[Hermanator]

The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that we, the councillors are to carry Excalibur. That is why we were selected!

[Reggie]

Yeah... Thought as much ^

[Hermanator]

Well it was good enough for King Arthur. On a serious note fortunately this is only the test phase as it were, so in the future there will be elections in which people get to choose who represent them. I can't speak for FEO, but I'd imagine they decided to appoint people based on activity and their record in what they have said when it comes to public announcements. I'd also imagine that they chose to do this instead of going straight into an election as a way to provide the Federation Council with some stability and avoid breakdown before it is properly implemented.

So I would say have a little faith, i'm sure you'll be satisfied with our work when you see it.

[Reggie]

I highly doubt that, I know this is a science fiction based community but I am a little old for believing in magical stories (putting disney to the side ofcourse!), I don't doubt that you guys were chosen for one reason or the other! I'd just like a little more information to put my faith into the system.

On a different point, does the council system take president over our current multi-clanning policy? considering the position is a level 5 clearance position?

https://ufplanets.com/showthread.php...-Clanning-Rule

Additionally, FEO has decided to further remove the Multi-Clanning rule from most of the CL4 positions except those which would require sole loyalty to the UFP, such as Quartermaster positions, etc. We've made this decision so that we can further open up the freedom of allowing people to contribute to the UFP while possibly wanting to also be a member elsewhere.

Consequently, for clarity, this means that only CL6, CL5 and a few CL4 positions now have the multi-clanning rule applied to them.

[Christopher Halsey]

You are quite right Reggie in that people can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart throws a sword at them, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is absolutely no basis for a system of government.

Joking aside though it is a fair question as to how this group of people got picked.

Mikester could probably talk a little more eloquently about how the selections were made but essentially a short list of members was created which was comprised of members that had already shown interest and had given feedback on the Council system as well as members who had a history of providing feedback on the running of the community. That shortlist was then narrowed to try and include a good mix of CL3 and CL4 members as well as a mixture of interests.

Those remaining on the list were then approached about the role and hopefully received a good explanation of what was expected of them and then got to decide whether or not they were interested in taking on the role. Sadly some of the first choices declined or simply didn't respond so others from the expanded list were offered those places.

Obviously when this all goes live properly all of the candidates will be voted for and all of the candidates will have to conform to the rules which were laid out regarding eligibility. The current group don't have to be eligible because it is just testing the system out, it would be a bit harsh if someone had to step down from a position purely to help test something out.

Personally I would basically describe this as in 'Beta', a group of people have been selected to help test out the workings of the system, since this is something entirely new for us the chances of getting it perfect first time are rather slim so the aim of this is to get a bit more information so when we go in to having proper elections any issues have been ironed out.

[Christopher Halsey]

Just wanted to add one point as after reading my post I was concerned that something I said could be misinterpreted.

Those remaining on the list were then approached about the role and hopefully received a good explanation of what was expected of them and then got to decide whether or not they were interested in taking on the role. Sadly some of the first choices declined or simply didn't respond so others from the expanded list were offered those places.

So firstly, apologies if that gets interpreted in a way other than I had intended it.

Those on the expanding list were just as suitable it's just that because we missed out on some of the first choices the final group might not be quite as ideally representative of the membership. Again though, everyone that got picked was picked because it was felt they could add something of value at this stage.

[Dentari]

Again though, everyone that got picked was picked because it was felt they could add something of value at this stage.

Nice save

Also, nice reference to Monty Python earlier!

[Reggie]

I do enjoy the idea that dentari and ben hurley are hamsters running around a maze. I guess this announcement has some silver lining to it.

[Soral]

I wanted to add my two cents to try and ease any concerns our community may have about how this provisional council was selected.

I was one of the initial members asked to serve on the council and, unfortunately, had to decline due to personal reasons. As Christopher mentioned, some of us had provided feedback on the design of the council and/or expressed interest in become a councilor at some point. I don't consider myself very active or in the "popular" crowd of the community, so you can imagine the surprise I felt when I received Mikester's e-mail about the position. But that's what the FEO was going for when they narrowed down the list of who they wanted to put on this trial run. They wanted a good representation of the community and not necessarily just the well knowns or people that may be seen as "favorites" because they are constantly involved in things.

In truth, when I look at who ended up agreeing to be part of this trial run, I think the FEO still succeeded in getting a good representation of our community. I also feel that we as a community are very fortunate to have these members testing the waters on this new system for us. Some of the names are definitely staples of our community as they are active in the forums and involved in a lot of departments, activities, etc. Because of that, I've had the opportunity to work with many of them on various things over the two years I've been here. Not only do I think they are great representatives of the community as a whole, but I also feel confident that they embody the kind of people we need in order to see if this council will truly work.

When I look at how this will function, I want to have people that will truly put our members first in their thoughts and actions. Who truly believe in doing what's best for the community as a whole and not necessarily for themselves. Who will be our voice when we need it to be heard. In short, I'd quote Hermantor's initial posting, but I'll just say to go back and read that because that's what I believe we'll get from every person servicing on this provisional council. It's what we should expect from everyone that serves on the council moving forward, too. Well, minus the percentages and numbers in that last paragraph (sorry Herm, couldn't resist. ).

Overall, I think you can feel comfortable and confident that the process was handled with representation of the entire community in mind and those selected will give everyone a good example of what the council will function like in the long run. Not to mention what expectations we as members can and should have as we approach the first election, which is what we truly need before going into the real deal in July.

I hope that this helps to ease some concerns about how this was handled. I'd also like to take a moment to thank our new provisional council members again for agreeing to serve our community.