[Cynnabar] To Seneschal et all

[Greg Less]

Sir Ranthulfr-

   As stated yesterday, the Barony of Cynnabar does not vote. A poll,
regardless of the outcome, could not be used to make a decision on this
matter because it would be tantamount to voting.

  In my experience, it has always been the job of Cynnabar's  seneschal to
listen to the discussion, steer the discussion, contribute to the
discussion impartially, and at the end of the allotted time, decide whether
a consensus opinion has been formed on the proposed action and whether or
not a substantive opposition has been voiced to said proposal.

   Here, the proposed action is to give the Kingdom 18% of our 2011 coffers
rounded up to the nearest dollar. The discussion is ongoing. I am sure that
Finn is doing his best to hear all of the opinions, both pro and con, and
decide whether the aforementioned consensus has been reached without
substantive opposition.

   If a person wishes their voice to be heard on this matter, but does not
wish to speak up in public, Finn has made his home phone number and
personal email address available. Their Excellencies are also available for
private communication,  I am sure. There are plenty of ways to get your
opinion out there; don't let being shy, my rhetoric, or anything else stop
you from being heard.


-Gregoire.





On Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 9:08 AM, Randy Asplund <randyasplund at comcast.net>wrote:

> Lord Finn,
>
> How will this decision be made before Saturday? A poll has been proposed
> and seconded, and another person has offered to draft it, but t is now
> Thursday and we've had no word yet about how the decision will be made.
>
> I ask because I am concerned that this group might make the mistake of
> using the gist of this week's emails to imply a decision rather than
> actually using a method that is impartial and non-public. We are already in
> a darker than gay area for stretching the "emergency decision" definition,
> so we should try our very best to be as fairly representative as possible.
>
> The logic for using the poll system rather than looking at past emails is
> about fairness because:
>
> 1) Although many posts on this subject have been made, the majority of the
> posts have been from the same few people, which is not a fair
> representation of the far greater numbers of the Barony. In fact, we have
> not heard from most of our active membership and only (if I counted right)
> three of our local Peers. It may turn out that the opinion of the ones who
> posted the most for one side carries the favor of the majority, but we
> won't know until we have a chance to decide and vote in private.
>
> 2) From the first post by Gregoire, language has been used that would
> dissuade anyone who disagreed from saying so has been used. I am NOT saying
> that was intentional on anybody's part, but that is certainly the
> psychological effect. Who wants to publicly state an opposing opinion when
> it might cause them to appear ungenerous or not in support of Kingdom and
> Society, even if they thought there was a better way to do both? I know for
> a fact that there are people who have not posted but do disagree. They
> deserve to have the opportunity to be counted privately and impartially.
>
> 3) There are people on the list who just don't post much, but would like
> to vote. There are also members of the local group who are physically
> active but are not on the list-serve.
>
> 4) Some people have expressed off-list that they have not posted because
> they felt others had already made their points.
>
> 5) Regardless of what has been said already, we are still waiting for the
> last information to arrive, and people on either side might change their
> minds in either direction based on that information. Frankly, I don't even
> know how "I" would vote yet.
>
> 6) And who is eligible to vote ought to be stated. (Please note: This is
> not a slight to Their Graces, who live in Pittsburgh. I personally feel
> that anyone who feels they are a member of Cynnabar first and foremost
> should be allowed to vote. But we have people on this list who are in a
> grey area and others who were just plain never members of Cynnabar but
> simply want to keep aware of what we are doing).
>
> I doubt strongly that anybody in either camp wants anything but what is
> best for the SCA, for the Middle Kingdom and for Cynnabar. The question is
> really about what is the wisest way to deal with the situation. The
> decision needs to reflect the honest opinion of the group's members without
> having anybody feel socially pressured into voting against what they
> believe.
>
> RanthulfR
>
> Randy Asplund
> Facebook: "Randy Asplund, Artist"
> www.RandyAsplund.com
> Maker of Medieval books and
> Illustrator of Science Fiction & Fantasy
> (734) 663-0954
> 2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48103
>
>
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