Trinsic Council Guidelines

The following Guidelines have been voted on and approved by the Council membership. Dates these items were approved and other details can be found on the Summary of Council Decisions page.

Structure of the Council

1. The size of the Council shall not be limited. There will be a set number of government positions within the Council; all other members will hold the title of "Councilor."
2. Not more than 2 members from the same guild will be

   permitted to serve in government positions on the Council at the same time (excepting THG, since the Honor Guard is a division of the

   Council).

 Application Process

1. The applicant must complete and submit the Volunteer form on the TCoH web site.
2. The Mayor or Vice Mayor will review the form and post

   notice as soon as possible after receiving it on the Council Forum,

   listing the applicant's name and the date received.
3. It is then up to the current members of the Council to let

   the Mayor or Vice Mayor know if they have any objections to that individual becoming a member of the Council. Objections would be based on knowledge that the applicant does not meet the Membership Requirements. Such notice must be given within one week of the application being posted on the Forum.
   Being known to be virtuous is one of the requirements for membership. However, if an individual is known to have performed non-virtuous, dishonorable, criminal, or evil acts in the past and is known to have reformed, the current members of the Council should give him or her a chance at being a Council member. Such cases must be considered on an individual basis and the true

   nature of the actions and motives should be considered.
4. The Mayor or Vice Mayor must determine if the applicant

   meets the Membership Requirements. If so, then the Mayor or Vice Mayor shall schedule an Induction Ceremony for the applicant. It is advised that the Mayor keep the applicant informed of any delays in this

   process.
5. At the Induction Ceremony, the applicant must give the Oath to the Council.
6. After the Induction Ceremony, the Mayor or Vice Mayor will

   send the applicant information pertaining to membership, such as passwords to the private Council web pages and Forum. The Mayor or Vice Mayor will also forward the application form to the Webmaster so that

   the new member's Councilor page can be set up.

Membership Requirements

1. The applicant must complete the Volunteer form on the website (considered the application to the Council).
2. The applicant must attend the TCoH public meetings (You

   must attend 3 meetings consecutively after submitting the application. Individuals who have attended a meeting within the last 4 weeks must attend 2 meetings consecutively after submitting the application. Final

   word goes to the Mayor on exceptions to this rule.)
3. The applicant must be known to be Honorable and seek to follow the Virtues.
4. The applicant must not have any outstanding warrants from other Councils of Virtue.
5. Membership in the Council is not considered official until

   an Induction Ceremony has been held for the applicant and the applicant has given the Oath to the Council. (Please be advised that we do not hold an Induction Ceremony each week, and thus there could be a delay

   until one can be held for you.)
6. OOC: If you play more than one character, you must attend

   meetings as the character that applied. We record attendance by character name and do not try to keep track of all the characters a

   person might play.

Requirements for Current Members

1. Uphold the Oath to the Council.
2. Attend as many Council meetings as possible. If more than

   3 public meetings are missed in a row without reason being given to the Mayor or Vice Mayor beforehand (example: vacation irl), the individual may lose their standing in the Council. The final decision on this is

   up to the Mayor.
3. Become involved. Council members are expected to volunteer

   to help with the work of the Council, to give ideas and input, and take

   on responsibilities -- not just be spectators.
4. Register a login name with EZBoard. Check the Council message boards regularly and participate in discussions there.
5. Councilors are encouraged to wear Trinsic purple to

   Council meetings and events. This could be only a purple sash. Other

   purple item(s) of clothing are also fine.

Rights of Council Members

1. You are considered an official representative of Trinsic and the TCoH
2. You will be invited to the Private Sessions of the Council
3. You will be given access to the private Council web pages and the Council forum
4. A Councilor page on the web site will be set up for you

Guidelines Approval Process

1. Any Councilor may post a draft of the item to be discussed and approved on the Council Forum. The thread started by the draft will be the discussion thread for the item. There should be only one discussion thread per item.
2. The members of the Council will discuss the item in the

   Forum, in private meeting(s) (if any are held), and at the public

   meeting(s).
3. Once the Mayor has received some input on the item, he or

   she will update the draft accordingly and post it in the discussion thread. It is up to the Mayor or Vice Mayor to post revisions of the item to ensure that it is written clearly and in a language and format similar to our other Guidelines (no slang, proper grammar and spelling,

   numbered sections or paragraphs, etc.)
4. When the Mayor has written the final draft of the item, he

   will send it to the webmaster so a ballot may be set up and a vote taken. The ballot will be a web-based form that will include the final version of the item to be approved, the voting deadline, a place for Council members to enter their name and email address, and a place where Council members may mark their vote. The ballots will be sent to the Mayor and the webmaster so that there will be two counts, for accuracy. A copy of each Council member's ballot will also be send to

   him as confirmation that his vote was received.
5. The voting deadline will allow at least five days from the

   time the poll is posted for all Councilors to place their votes (though that five days must include a weekend, or be lengthened to do so). The vote deadline will be clearly posted and all Councilors will be

   informed that voting is in progress.
6. It will then be up to each Councilor to vote on the item by the posted deadline.
7. If all currently active Council members are present at a meeting, a vote can be taken there instead of by ballot.
8. If the item to be approved is not something that warrants

   an in-depth discussion, the Mayor may send the final version to the webmaster for a ballot to be set up without previously starting a discussion thread on the Forum. Examples of when this would be appropriate are an addition to clarify an existing Guideline and voting

   to select Officers.
9. The approval rate for items with two choices will be 66%. This means that two-thirds of the Council votes must approve the item.
10. The results of the vote will be announced at the next public meeting.

Selection of Officers

1. All open government positions will be publicized on the web site (Library section, Government page).
2. All current Councilors are eligible to apply
3. Application for any open position can be accomplished by

   either one of two ways: 1) complete the small form at the bottom of the Government page on the web site, or 2) notify the Mayor which position

   you wish to apply for.
4. The Mayor or Vice Mayor will then be responsible for

   setting up a meeting with the position applicant to discuss the responsibilities involved, the time commitment required, and any other

   questions or concerns.
5. The applicant will be given the opportunity to try out the

   position for two to three weeks (this time frame can be adjusted if needed at the Mayor's discretion). The applicant will be expected to perform most of the duties of the position as applicable during that time both to show their ability and to give them the chance to make sure the position is right for them. If there is more than one applicant for the position, the Mayor should assign specific duties for the trial period so that the applicants are not performing the exact same tasks (for example, if there are two applicants for Historian of

   Trinsic, each could be asked to write articles about different events).
6. After the trial period, the Council will vote on making

   the appointment official. This vote will be taken by ballot following

   the voting procedure outlined in the Guidelines Approval Process.
7. Exceptions:
   • The position of Mayor is not subject to this approval process, as that position is determined by a public election.
   • The position of Vice Mayor will not be subject to this

     process. The Vice Mayor will be appointed by the Mayor, and the

     appointment does not require Council approval.
   • The position of Commander of THG is also not subject to this process, as that person is chosen within the ranks of the THG.
8. Restrictions:
   • The person chosen to fill the Liaison to THG position must be a member of THG.

Terms of Office

1. The term for Mayor will be six months from the date of election.
2. The term for Vice Mayor will be the same as that for Mayor.
3. The term for all other officers will be four months from the date the individual was appointed to office.
4. Exceptions: The Council will not set a term length for the Commander of the Honor Guard, as that will be determined within the THG.
5. Re-election of Officers: If an officer wishes to continue

   in his position after the four months, he must notify the Mayor. The Council will vote according to the Selection of Officers process on approving the continued appointment. Other applicants for the position

   should also be considered at that time, if there are any.

Requirements for Mayoral Candidates

1. The candidate must be an active member of TCoH.
2. The candidate must not be a member of another Council.
3. The candidate must have been a member of TCoH for at least two months immediately preceding an election.

Requirements for Citizenship

1. The individual must meet one of the following criteria: was born in Trinsic; owns housing in the greater Trinsic area; is a member of a Trinsic-based guild; considers himself or herself loyal to the city of Trinsic.
2. The individual must have a valid email address.
3. The individual must not already be registered as a citizen of another City.