Southern Regional Committee

[tmthforu94]

Excited to work with all of you!

I think the first thing we should do is establish rules and elect a chairperson for the committee. This will help ensure that we achieve this in an efficient and orderly way. Due to his great work with the federal constitution, I nominate Leinad to serve in that capacity.

[tmthforu94]

That is a majority for Leinad - are there any objections or another nominations? If not, I say we get the ball rolling tomorrow with Leinad leading this.

[tmthforu94]

I see two different routes we could take:
Route 1: Have separate special elections for the Class A and Class B Senate seats as soon as possible.
Route 2: Let this committee appoint the two senators.

There could also be a hybrid option, where we appoint the seat that is to be elected in June and hold a special election for the seat that is to be elected in August.

Those are what I see as the most plausible options - I'll leave it open for others to discuss before weighing in.

[tmthforu94]

Well if we're going to appoint someone, we need to do it properly: open a timeline for citizens to apply, evaluate all the applicants then decide. My understanding is that one senator will be elected for a full term in June and the other in August. If we are exploring the appointment route, I could only support it for the seat in June since it is so close. One thing I am personally set on: the seat that is to be elected for a full term in August should have a special election.

[tmthforu94]

I just got confirmation from Senator Truman that there will be Class I elections at the end of June. Since that is so close, it makes more sense to have an appointment for that seat and hold a special election for the Class II seat, where we can also vote on the constitutional amendments. That being said, I'm also not terribly opposed to have both seats elected in a special election, I just thin it would be a tad confusing to have special elections for both seats at the same time. I would also prefer that we operate at the same or ahead of other regions in order to maintain seniority for the region.

My proposal:

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[tmthforu94]

Principle Vote

Question: how should we fill the two Southern Senate seats?

[3] PLAN A: Elect both on June 3rd-5th, the Class I Senator until later in June, the Class II Senator until August.

[2] PLAN B: Elect both on June 3rd-5th, the Class I Senator until October, the Class II Senator until August.

[1] PLAN C: Appoint the Class I Senator on or before June 5th until later in June, elect the Class II Senator on June 3rd-5th until August.

[4] PLAN D: Elect the Class I Senator on June 3rd-5th until October, appoint the Class II Senator on or before June 5th until August.

[5] PLAN E: Appoint both Senators on or before June 5th, the Class I Senator until later in June, the Class II Senator until August.

[tmthforu94]

I don't want to leave out Southern Gothic, but I think it is important that we move this process along as quickly and efficiently as possible. I would motion that the vote close and we move forward with Plan C, seeing as how that is the unanimous consensus.

Since my proposal is essentially Plan C, I motion to approve it with unanimous consent. I made a couple small changes for clarity purposes:

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I realize this moves things along quickly, but I think the formation of the regions is the only real priority happening in Atlasia right now which allows us the time to focus solely on this. To summarize, this is what the timeline would look like for this week.
Tomorrow: Candidates have until midnight tomorrow to declare interest in serving as the Class 1 appointed senator.
Wednesday: Candidates make proposals to the committees and deliberations may begin.
Thursday: The committee must decide on the Class 1 senator by 5:00 p.m. After talking with a couple Southerners outside of this committee, I believe that a lot of citizens would like to know who wins the appointed seat before the special election for the other seat begins. If someone applies to be the appointed seat and then doesn't get it, they would have until midnight to declare their candidacy (or withdraw if they win the seat). This takes out the complication of the person who wins the Class 1 seat then being on the ballot for the Class 2 seat. It might be problematic if we choose the same person for both seats.
Friday: The election commences and runs through Sunday. After the election, Leinad will certify the results and the winner of the special election will take their seat.

When will our senators be seated?
Class 1 senator: Wednesday
Class 2 senator: Monday (June 6th)

Once again, I know this is going to seem rushed. But I believe it is necessary. This is an active and competent committee - I'm sure we'll have to problem meeting these deadlines.

[tmthforu94]

I know the next couple of days will be spent reviewing applicants for the Class I Senate Seat and making preparations for the special election next weekend, but I think we also go ahead and adopt a Rules of Order. This is modified from the versions used in the North and West - I only added clauses in Article I to remove members and how to appoint new members to the committee. Other regions have an article that requires they first set up the Senate elections, but we have already done that. While I think we should move quickly to get something on elections through, how we want to have Senate elections from now on may be dependent on other parts of the constitution, so I'd rather look at it all at the same time. If it looks like we're running out of time, we can pass another resolution in a couple weeks that details how the Senate election will be held, though I imagine it will be fairly straightforward.

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[tmthforu94]

Will the region be running it's own elections?

I assume you're referring specifically to senate elections. For the election next weekend? Yes. We still need to determine how to structure them for the future, but for me, all options are on the table. Do you have a recommendation for how they should be conducted?

[tmthforu94]

Peebs: Great opening line! Could you please go into more depth about your political beliefs? Where do you draw the line between regional issues and federal issues? Who would you describe as your political role model? Finally, how do you plan to be an active legislator? Thank you!

[tmthforu94]

Just as a note, there is no set schedule as to when questioning ends and deliberation begins. Ideally we'll start deliberating sometime tomorrow night so that we can have a vote done by Thursday afternoon.

I would appreciate more in-depth answers (as well as information from the other candidate) before I felt comfortable voting, and I imagine my colleagues would agree. We just wanted to get the questioning started early to allow both the candidates and committee members more time.

[tmthforu94]

In the interest of saving time, I'm also going to pose questions to Pingvin for when he logs on (he's on the other side of the globe):
- What experience do you have that makes you qualified to be senator?
- What do you see as the biggest issue currently facing Atlasia?
- Briefly describe your ideology and how you plan to be an active legislator.

[tmthforu94]

I would say give the applicants a couple more hours to provide any additional information. Do other committee-members feel the need to have a time for discussion, or are you comfortable moving into a final vote?

FWIW, when I cast my vote, I will include with it an explanation, and I would hope that other committee-members who do the same for the benefit of both applicants.

[tmthforu94]

I have been informed by both Pingvin and Peebs that they have no more to add to the discussion - I think it is best for us now to move into a closed discussion as a committee and start a vote late tonight or early tomorrow.

If any committee members has thoughts, please share them now. I'll post mine later this evening.

[tmthforu94]

My opinion, and I'll speak candidly:

I'm trying not to consider ideologies when making this decision, though we all know that can be hard to do. I can't really speak to Pingvin's past activity in the Senate so hopefully Yankee can speak to that. I think it's important to know how he was as a legislator in the past.

Based on my questions, I was satisfied with the answers given by Pingvin. While I would have appreciated it if he had touched on game reform, he showed to have a pretty good idea of the issues facing Atlasia and what he would do as a senator. And in terms of political views, based on his response, he definitely would bring a unique political ideology to the Senate.

Peebs is a new member with excitement to get involved. Seeing that makes me reflect on when I was like her and I appreciate her enthusiasm. However, trying to be objective, I feel like her response to my questions was pretty dismissive - she gave very short answers and didn't even answer all of them. Even after I asked for more in-depth answers and PMed both candidates today with the opportunity to provide additional information, we received none. I understand that this was a quick process, so normally I would be much more sympathetic. However, upon looking at her posting history, I see that she has made 26 posts today alone, which indicates to me that she had the time to go into more detail, just decided not to.

I think she has a great future in the game, but I think she would be better suited by gaining experience in the regional legislature before joining the Senate. Based on the responses in this thread, I intend to support Pingvin for the Class I Senate seat, but I look forward to hearing the thoughts of my colleagues and will keep an open mind. This decision shouldn't be made lightly.

[tmthforu94]

[ ] Peebs
[X] Pingvin

[tmthforu94]

I will be proposing a constitution for the region later this evening. It is a mixture of how the Northeast and Mideast governments were set up. This is by no means a final proposal, and I'm not sure if I necessarily support every aspect of it. However, I think it is good for us to have a framework to begin with.

[tmthforu94]

I will be proposing a constitution for the region later this evening. It is a mixture of how the Northeast and Mideast governments were set up. This is by no means a final proposal, and I'm not sure if I necessarily support every aspect of it. However, I think it is good for us to have a framework to begin with.

Remember - there can't be a CJO under the new constitution.  An Associate Justice of the Atlasian Supreme Court is now the ultimate authority on regional law.

Already have that covered. Thank you for the reminder, though!

[tmthforu94]

Here is my initial proposal. There are a number of items to be discussed and some can be decided by a principle vote. Here are some of the items I have recognized:
- Confirmation of region's name and capital
- Editing of Bill of Rights
- Determine whether or not we want a Lt. Governor
- Determine the size of our legislature and how we want it structured
- Determine when we want elections to be conducted and how
- Determine who is responsible for proposing a budget
- Determine how regional senators are elected and how they are replaced
- Determine the recall and amending procedures

Personally, I think it would be best to go through the constitution, article by article. Something else to consider: The Northeast has information about elections in each article rather than a separate article for elections. If we want to take that route for a "cleaner" look, that is also a possibility.


Here it is:

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-continued-

[tmthforu94]

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[tmthforu94]

NeverAgain is right - we should go through it by importance, not by article. I completely agree with your list!

Luckily, by getting it all set up beforehand, I don't think we'll have to worry too much about stylistic changes - just about everything we determine can quickly be edited in this format, unless we decide to give election procedures it's own article.

[tmthforu94]

I've put quite a bit of thought into this, and am still not sure where I stand. The proposal in the constitution would have regional elections in the month opposite of federal elections. I came to this conclusion after talking to Leinad earlier - elections are probably the key aspect of the game, so does it make sense to pack them all into the same 6 months? Now, the only thing mandated federally is that regional senators are elected at the same time as other federal elections. My concern with having it the same weekend is that it drives turnout down if people vote in two separate voting booths. This could potentially be solved if we handed over the power to run senate elections to the federal government, but then that creates a long ballot and we would probably need all 3 regions to sign on.

Another thought I had was compelling the federal government to move regional senate elections to off-months - that way in the months January, March, etc., all regional elections are held, and in February, April, etc., all federal elections are held.

Bit of a word vomit - curious to hear what others think. I think a principle vote will probably be the best way to solve this.

[tmthforu94]

Would it be possible to have the Senate elections earlier than the date required? Does the constitution specify elected on the same date or "by" the same date.


If we had some more flexibility on this score, it would give us more options as well.

I think it just says the months they have to be elected in. Hypothetically we could hold a one-day election on June 1st and it would be constitutional, I think.

[tmthforu94]

I support the motion to expel Southern Gothic and also to appoint Peebs to replace them!

[tmthforu94]

I think a principle vote is needed here. The problem with setting regional senate elections with regional elections is that it will throw off sessions for Congress since a new batch would be swear in every month.