Council Selection Process

Here's the process document. The actual policy is in caps, with explanatory text in lower-case.



PEOPLE WILL STAND FOR COUNCIL AT THE JANUARY VILLAGE MEETING. IF SOMEONE WOULD LIKE TO BE ON COUNCIL BUT ABSOLUTELY CANNOT MAKE IT TO THIS MEETING, THEY MUST SEND SOMEONE TO STAND FOR THEM. THE COUNCIL CANDIDATES WILL MAKE A STATEMENT OR ANSWER QUESTIONS REGARDING WHO THEY ARE, THEIR VILLAGE/FAIR EXPERIENCE, ETC. CANDIDATES FOR COUNCIL MUST PROVIDE CONTACT INFO, AND BE ACCESSIBLE DURING THE NEXT WEEK.

INITIAL CALL FOR COUNCIL CONFIRMATION WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE FEBRUARY VILLAGE MEETING.

We recognize that one month is not always enough time to work out conflicts, so we suggest A PERSON WHO STATES THEIR INTENT IN JANUARY MAY CHOOSE TO BE CONFIRMED IN MARCH.

THOSE PEOPLE STANDING FOR COUNCIL ABOUT WHOM NO RESERVATIONS ARE EXPRESSED GET CONFIRMED WITHOUT DELAY. This is to ensure that the Village will not be left without a council.

(At the February Village meeting, the facilitator will say something like: "Those council candidates who prefer to stand for confirmation tonight instead of next month, please stand". If no one at the meeting brings up concerns about the people standing, then those people are confirmed to council.)

No candidate should be blindsided publicly with a concern they have not already had a chance to respond to privately.

SOMEONE MAY BRING UP A CONCERN ABOUT A CANDIDATE PUBLICLY AT THE FEBRUARY OR MARCH VILLAGE MEETING IF AND ONLY IF THEY HAVE PARTICIPATED FULLY IN THE VILLAGE'S GRIEVANCE PROCESS, AND WARNED THE CANDIDATE THEY MAY BRING UP THAT CONCERN. A CANDIDATE WHO KNOWS THERE IS A CONCERN ABOUT THEIR JOINING COUNCIL MAY STAND FOR COUNCIL IF AND ONLY IF THEY HAVE PARTICIPATED FULLY IN THE VILLAGE'S GRIEVANCE PROCESS.

A person may not feel safe, or able to tactfully discuss their issues with a candidate, so A PERSON WITH A CONCERN MAY USE AN ADVOCATE.

(Grievance process: If someone has a concern about a council candidate they need to contact the candidate or have an "advocate" do so. They should contact the candidate within the week following the January Village meeting. Hopefully, those people can come to an understanding (perhaps using mediation); if not, the candidate and the person with the concern _must_ attend the January council meeting, no exceptions.)

(We are not mandating mediation because the Agents of Reality among us say that mandatory mediation is a contradiction in terms.)

To allow some time to work out a solution, THE JANUARY COUNCIL MEETING WILL BE HELD THE SECOND WEEK FOLLOWING THE GENERAL MEETING.

A VILLAGE MEMBER MAY STAND ASIDE OR BLOCK A COUNCIL CANDIDATE PROVIDED THAT THEIR EXPRESSED CONCERN HAS GONE THROUGH THE GRIEVANCE PROCESS.
The final clause has created a lot of confusion. It is the _concern_
which must have gone through the grievance process, not the person
expressing it. So if Sue expresses the concern after participating
fully in the grievance process, Joe could decide that concern merits
blocking or standing aside. Maybe...

published 1-2008   Back to Community Village Home

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