Presidential Edicts

August 1, 2020 to April 1, 2021


Introduction

On August 1, 2020, Sarah Hemenway took office as the President of STF, succeeding Steve Johnson.

Summary of Edicts

Edict #1
  • August 8, 2020
  • President Sarah's Cabinet appointed.
Edict #2
  • August 18, 2020
  • USS Leviathan chartered as an Alternate Roleplaying Environment.
Edict #3
  • August 18, 2020
  • Sharon Miller appointed as Commanding Officer of the USS Leviathan.
Edict #4
  • September 11, 2020
  • Ben Simons promoted to Captain and appointed as Commanding Officer of the USS Asimov.
Edict #5
  • September 12, 2020
  • USS Chimera relocated from Infinite Fleet to Pioneer Fleet. USS Viking relocated from Infinite Fleet to Meridian Fleet. USS Constellation relocated from Infinite Fleet to Black Fleet. Infinite Fleet decommissioned.
Edict #6
  • September 12, 2020
  • Matt Evans promoted to Fleet Captain.
Edict #7
  • September 20, 2020
  • Sharon Miller appointed as Supervisor of Experiments.
Edict #8
  • November 14, 2020
  • Katy Darrah removed as Commanding Officer of the USS Constellation. Brian Richards assigned as Commanding Officer of the USS Constellation.
Edict #9
  • November 25, 2020
  • Amanda Mercer removed as Commanding Officer of the USS Viking. James Harrison assigned as Commanding Officer of the USS Viking.
Edict #10
  • November 28, 2020
  • USS Constellation charter updated.
Edict #11
  • December 1, 2020
  • USS Sentinel charter updated.
Edict #12
  • December 7, 2020
  • Hemenway-2 Edict #10 corrected.
Edict #13
  • January 3, 2021
  • Matt Evans appointed as Fleet Commander of the Pioneer Fleet.
Edict #14
  • January 18, 2021
  • Melissa Aragon appointed as Fleet Commander of the Foremost Fleet.
Edict #15
  • January 18, 2021
  • Calé Reilly appointed as Academy Commandant.
Edict #16
  • January 18, 2021
  • USS Ogawa charter updated.
Edict #17
  • January 23, 2021
  • Daniel Lerner appointed as Vice President.
Edict #18
  • February 13, 2021
  • Sarah Hemenway appointed as Election Coordinator. Steve Johnson appointed as Assistant Election Coordinator.
Edict #19
  • February 23, 2021
  • J Ridgley promoted to Captain and assigned as Commanding Officer of the USS Sentinel.
Edict #20
  • March 11, 2021
  • J Ridgley appointed as Community and Marketing Manager.
Edict #21
  • March 15, 2021
  • Oed V charter updated.
Edict #22
  • March 15, 2021
  • James Sinclair appointed as Governor of Oed V.
Edict #23
  • March 29, 2021
  • Melissa Aragon promoted to Fleet Captain.
Edict #24
  • March 30, 2021
  • Russell Watt promoted to Commodore.
Edict #25
  • April 1, 2021
  • Sharon Miller promoted to Commodore.
Edict #26
  • April 1, 2021
  • Joe P, Sidney Parker, and Joe P awarded Presidential Commendations.

Summary of Bills

Bill #1
  • August 8, 2020
  • Update to BOXES
Bill #2
  • September 7, 2020
  • Update to EEEGO
Bill #3
  • October 20, 2020
  • Update to FCOMM
Bill #4
  • March 29, 2021
  • Update to LEGOE

Full Text of Edicts

Edict #1:

Edict #1
August 8, 2020

Calé Reilly is hereby retained as Fleet Commander of Foremost Fleet.
Rob J. is hereby appointed as Fleet Commander of Pioneer Fleet.
Geoff Joosten is hereby appointed as Fleet Commander of Meridian Fleet.
Ray Branch is hereby appointed as Fleet Commander of Black Fleet.
Matt Evans is hereby appointed as Fleet Commander of Infinite Fleet.

David Eads is hereby appointed as Academy Commandant.
Nicholas Villarreal is hereby retained as Engineering Director.
Sam Pennington is hereby appointed as Gamemaster Director.
Daniel Lerner is hereby retained as Personnel Director.

Please have your assistants announced in Command no later than Saturday, August 15, 2020.

I’d like to thank James (SOX), Joe (Librarian), and Linds (CMM) for being up for continuing in their respective EA positions. I’d also like to thank James Sinclair, David Shotton, Robert Archer, Steven Sigle, and Katherine Dedul for their service last term. Your hard work and dedication to the club does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you!

We had so much amazing interest in the Cabinet this term and it truly makes me excited to see how awesome the next eight months will be.

Sarah
President

Edict #2:

Edict #2
August 18, 2020

It is my pleasure to present the charter for our newest Alt RP: the USS Leviathan. I really appreciate how willing Sharon was to put herself out there in Command with a new and creative idea and I truly appreciate the amazingly productive discussion that ensued. I’m so excited to add a new opportunity for our club members to explore.

Sarah
President

Overview

The USS Leviathan, NX-90407, a Mjolnir-class ship, is hereby commissioned in Foremost Fleet. The USS Leviathan is a starship-based role-playing area set within a classified Starfleet division called the ARU (Anomaly Recovery Unit). Activity on the ship will centre around the daily routines of the ARU members and the anomalies they are regularly sent to contend with.

The USS Leviathan will remain an active role-playing area, provided that it meets the following criteria:

It maintains a healthy roleplaying environment with a crew who remain largely within the outlined AWOL guidelines
It continues to deliver stories and scenarios based within the world of the ARU and anomaly capture and containment
Any command or senior staff vacancies are filled within 14 days where possible
The ability of the USS Leviathan to deliver a healthy environment will be reviewed every 90 days for a period of 1 year (a total of 4 reviews). If, after this period has concluded, the USS Leviathan continues to deliver a healthy, roleplaying environment, then it will be fully approved with no further review periods necessary.

Crew Structure

The USS Leviathan shall have a similar command structure to other Starfleet vessels, including all standard departments, rank structure and chain of command. Additional swing positions may be added under the CO’s discretion, without being limited to demands of canon positions, but maintaining the ARU focus of the environment. Examples might include:

RTF Commander
RTF Operative
Novel Researcher
Senior Researcher
Consultant Researcher
CO and XO positions on the Leviathan will count fully towards any limits in place. Character ranks on the Leviathan will count toward member rank the same as on Standard Ships.

The Leviathan will be a second character ship only and will not accept new club members. The posting rate for all crew will be that of a medium paced ship (3/5/7 days).

Resources

The Leviathan’s MOTD is to include relevant information on the ARU. This may include, but is not limited to, the following:

ARU History
Definition of ARU Classification levels
Definition of ARU Research Corps positions
Definition of Anomaly Classifications (types and levels)

Edict #3:

Edict #3
August 18, 2020

With the advice and consent of the Fleet Commander of the Foremost Fleet, it is my pleasure to appoint Sharon Miller as Commanding Officer of the USS Leviathan. She already holds the rank of Fleet Captain, so I’ll skip any demotion. :)

Sarah
President

Edict #4:

Edict #4
September 11, 2020

Tyra Schroll recently stepped down as CO of the USS Asimov due to real life. We wish her the best with her upcoming move and new job!

With the advice and consent of the acting Fleet Commander of the Foremost Fleet, it is my pleasure to promote Ben Simons to the rank of Captain and to appoint him as Commanding Officer of the USS Asimov. Go, animal nickname people, go!

Thank you again, Tyra, and congratulations, Ben! Don’t break her even more than she already is.

Sarah
President

Edict #5:

Edict #5
September 12, 2020

Some of you may have noticed that we have three ships in one fleet, six ships in another fleet, and some other number in the rest. Recent commissionings of new RP areas and decommissioning of old ones have left the fleets unbalanced and not allowed us to use our volunteers as effectively as possible with the limited time we all have available to contribute to the club’s government. With this in mind,

The USS Chimera is hereby relocated from the Infinite Fleet to the Pioneer Fleet.
The USS Viking is hereby relocated from the Infinite Fleet to the Meridian Fleet.
The USS Constellation is hereby relocated from the Infinite Fleet to the Black Fleet.

The Infinite Fleet is hereby decommissioned.

This brings the totals to a consistent six ships per fleet.

This will be effective immediately OOC, but in order to allow the COs time to notify their crews, TECH, please plan to complete these moves in approximately a week (on or around September 20, 2020).

Sarah
President

Edict #6:

Edict #6
September 12, 2020

Matt Evans and Silke Fahl have done a fantastic job over the past six weeks helping to situate everyone in the Infinite Fleet into a new home while still excelling at all of the normal FComm stuff and we truly couldn’t have done it without them. Silke just received a well-earned promotion, but Matt has to be one of the longest active Captains in STF at the moment. While I hate to ruin a good trend, it’s time.

I hereby promote Matt Evans to the rank of Fleet Captain.

Animal naming people, now’s your chance to get him!

Sarah
President

Edict #7:

Edict 7
September 20, 2020

Sharon Miller is hereby appointed Supervisor of Experiments.

Thank you, James, for your work at the position!

Sarah
President

Edict #8:

Edict #8
November 14, 2020

Based on the recommendation of the Fleet Commander of Black Fleet, Katy Darrah is hereby released as CO of the USS Constellation and Brian Richards is hereby assigned as CO of the USS Constellation. He’s already a Captain, so there is no need to promote him to Captain.

Thank you for your contribution to the Constellation over the past seven months, Katy, and congratulations, Brian!

Sarah
President

Edict #9:

Edict #9
November 25, 2020

Based on the recommendation of the Fleet Commander of Meridian Fleet, Amanda Mercer is hereby released as CO of the USS Viking and James Harrison is hereby assigned as CO of the USS Viking. He’s already a Captain, so there is no need to promote him to Captain.

Thank you for your contribution to the Viking, Amanda, and congratulations, James!

Sarah
President

Edict #10:

Edict #10
November 28, 2020

The USS Constellation NCC-70570 is hereby recommissioned as an alternative role playing area within STF and is to be solely a comedy sim ship.

The Constellation is allowed to change her class without being decommissioned as an Alt RPG. She is currently in service and is hereby confirmed to be successful under the classification of a comedy sim ship and by the following criteria:

The Constellation currently has a healthy roleplaying environment with a cast of reliable players who remain on the whole within the outlined AWOL guidelines.
The Constellation has managed to function as a comedy ship successfully.
As a comedy ship, the Constellation is not bound by the established Star Trek canon. Players may select characters, abilities, and technology from non-canon and custom sources, with the approval of the CO. However, these freedoms must be treated responsibly, and are allowed for the sole reason of having fun. God characters (such as a full power Q, The Traveler’s species, or similar) and any character in violation of the STF Terms of Service section STF Content subsection iii are still banned. While a sim may be silly and fun in any respect, it must be realistic enough to be playable.

The Constellation shall have a similar command structure to other Starfleet vessels, including all standard departments, rank structure, and chain of command. RPG ranks on the Constellation will count toward Member Rank the same as on Standard Ships, and CO and XO positions on the Constellation will count fully towards any limits in place, because of its lack of adherence to canon and its completely unserious characteristics it is to be a second character only environment.

Additional swing positions and/or departments may be added under the CO’s discretion, without being limited to demands of canon positions. Players are encouraged to create unique positions and/or departments within the ship so long as they are justifiable and will benefit the ship and RPG environment; some examples include:

Chief Sanitation Officer
Chief of Jello Investigations
Antique Toilet Restoration Department
Anomalous Hedgehog Detection Division
The current CO and crew of the USS Constellation are retained in their current positions aboard the ship. The CO may be removed at some later date in accordance with the rules of the site without penalty to the Constellation herself.

Sarah
President

Edict #11:

Edict #11
December 1, 2020

This edict supersedes Johnson-2 #9.

The Independence-class USS Sentinel, NCC-1794-A, is hereby recommissioned in the Meridian Fleet as a “Star Trek: The Original Series” (“TOS”)-era Alternate-RPG Area.

The USS Sentinel will be structured the same as a Standard Ship and shall be commanded by a CO and XO who are appointed the same way as on a Standard Ship and a GM who is appointed the same way as a Standard Ship. The Sentinel shall be set in the time period of year 2250 to 2270, with the exact game year set by the ship’s CO in consultation with the ship’s GM.

Missions and characters should adhere as closely as possible to the canon of the time period with respect to concepts including, but not limited to:

Technology
Known Races
Relationships between the United Federation of Planets and other known powers
Canon for the TOS-era shall be defined by both Star Trek: The Original Series as well as any other live-action Star Trek movies and television series depicting the same time period.

The crew of the USS Sentinel shall be structured in a manner consistent with the TOS-era. The CO may rename a Department Head position, and may add additional swing positions so as to maintain a TOS-era RPG environment, but there shall be a security department, a science department, a medical department and an engineering department. The USS Sentinel’s XO shall concurrently hold a Department Head position.

CO and XO positions on the Sentinel will count fully towards any limits in place. The Sentinel will not accept new members to STF; it is a Second Character Only ship.

The current CO and crew of the USS Sentinel are retained in their current positions aboard the ship. The Sentinel is currently in service and is hereby confirmed to be successful by the following criteria:

The Sentinel has maintained an active and healthy role-playing environment.
The Sentinel has continued to function as a TOS-Era ship.
If the Sentinel deviates from this criteria in the future, it will be subject to decommissioning.

Sarah
President

Edict #12:

Edict #12
December 7, 2020

Hemenway-2 Edict #10 is corrected by repealing Herr #7, as it is intended to supersede it.

Sarah
President

Edict #13:

Edict #13
January 3, 2021

With Rob Jones stepping down from the position, Matt Evans is hereby appointed as Fleet Commander of Pioneer Fleet.

Thank you for your service, Rob, and best wishes and congratulations, Matt!

Sarah
President

Edict #14:

Edict #14
January 18, 2021

Calé Reilly is hereby released as Fleet Commander of the Foremost Fleet. Melissa Aragon is hereby appointed as Fleet Commander of the Foremost Fleet.

Thank you for all of your hard work in the fleet, Calé, and congratulations, Melissa!

Sarah
President

Edict #15:

Edict #15
January 18, 2021

With Dave Eads stepping down from the position due to real life, Calé Reilly is hereby appointed Academy Commandant.

Thank you, Dave, and yay for Calé!

Sarah
President

Edict #16:

Edict #16
January 18, 2021

This edict supersedes Bayes-2 #15.

The USS Ogawa NCC-64284- B is hereby recommissioned as an alternative role playing area in the Pioneer Fleet. It is to be solely a medical/hospital ship, Nightingale-class medical cruiser. Its missions are expected to be predominantly (but not limited to) medical in nature and biased toward medical issues and plotlines, and its crew staffing is expected to be biased toward the Medical department.

If the Ogawa deviates from this criteria in the future, it will be subject to decommissioning:

The Ogawa must maintain an active and healthy roleplaying environment.
The Ogawa must continue to function as a medical ship.
The Ogawa shall have a similar command structure to other Starfleet vessels, including all standard departments, rank structure, and chain of command. As such, RPG Ranks on the Ogawa will count toward Member Rank the same as on Standard Ships, and CO and XO positions on the Ogawa will count fully towards any limits in place. New members are allowed on the USS Ogawa, provided they make a specific request to the Personnel Department to be on a Medical/Hospital Alt-RPG.

The posting rate for all crew will be at least once every five days.

The ship shall have the following Department Head positions as they exist in Standard RPG areas:

Chief Engineering
Chief Science Officer
Chief of Security
The Ogawa shall also have the following theme-specific positions as Department Heads:

Chief of Staff
Chief of Psychiatry
The Chief of Staff shall be the equivalent of the Chief Medical Officer in Standard RPG areas.

The Chief of Psychiatry shall be the equivalent of the CNS or ships Counselor in Standard RPG areas.

The Command team may create additional theme-specific positions as the need or demand arises.

The Ogawa shall have positions for Junior Officers in Engineering, Security and Science as they exist in Standard RPG areas. It shall also have Junior Officers in Counselling reporting to the Chief of Psychiatry and Medical JO positions reporting to the Chief of Staff.

Additional Swing personnel will be possible at the CO’s discretion, including but not limited to the following:

Nurse
Medic
Forensic Pathologist
Medical Examiner
Medical Students
Dental Officers
Surgeons
The current CO and crew of the USS Ogawa are retained in their current positions aboard the ship.

Sarah
President

Edict #17:

Edict #17
January 23, 2021

With Rob’s resignation due to the amazing opportunity he has to attend college, I hereby appoint Daniel Lerner as Vice President. He will continue on as Personnel Director as well.

Rob, I can’t begin to express how much your input and your support has meant to me over the past five (ish?) months. I hope you’ll continue to weigh in where you can.

Thank you, Daniel, for stepping up to do this again with me. :)

Sarah
President

Edict #18:

Edict #18
February 13, 2021

Sarah Hemenway is hereby appointed as Election Coordinator and Steve Johnson is hereby appointed as Assistant Election Coordinator.

Sarah
President

Edict #19:

Edict #19
February 23, 2021

With Dave Eads’ resignation as CO of the USS Sentinel, I hereby promote J Ridgley to the rank of Captain and assign him as the CO of the USS Sentinel.

Thank you, Dave, and congratulations, J! Welcome to the big chair!

Sarah
President

Edict #20:

Edict #20
March 11, 2021

Linds leaves very big shoes to fill at Community and Marketing Manager, but I have faith that J Ridgley is up to the challenge. I hereby appoint him as Community and Marketing Manager.

Sarah
President

Edict #21:

Edict #21
March 15, 2021

Supercedence Of Previous Edicts

This edict supercedes Hemenway #2.

Overview

A new Alternative Roleplaying Area is hereby established in Black Fleet, named Oed V.

Oed V is a planet-based RPG, set on the planet Oed V, near the Vren Border. It is a joint Starfleet-civilian colony consisting of both Starfleet personnel and civilians.

Oed V is already in service, but it will be reviewed in 30 days, on or about April 15, 2021, and in 60 days, on or about May 15, 2021, by the President, Fleet Commander, and Governor to determine if Oed V has been successful in its mission. Oed V will be reviewed based on the following criteria:

Oed V currenly has a healthy roleplaying environment with a cast of reliable players who remain on the whole within the outlined AWOL guidelines.
Oed V has managed to continue its function as a planet-based environment successfully.
If Oed V is found to be successful in its mission, it will be considered permanent. It may be decommissioned at a later date should it be found to be irreparably in violation of any of the points of its mission.

Crew Structure

The Leader of Oed V both In Character and Out of Character is entitled Governor and may be a Starfleet officer or civilian. The Governor of Oed V will be appointed in the same fashion as a normal CO, but it will not count as a CO position in regard to any limits in place. The Governor has similar powers and responsibilites to a CO. There will also be a Lieutenant Governor of Oed V will be appointed in the same fashion as a normal XO, but it will not count as a XO position in regard to any limits in place. Oed V is a second-character-only Roleplaying Environment.

Oed V includes the standard STF departments for Starfleet characters. Possible swing positions may be added under the Governor’s discretion. They may include, but not be limited to the following:

Head of Police
Chief Customs Officer
Head of Construction Services
Resources

The Governor of Oed or his appointed authority is required to maintain a resource page regarding the colony. This page may include, but not be limited to the following information:

Geography of Oed V
In Character History of Oed V
Ships Assigned to Oed V
Oed V Facilities
This information must be as historically accurate as possible and remain consistent.

Sarah
President

Edict #22:

Edict #22
March 15, 2021

For a very long time, to me, Oed V has been synonymous with two players in STF: Symon Silvester and Russell Watt. It made me so happy to see Russell still involved and active with the colony and I’m sorry to see that other things going on in his life will see him taken away from that position, but I am also excited to see someone new to the Governor position see what he can do to continue one of my favorite pieces of STF.

James Sinclair is hereby appointed Governor of Oed V.

Sarah
President

Edict #23:

Edict #23
March 29, 2021

From the beginning of last term, I have been impressed at how Melissa Aragon has stepped up to be both a dedicated CO and to learn how to become an FComm. She took the time to really learn the ropes of the role under Calé, which has allowed her to now be a great asset to Foremost Fleet and the club as a whole.

It is my pleasure to promote Melissa Aragon to Fleet Captain.

Sarah, Prez

Edict #24:

Edict #24
March 30, 2021

A tribble walks into a bar on the back of a munchkin cat…

Wait wait wait, wrong post. Ahem.

I mentioned in an earlier edict this term that Russell Watt is one of two members of STF who is synonymous with Oed V for me. While he couldn’t put the time and the energy into it recently, he has always been a lynch pin in the colony’s success. Moreover, he has volunteered his time consistently to help the club where he can, whether as Internet Director, STF Awards emcee, Fleet Commander, or Assistant Engineering Director. It’s been quite a while since the last time he was promoted and I’m honored to be able to remedy that as someone who met Russell on his very first day of STF and has become a better role-player as a result.

It is my pleasure to promote Russell Watt to the rank of Commodore.

Thank you for all of your work in the club, Russell. Congratulations on a promotion well-earned.

Sarah, Prez

Edict #25:

Edict #25
April 1, 2021

I meant to post this yesterday to continue the excitement, but the day got away from me, oops.

Over the past two terms, STF was graced with the return of a particular member who brought with her such excitement and enthusiasm as to simply infect the entire club. Brimming with amazing new ideas for X-Fleet and alternate RPGs, she led the charge to successfully move a ship from an X-Fleet idea to a chartered Alt-RPG that has passed every trial period so far with flying colors. Alongside her in character contributions, she has stepped up to moderate X-Fleet. More recently, she jumped at the opportunity to help the Academy reform the mentor program and has brought her enthusiasm and new ideas to that position as well.

It is my honor and privilege to promote Sharon Miller to the rank of Commodore.

Congratulations, Sharon, and thank you!

Sarah, Prez

Edict #26:

Edict #26
April 1, 2021

When I returned to STF, a wise person told me that this person and I would work amazingly well together or we’d kill each other and there was really no middle ground. For the first few months, it looked like we were going with the “kill each other” option, but we managed to jump tracks and head the other way instead (with a touch of meddling from that wise person and a lot of pandemic-induced drinking). I’ve come to count on this person for his thoughts on many matters, as well as his willingness to tell me to chill out and calm down about the latest new idea. Now, that doesn’t even begin to touch on what this person has contributed to the club as well. Even though the pandemic has forced many of us to work from home at our computers, he has spent countless hours during his off-work time at his computer, developing and implementing new Exodus features, like the new GM archive, the ability to mark posts as read, the ability to read posts from the first new post, and (finally) the ability to edit posts. He’s dropped everything to find out what’s going on when the site comes to a screeching halt, typically caused by Calé or absurdly high posting Challenger cadets. When he has the time and the energy to devote to it, he creates some of the more entertaining but realistic role-playing I’ve seen.

It is my pleasure and my honor to promote Joe P. to Cadet.

Wait, what?

I… guess the rank array went back to the beginning?

Nevermind, then.

It is my pleasure and my honor to award Joe P a Presidential Commendation for his continued development work and support of Exodus.

Additionally, I award a Presidential Commendation to Sidney Parker and a second Presidential Commendation to Joe P in recognition of their ten years of continuous service as CO of the USS Brian A. Olinski and the CO of the USS Europa, respectively. Sidney’s Commendation is a bit overdue, as he was promoted to Captain and appointed CO of the USS Entente (which was later renamed to the USS Brian A. Olinski) on 18 December 2009 by President Jen Herr. Joe P was promoted to Captain and appointed CO of the USS Europa on 24 April 2011 by President David Wonderly. Thank you, both, for such dedicated service to the club. Being a CO of a ship can have its ups and downs and that you have both stuck with it for such a long time is admirable and appreciated.

Finally, a thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past term as President, whether directly as a Cabinet member, in Discord as a kind ear, or on Zoom (ask me if, ten years ago, I ever thought I would video conference with STF members as someone who had palpitations thinking about talking with them on the phone). The Cabinet members this term were: Daniel Lerner (Vice President and Personnel Director), Calé Reilly (Fleet Commander and Academy Commandant), Robert Archer (Vice President), Nicholas Villarreal (Engineering Director), Sam Pennington (Gamemaster Director), Melissa Aragon (Fleet Commander), Matt Evans (Fleet Commander), Geoff Joosten (Fleet Commander), Rob J. (Fleet Commander) and Ray Branch (Fleet Commander). We were supported by an amazing set of EAs: James Sinclair (SOX), Sharon Miller (SOX), Lindsay Bayes (CMM), J. Ridgley (CMM), Calé Reilly (EC), and Joe P (Librarian). While I can’t commend you all, again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. This has been a challenging year worldwide and you took the time out of your disheveled lives to try to do some good for an old Star Trek RP club on the Internet.

Sarah, Prez


Full Text of Bills

Bill #1:

Bill #1
August 10, 2020

In the Bylaw on X-Fleet’s Establishment and Supervision (“BOXES”), the Decommissioning section currently states:

“If an X-Ship ever has less than five members who have posted on it within the previous 14 days it shall be considered on probation. The members of the ship will be notified immediately and be given 7 days to take corrective action. If at the end of the 7 days the ship does not have 5 members who have posted within the last 14 days it is to be decommissioned immediately by the SOX. An X-Ship may also be decommissioned by the SOX if that ship’s continued existence somehow violates the Terms of Service. Violations of the TOS by a members who happens to be on an X-Ship will not be grounds for decommissioning.

Any decision to decommission an X-Ship by the SOX is final and may not be appealed.”

This section is hereby replaced with the following language:

“If an X-Ship ever has less than five members who have posted on it within the previous 21 days, it is to be decommissioned immediately by the SOX. An X-Ship may also be decommissioned by the SOX if that ship’s continued existence somehow violates the Terms of Service. Violations of the TOS by a member who happens to be on an X-Ship will not be grounds for decommissioning.

Any decision to decommission an X-Ship by the SOX is final and may not be appealed.”

Sarah
President

Bill #2:

Bill #2
September 7, 2020

EEEGO is hereby amended as follows:

The paragraph titled Term Limits is deleted and replaced with the following:

Term Limits

An Egotist who leaves office for any reason, such as the end of their term, resignation, or impeachment, may not stand for election again until the regularly scheduled EGO election in the next Presidential term.

In the section titled Election Procedure, the sentence “If there are more than two candidates standing in the election, the Instant-Runoff Voting system is to be used” is deleted and replaced with the following:

If there are more than two candidates standing in the election, an instant runoff voting system shall be used with the following steps:

On each voter’s ballot, the voter will be asked to rank the candidates from first choice to last choice.
The first choice of each ballot shall be tallied. If any candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, that candidate shall be the winner.
If there are more than two candidates left, and no candidate receives more than 50% of the first choice votes, the candidate with the least number of first-choice votes shall be eliminated. Any votes for the eliminated candidate at any rank on the ballots shall be disregarded and any subsequently ranked votes shall be deemed to move up one rank. Step (2) and this Step shall then be repeated.
If there is a tie over which candidate should be eliminated in Step (3), the Election Coordinator shall cast a tie-breaking vote on who should be eliminated.
If there are only two candidates left and they are in a tie, the Election Coordinator shall cast a tie-breaking vote to determine the winner.
The Election Coordinator has the discretion to announce whether a tie-breaking vote was used during the election.

Sarah
President

Bill #3:

Bill #3
October 20, 2020

In Fleet Command and Other Mundane Matters (“FCOMM”), the following sentence is added to the end of the paragraph entitled “Assistant Fleet Commander”:

“A Fleet Commander may appoint additional training roles within the Fleet; however, no official power may be delegated to these roles.”

The last sentence of the second paragraph under the heading “Restrictions” in the section entitled “Commanding Officers” currently reads:

“Acting DH, Acting XO and Acting CO do not apply to these restrictions.”

This is hereby amended to read:

“Acting DH, Acting XO, Acting CO, and Gamemaster do not apply to these restrictions.”

In the same section, the third paragraph current reads:

“COs are encouraged to use strict discretion when allowing non-canon positions, character types, and second player characters so that their ship maintains a healthy, fun, and canon-compatible roleplaying environment.”

This is hereby amended to read:

“COs of Standard Ships are encouraged to use strict discretion when allowing non-canon positions, character types, and second player characters so that their ship maintains a healthy, fun, and canon-compatible roleplaying environment. COs of Alt RPGs are encouraged to use discretion as appropriate to fulfill the Alt RPG’s charter requirements.”

Sarah
President

Bill #4:

Bill #4
March 29, 2021

Since there are so many small language changes to bring the bylaw up to date with our current technologies, I am providing a change log at the top and then posting the bill in its entirety.

Sarah, Prez
Change Log:

Removed previous edict supersedence/rescinding per new bill/bylaw architecture.
Changed any reference to “WeBB” to “club software.”
Removed Assistant Election Coordinator role.
Added Emergency Election Coordinator role, charged with taking the Election Coordinator role if the Election Coordinator is unable to complete the job. The EEC is allowed to vote unless s/he has to take on the EC role.
Spelled out bylaw names and changed pronoun use to more generic “Election Coordinator.”
Changed any reference to “Internet Department” to “TECH.”
Allowed Election Season to be less than one month total.
Changed any reference to “IRC” to more general terminology referencing Discord as an example.
Removed official complaint procedure, but permitted members to bring concerns to the EC. The EC is charged with ensuring all Election activities remain within the rules established.
Legislative Edict Governing Official Elections (LEGOE)

I. ESTABLISHMENT OF ELECTION SEASON AND ELECTION AREA

The Election Season is hereby established as the period of time starting with the beginning of the nomination period and ending with the announcement of the final election results. The Election Area is hereby established as an area of the club software set aside specifically for Election-related business and discussion.

II. ELECTION COORDINATOR AND EMERGENCY ELECTION COORDINATOR

The Election Coordinator is an Executive Assistant with complete powers over the Elections. However, their power is limited to the Elections only, and ceases to exist once the elections are over and all pending disputes are resolved.

The Emergency Election Coordinator is an Executive Assistant whose powers are only exercised during one of the following conditions: a) the Election Coordinator has declared an LOA during the Election Season, b) the Election Coordinator is AWOL during the Election Season, or c) the Election Coordinator has missed a deadline contained in this Edict or the Election Timetable. During the stated conditions, the Emergency Election Coordinator’s powers are those of the Election Coordinator, and shall also be required to perform the tasks of the Election Coordinator. In the event that the Election Coordinator will not be able to continue in the role for the remainder of the Election Season, the Emergency Election Coordinator will assume the role of Election Coordinator from then forward with the restrictions and responsibilities that it entails.

The Election Coordinator may not delegate any tasks unless specific assistance or expertise is required, subject to the requirements under this Bylaw for the Emergency Election Coordinator to perform the Election Coordinator’s tasks. TECH is required to provide the Election Coordinator with whatever access to the STF server and system resources are required in order to fulfill the Election Coordinator’s responsibilities and provide assistance in using them as needed.

For the duration of the Election Season, the Election Coordinator is responsible for ensuring the security of the election process, by any means necessary, including restricting all other individuals to any access to the voting mechanisms. Should the Election Coordinator find that the President is too involved in any campaign, any access necessary to ensure the security of the election process will be removed for the duration of the Election Season and given to the next member in Presidential succession (as defined in the Government Organization Bylaw or its replacement) who is not too involved in any campaign. Should the Election Coordinator find a member of TECH is too involved in any campaign, any access necessary to ensure the security of the election process will be removed for the duration of the Election Season and given to another TECH member agreed upon by the Election Coordinator and TECH Chairman.

The Election Coordinator is tasked to see to the proper running and functioning of a democratic election process. In order to enforce this, the Election Coordinator is empowered to provide official warnings or reprimands, remove election related material from the STF server, remove voting privileges, remove posting privileges on the Election Area, and, in the most extreme cases, nullify or void a campaign ticket. Election matters may be taken to the President for further club-level punishment. All rulings by the Election Coordinator are final and are not subject to appeal.

The Election Coordinator and Emergency Election Coordinator are to be the impartial moderators of the Election and are therefore forbidden from running as a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate, from nominating or seconding any candidate, from campaigning for any candidate, and from openly endorsing any candidate.

III. PROCEDURE

A. TIMELINE

The Election Season is to commence no later than the start of the President’s eighth month in office.

The President must name an Election Coordinator and Emergency Election Coordinator via Edict at least two weeks prior to the start of the Election Season.
Once an Election Coordinator and Emergency Election Coordinator are named, TECH will open the Election Area.

The Election Coordinator must announce, in Command and in the Election Area, an Election Timetable at least one week prior to the commencement of the Election Season, as well as any additional rules governing the Election. The Timetable will set out the timing of the different stages of the Election Season.

Both the Timetable and a link to any Election rules must remain posted on the Election Area MOTD. The Election Area will be deactivated no less than seven and no more than 14 days after the Election Season has concluded.

B. PARTICIPATION AND ELIGIBILITY

All members are invited to participate in the election process. For the purpose of this Bylaw, the definition of ‘member’ is the same as found in the Member Order and Organization Bylaw.

Certain election activities, including nominating, running as a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate, endorsing, and voting, are limited to, for the purpose of this Bylaw, Eligible Members who meet the definition of Member for the 30 days prior to the start of the Election Season and continue to meet the definition up to and including the time of the election activity in question.

C. NOMINATIONS

Any eligible Member can nominate another eligible Member for the position of President. Another eligible Member must then second the nomination.

A prospective Presidential Candidate may not nominate or second their own ticket; however, a prospective Vice Presidential Candidate may do so.

A Member can only nominate or second one individual; however, if that individual declines the nomination, the nominating Members are free to nominate another individual.

A Member cannot run for the position of President if they have nominated or seconded another Member unless the nominated Member has declined the nomination or is otherwise ineligible to run.

Once the nomination has been seconded, the Candidate must publicly accept the nomination and declare another eligible Member to be their Vice Presidential Candidate in a post on the Election Area. The Election Coordinator will then validate the ticket and the Candidate pair may begin campaigning. If the Candidate does not publicly accept the nomination by the end of the nomination period, he will be disqualified.

D. UNCONTESTED ELECTIONS

If at any time after the end of the nomination period there is only one validated ticket, then pending any unresolved election-related disputes, the Election Coordinator may declare an Uncontested Election.

When the Election Coordinator declares an Uncontested Election, then, notwithstanding the rest of this Bylaw, the Election Coordinator shall announce the sole ticket as the winners of the election and end the election season.

The date of the start of the new Presidential Term, as stated in the original Election Timetable, shall remain unchanged. The new President will be installed on the first day of the new Presidential Term.

E. CAMPAIGNS

Every person who posts on the Election Area is expected to keep their posts to the point, truthful, and within the bounds of common courtesy. Behavior such as, but not limited to, character attacks, inflammatory finger-pointing, trickery, and deception will not be tolerated and may lead to penalties at the Election Coordinator’s discretion. (Example: “Candidate X is a horrible person…” will not be tolerated. However, “Candidate X has made several mistakes as QDir. They are…” will be tolerated within the bounds of common courtesy). Any additional campaign materials, including, but not limited to, candidate websites, are required to meet the same standards as Election Area posts, regardless of the origin of the material. Any member may raise a concern to the Election Coordinator and the Election Coordinator is responsible for reviewing posts and campaign materials on a regular basis and for ruling on questionable instances as they occur.

Campaigning via the club’s software platform may take place on the Election Area only. Any MOTD announcements implying support for or voicing opinions against any specific ticket are expressly forbidden. MOTD announcements of upcoming Election Season events and timetables are permissible provided that they do not contain support for any ticket. Violations of these rules will result in sanctions from the Election Coordinator, and immediate removal of the announcement by TECH or the Election Coordinator.

All members are permitted to pose questions to the candidates after the candidate’s ticket has been validated, unless the member has been restricted from doing so by the Election Coordinator. Questions may be directed at some or all of the candidates, and may only be posted in the Election Area. Candidates are not required to answer the questions.

Except as provided by this Edict, no person shall post a message on the club’s software platform endorsing a Candidate. During the voting period, eligible members may post a message in the Election Area endorsing another candidate. Endorsements must meet the standards in this Section. No person may post an endorsement message that implies it is also on behalf of anyone who is not the person posting the message.

Candidates may individually contact people to discuss the Election and to ask for their support. In the event that the person contacted does not wish to talk about the Election, the Candidate must refrain from discussing it with him. At no time may any unsolicited campaign material be sent to more than one person at a time, including using capabilities offered by STF’s software platform. Use of the BCC field in any election related email is prohibited. Should an individual not wish to be contacted regarding the election, he may request that the Election Coordinator place him on a publicly accessible “do not contact” list. All members are required to abide by this list.
Discussion in any official STF chat mediums (e.g. Discord) is permissible as long as it does not imply support for or against a specific Candidate. (Example: “Have you read the election ship lately?” or “It sure is an interesting election” are permissible. However, “I can’t believe Candidate X said that” or “Candidate Y sure had some good answers today” or “I think it’s clear who’s winning” are not permissible).

Campaigns may be held liable for actions of their supporters if it can be shown that the campaign was aware of the offending activity.

F. ELECTION AREA MOTD

The Election Coordinator is responsible for maintaining the Election Area MOTD.

The Election Area MOTD shall contain a table containing important administrative information about the Candidates, which shall be updated by the Election Coordinator. At a minimum, the table shall include a list of the Candidate teams, the status of the Candidate teams, penalties and warnings that have been issued by the Election Coordinator, and a list of endorsements.

Candidates may provide a short summary of their platform to the Election Coordinator. A link to the summaries shall be posted on the Election Area MOTD after the Election Coordinator has approved them for length and standards compliance.

G. VOTING

During the Voting period, campaigning continues. Voting is by secret ballot, utilizing a method decided upon by the Election Coordinator that allows for votes to be “locked” and has appropriate security. Every eligible Member is eligible to vote once, except for the Election Coordinator, who does not vote unless needed as a method of tie-breaking. The Election Coordinator is empowered to determine how tie-breaking votes will be handled, which must be included in the published Election Rules.
During the Voting period, the Election Coordinator shall post a message on the main club announcement area that voting has started and that eligible members should have voting access. The announcement must also state that a person who does not have voting access, but believes their alleged ineligibility is in error, should contact the Election Coordinator.

If there are more than two Candidate teams that can be voted for, a preliminary run-off round of voting shall be held before the final round of voting. Only the two Candidate teams with the highest number of votes cast for them in the run-off round of voting shall be on the ballot for the final round of voting.

The winning Candidate team is the one with a plurality of votes in the final (or only) round of voting, i.e., the highest number of votes.

All ballots shall be destroyed upon the deactivation of the Election Area.

H. RESULTS

The Election Coordinator is responsible for tallying all votes cast and announcing the results of each round publicly in Command and the Election Area. The announced results shall include the number of votes cast for each Candidate team.

The new President will be installed on the first day of the new Presidential Term.

I. WITHDRAWALS, INVALIDATIONS, AND DISQUALIFICATIONS

If a Presidential candidate or Vice Presidential candidate withdraws from the election at any time after his ticket has been validated, the Election Coordinator shall invalidate the ticket. A candidate may only withdraw by personally posting a notice to that effect in the Election Area.

If a Vice Presidential candidate withdraws from the election after his ticket has been validated, but prior to the end of the nomination period, the Presidential candidate may publicly declare an eligible member as his new Vice Presidential candidate prior to the end of the nomination period, at which time the Election Coordinator shall revalidate the ticket. Otherwise, the ticket shall remain invalidated.

If a Vice Presidential candidate withdraws from the election after the end of the nomination period, but prior to the start of the voting period, and the Election Coordinator decides that there are special circumstances, the Election Coordinator may set a time period for the Presidential candidate to publicly declare an eligible member as his new Vice-Presidential candidate, at which time the Election Coordinator shall revalidate the ticket. Otherwise, the ticket shall remain invalidated. The special time period must end no later than the start of the voting period.

If a Vice Presidential candidate has withdrawn from the election, the Presidential candidate may not campaign until the Election Coordinator has re-validated the ticket.
All tickets that are invalidated, nullified, or voided by the Election Coordinator shall be considered disqualified. No disqualified ticket may campaign or appear on the voting ballot.

If a ticket is disqualified during the preliminary run-off vote, and there still remains more than two valid tickets on the ballot, the disqualified ticket shall be removed from the ballot, and all votes for the disqualified ticket shall be reconsidered as uncast votes. If a ticket is disqualified during the preliminary run-off vote, and there remains only two valid tickets on the ballot, the Election Coordinator shall end the run-off vote, and the two valid tickets shall move on to the final voting round, as originally scheduled in the Election Timetable.

If a ticket is disqualified during the final voting period, the Election Coordinator shall end the vote, and follow the procedure for an Uncontested Election.

V. IRREGULARITIES

In the event that the procedure outlined in this Edict is not properly followed, the Election Coordinator may note an irregularity.

If in the judgment of the Election Coordinator the irregularity does not violate the integrity of the election process then he must state so publicly and provide reasoning.

If in the judgment of the Election Coordinator the procedure outlined in this Edict may be adjusted to account for the irregularity without violating the integrity of the election process, he must state so publicly and explain what temporary adjustments will be made and why.

If in the judgment of the Election Coordinator the irregularity does violate the integrity of the election process or render a fair and honest result impossible to determine, the Election Coordinator may declare a Irregular Election. An Irregular Election may only be declared in extreme circumstances, upon the advice and consent of the sitting President or senior-most member who is not a candidate in the election, and must include a detailed explanation of why it is impossible to recover from the irregularity.

If an Irregular Election is declared, the election is considered void. The Election Coordinator must immediately restart the election process with fresh nominations. The new election process will follow the same procedure as a normal election unless explicitly stated otherwise by the Election Coordinator. Should the new election process extend into what would be the new Presidential term, the sitting president will remain in office for the duration of the new election process until a new President is installed, and the new President’s term will be shortened by the amount of overlap.

VI. CONCLUSION

This edict may not be amended or replaced during an Election Season, except with the posted consent of the currently sitting President, Vice President, and Election Coordinator.