair. Posting to the list is considered an acceptable form.
Kingdom appointees must cc: their Crown so that a new Kingdom
appointment can be made.

12. Missing two consecutive votes or roll calls without substantiation
shall be considered a resignation in lieu of a written notice.

13. The resignation of a Kingdom representative will be conveyed, by the
clerk, to the appropriate Crown so that a replacement may be selected.

14. Councillors anticipating a prolonged absence are required to inform
the clerk prior to such absence so that any votes or roll calls during
that period will not be counted against the representative. The number
of absent councillor are removed from affecting vote results or quorum
calculations. Reinstatement upon return is by notification to the clerk.

15. New members will not be counted on the GC roster until they have
either posted on the Listserve or informed the Clerk. If they do not do
so within thirty days of their appointment, the Clerk will inform the
appointing body and the new member.

GRAND COUNCIL MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

16. Members of the GC have the following responsibilities:

a. Actively participate in GC discussions and decisions via Internet
email or letter, as appropriate

b. Either vote on, or actively abstain from, proposals put before the
GC.

c. Frequently discuss the issues facing the GC with Society participants
in whatever forum(s) are appropriate (Kingdom email lists, events, the
Rialto, local meetings, etc.)

d. Consider all sides of discussions and options presented and provide
recommendations based on those discussions

e. Attend GC meetings if at an event where a meeting is held. Meetings
could be held at Pennsic, Estrella, etc.
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