Van Slam constitution: working draft

[admin]

Ms. Spelt has asked me to repost the latest working draft of the Van Slam constitution in the public area of the forum. I am copying it in below.

EDIT: for purposes of simplicity all discussion of the rules committee, honour code and constitution should now be directed to this thread.

From Ms. Spelt:

allrighty-
i've looked over the discussion and my own thoughts how about this as a draft?

Constitution of Vancouver Poetry Slam

Mission

           The Vancouver Poetry Slam promotes the creation and sharing of poetry, encouraging the diversity, openness and accessibility of artistic expression and artistic community in Vancouver and beyond, promoting excellence through honourable competition and artistic development.
All participants abide The Code of Honour-see below.

Code of Honour

As a participant in the Vancouver Poetry Slam, I agree:

1. To revel in an environment in which freedom of speech, self-determination, and pursuit of creative excellence are inalienable rights.

2. To participate in all VPS events in a way that encourages, illuminates and supports established standards of good sportsmanship. To refuse to allow the competitive challenge of the game to lead me to violence, interference, or direct threats. To allow all participants to pursue their craft peacefully and without censure, regardless of present associations or past personal history.

3. To comply with local, state and federal laws pertaining to individual civil rights and physical or sexual harassment.

4. To abide by competition rules as defined by  the Vancouver Poetry Slam, knowing that the consequences for breaking the rules exist and are upheld. Penalties will be determined by the severity of the infraction, and the ruling of the presiding VPS Protest Committee and/or the VPS Slam Masters and Family.

5. To be a fair poet--one who in competition is fair and generous, one who in any connection has recourse to nothing illegitimate; a poet who in defeat demonstrates grace and in victory magnanimity.

The Code of Honour is to posted on all flyers with the rules to the slam.

Membership
all Van Slam Family meetings are open to any and all members of the Vancouver Poetry Community. They are free to attend, listen and contribute their opinions to any discussion at hand. However, for the purposes of voting only those who have attended a minimum of 4 Vancouver Poetry Slams,( either as an audience member, poet, or volunteer )and registered for regular email mailings shall be entitled to cast a ballot during voting.


Officers

There are two officer positions for the Vancouver Slam Family – the PSI Slammaster of Record and the Local Slammaster. Both of these representatives are elected by the Vancouver Slam Family to serve two year terms.

The PSI Slammaster of Record is responsible for conducting all Vancouver Poetry Slam business related to PSI or any of its tournaments, including attending the annual Slammasters meeting/s, registering the local venue, ensuring team members are PSI members, and other duties as required. The Slammaster of Record is also responsible, in conjunction with the Local Slammaster, for scheduling and publicizing quarterly Vancouver Slam Family meetings.

The Local Slammaster is responsible for scheduling and paying features, scheduling playoffs to select representatives for tournaments, hosting shows and/or securing an alternate host, collecting and depositing the door revenue, and other duties as required to run Vancouver Poetry Slams. The Local Slammaster is also responsible for keeping track of standings, publicizing events, and coordinating external promotional events. In conjunction with the Slammaster of Record, the Local Slammaster will also schedule and publicize quarterly Vancouver Slam Family meetings.

Officers will act in the best interests of the Vancouver Poetry Slam, in accordance with the PSI Code of Honour. The Vancouver SlamFamily will approve all expenditures that do not fall within normal Vancouver Poetry Slam operations and are over $150.The Slam Family will also approve any significant changes in the format of the Vancouver Poetry Slam.

The election of the PSI Slammaster of Record will take place in September of odd years (2009, 2011, 2013, etc). The election of the Local Slammaster will take place in April of even years (2008, 2010, 2012, etc). In the case of one of the officers stepping down before the completion of his or her term, an interim officer will be elected for the duration of the term. This interim officer would be eligible to run for a full term once a regular election came up.

Committees
The Rules Committee
The Vancouver Poetry Slam will maintain a standing rules committee whose duties comprise-
1)Providing information and clarification on the rules to any and all members of the Vancouver Poetry Slam
2)Acting in turns as the bout managers for the Vancouver Poetry Slams and it’s attendant playoffs.
3)Members of the rules committee are eligible to slam at events they are not bout managing.
4)Bout managers will rule on the rules at the bout they are officiating and are empowered to assign the relevant penalties in accordance with the rules on the night they are overseeing-except....
5)In the event of an alleged Code of Honour violation-
The entire rules committee will convene and hear from both sides in the dispute. They will then discuss the relevant issues at hand and bring a full report to the Van Slam Family and both slammasters and guide discussion and debate to a ruling that can be ratified by a 2/3rds majority. Those who are ruled against in the event of an Honour Code violation have two choices-abide by the ruling or cease to attend the Van Slam until the ruling is abided by.

All other committees can be struck by vote of the Slam Family, to deal with issues that cannot be addressed within the confines of a Slam Family meeting and require broader community input than only the Slammasters. Committee chairs will report to the Slammasters on a regular basis, and will report to the Slam Family at each meeting.

Amending the Constitution

This constitution may be amended at any Vancouver Slam Family meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting. One month's notice of motion shall be required except where all of the members present and voting agree to accept the motion from the floor.




note that while i've stated that we maintain a standing rules committee and what it's duties are i've left blank how many members it should be comprised by(although i recommend an odd number)or how they should be selected(although i recommend a family vote)and i've left open the question of term limits-although it's certainly something to discuss.
this is going much faster and smoother than i anticipated-huge thanks again to all for helping it along.

[RCW]

That looks pretty good overall.

A couple of nitpicky points.  I don't think whether or not you have an email should be a determining factor to voting in slam meetings.  Perhaps it can  just change to contact information.  As an example, Al Mader has no email but when he's willing should be allowed to attend meetings and vote.

I really think the expeditures limit should be more than $150.  Car rentals can cost more than that.  If this had been in place when I was in charge many things would not have gotten done or done slowly and onerously.  Perhaps the limit should be $300.

But it does look like a solid document and seems pretty fair and reasonable.

Thanks, Angus and Lisa.

[Sean]

I like most of it too. Sticking points with obvious problems for me (being the local...though I prefer national because of my role with spocan and the little bit of ego boosting from time to time):

Hotels, honoraria, car rentals, flights, canada council expenses, strange shows all will cost over $150.00. Total per diems for the team for certain trips will amount to larger than $150.00. Are those items deemed "within normal operations". I understand the need to consult the family for things like renting a limo for the team to drive to florida for NPS or golden tinseled toques for the entire audience but what is deemed within normal operations. I would like more definition for that personally.

Besides that, seems pretty good to me.

[sue]

A suggestion (re spending limits):

Approve a yearly budget, with built in estimated amounts for expected big expenses like slam master meeting, team transportation and accommodation, registration fees, etc. Any expenditure already approved in the budget would be okay, unless the slam family votes to amend the budget partway through the year.  Then also give the Slam Master okay to spend up to $300 on anything else without slam family approval.

sue

[Lisa]

Sue, you are brilliant. I like this idea a lot. I know Sean has been doing some awesome work with budgeting out revenues, but it definitely makes sense for us to have an idea of expenses as well. We can see how much work it would be and then try to get it together, maybe?

[ms_spelt]

yeah-i think the problem with affixing a dollar amount within our constitution is that as inflation grows and times change what once seemed like a reasonable Standard Operating Costs figure(for which the slammaster need not seek authorization)will fluctuate.i think a line item that says that a yearly budget is presented and approved every year and that within that yearly budget the S.O.C is set and approved year to year would cover it nicely.
as for the other things raised-i agree with rc about emails-i think that attendance at slams should determine voting rights and that an email is simply contact info-as long as we have contact info we can inform people of where and when they may exercise their participation in the democratic process.
as for titles...
i think that national and international are good delineators and respectful of the work done by our respective slammasters.both past titles are imperfect-local doesn't capture the scope of the work with spocan and "of record" was an asterix added to the slammaster tilte to appease critics who didn't feel comforatble with me holding the title of slammaster without some qualifier attached.
our officers,moving forward deserve to be treated with the respect due their office.
so i'm amenable to that change if others are.
all in all i think we are real close to finalising this.
i think the last sticking point will come in flushing out what the protest committee looks like and then icorporating that reality into the constitution.
many thanks to all for your work to date and in the days ahead.

[Lisa]

Here is the version of the Van Slam Constitution that we will be voting on at the Van Slam Family meeting. We will be open to friendly amendments from the floor, and then we will vote. Bring yer constitutional hats!

Constitution of Vancouver Poetry Slam

Mission

The Vancouver Poetry Slam promotes the creation and sharing of poetry, encouraging the diversity, openness and accessibility of artistic expression and artistic community in Vancouver and beyond, promoting excellence through honourable competition and artistic development.

Membership

All Van Slam Family meetings are open to any and all members of the Vancouver Poetry Community. They are free to attend, listen and contribute their opinions to any discussion at hand. However, for the purposes of voting only those who have attended a minimum of 4 Vancouver Poetry Slams (either as an audience member, poet, or volunteer ) shall be entitled to cast a ballot during Van Slam Family meetings. Meetings will be announced a minimum of one week in advance, and will be posted on www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com. Updates may also go out via email, be posted on VanSlam’s MySpace page, or be announced at shows.

Officers

There are two officer positions for the Vancouver Slam Family – the International Slammaster and the National Slammaster. Both of these representatives are elected by the Vancouver Slam Family to serve two year terms.

The International Slammaster is responsible for conducting all Vancouver Poetry Slam business related to PSI or any of its tournaments, including attending the annual Slammasters meeting/s, registering the local venue, ensuring team members are PSI members, coordinaties with National Slammaster to schedule Win & You’re In bouts with other PSI-certified teams, and other duties as required. The International Slammaster is also responsible, in conjunction with the National Slammaster, for scheduling and publicizing quarterly Vancouver Slam Family meetings.

The National Slammaster is responsible for scheduling and paying features, scheduling playoffs to select representatives for tournaments, hosting shows and/or securing an alternate host, collecting and depositing the door revenue, and other duties as required to run Vancouver Poetry Slams. The National Slammaster is also responsible for keeping track of standings, publicizing events, and coordinating external promotional events. In conjunction with the International Slammaster, the National Slammaster will also schedule and publicize quarterly Vancouver Slam Family meetings.

Officers will act in the best interests of the Vancouver Poetry Slam, in accordance with the PSI Code of Honour. The Vancouver SlamFamily will approve an annual budget to be presented by the Slammasters. All expenditures that do not fall within this budget must be approved by the Slam Family.The Slam Family will also approve any significant changes in the format of the Vancouver Poetry Slam, such as rule changes and tournament structure changes.

The election of the International Slammaster will take place in September of odd years (2009, 2011, 2013, etc). The election of the National Slammaster will take place in April of even years (2008, 2010, 2012, etc). In the case of one of the officers stepping down before the completion of his or her term, an interim officer will be elected for the duration of the term. This interim officer would be eligible to run for a full term once a regular election came up.

Committees

The Rules Committee

The Vancouver Poetry Slam will maintain a standing rules committee of at least five members. The committee will be made up of regular Van Slam emcees, the Slammasters, and two members elected by the Slam Family. These members will be elected in January of odd-numbered years (2009, 2011, 2013, etc). The committee’s duties comprise-

1) Providing information and clarification on the rules to any and all members of the Vancouver Poetry Slam
2) Guiding discussion regarding potential changes to Van Slam’s format, outlining their implications and making recommendations to the Van Slam Family.
3) Acting in turns as the emcee for the Vancouver Poetry Slam and its attendant playoffs.
4) Emcees will rule on the rules at all regular-season (non-playoff) bouts they are officiating and are empowered to assign the relevant penalties in accordance with the rules on the night they are overseeing. The emcee’s rulings are final.
5) At all playoffs, the emcee and two members of the Rules Committee (previously designated by the Chair of the Rules Committee in conjunction with the Slammasters) will be the Protest Committee. Any alleged rule violation must be brought to the Protest Committee by the end of the playoff (before scores are announced). The Protest Committee will convene immediately after the bout will deliver a decision within an hour of the end of the playoff.
6)In the event of an alleged Code of Honour violation-
Within one week of the allegation being lodged, the entire rules committee will convene and hear from both sides in the dispute. They will then discuss the relevant issues at hand and bring a full report to the Van Slam Family and both slammasters and guide discussion and debate to a ruling that can be ratified by a 2/3rds majority. Penalties for an Honour Code violation can range from temporary suspension from Van Slam events, to suspension from playoff participation, to volunteer and community service. Those who are ruled against in the event of an Honour Code violation have two choices-abide by the ruling or cease to attend the Van Slam until the ruling is abided by.

All other committees can be struck by vote of the Slam Family, to deal with issues that cannot be addressed within the confines of a Slam Family meeting and require broader community input than only the Slammasters. Committee chairs will report to the Slammasters on a regular basis, and will report to the Slam Family at each meeting.

Amending the Constitution

This constitution may be amended at any Vancouver Slam Family meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting. One month's notice of motion shall be required except where all of the members present and voting agree to accept the motion from the floor.

NOTES:

- any member of the rules committee who is found to be in violation of the honour code must step down from the committee.

[admin]

It's fantastic to see a polished draft of the constitution! and I like the look of this version. This is something that I could live with.

Of course, I have a suggestion, because I am jam-packed with them.

In the current version, if a protest or allegation is made against someone on the rules committee they must step down to avoid a conflict of interest. This makes a great deal of sense. Would it not also make sense to add that any member of the Rules Committee that acts as the accuser must also step down? They are obviously biased in their ability to judge on the matter, in the same way, that the accused would be.

[Sean]

I might add that voting members had to have attended four slams in the past year but I'll go with consensus on this one.

[sue]

Notice of meetings: I suggest we delete what we will do to announce meetings and delete what we may also do. In other words, just say that meetings will be posted on the website. Saying what we may do might be a reason for argument later if we don't do it. Alternate suggestion: meetings will be posted on the website AND announced at the slam prior to the meeting. We'll be sure we do both of those things, and that covers members without access to internet. Leave out the part about emails because we know for sure we can't consistently notify every member by that means.

Code of Honour Violation: I suggest we make a provision for a time when someone on the rules committee is unavailable (out of town, ill, not able to match schedules). I think it would be better to specify that all rules committee members be notified and at least a quorum of that group (say 4 people?) attend - that's just a suggested number. If we are required by the constitution to have the whole committee represented, we may be prevented from convening a meeting within that one week, and the issue may drag out.

Quorum: I suggest that we define a quorum for Van Slam Family meetings. It could be a small one, but this will get us off the hook for someone complaining that a decision was made without enough members present. A quorum could be 6 (or whatever number we feel is enough to make a decision fairly.

Spending: I suggest that in addition to the budget, we the slam masters combined (as an executive committee of 2) the discretion to spend up to $300 that is not in the budget for unforeseen requirements, as long as both slam masters are in agreement, with the stipulation that they report this additional spending at the next slam family meeting. As good as our budget may be, things are going to happen out of the blue.

Good work Lisa, Angus, Sean!

sue

[ms_spelt]

to clarify the text reads that in the event that a rules committee member is found to be in violation they'd have to step down-what we're saying here is that if an honour code violation were alleged they'd have to recuse themselves from deliberations-same as if they were doing the alleging(which is i think what you're talking about chris)but in the event of actually being found guilty that you have to step down altogether from the rules committee in addition to any other justice meted out.we can't have someone with a honour code violation on their record as a rules committee member,but by not stipulating a mandatory minimum time served off the committee the individual could return to the committee-but only ever by being voted in there by the slam family.so they'd have to be forgiven by the family in an election at some point before setting foot back in that body.(pardon the mixed metaphor)so it ensures the integrity of the rules committee while allowing for extenuating circumstance that we can't forsee.
and sue i think quorum is an excellent idea to note for both the family mtgs and the rules and other committees.
once again huge thanks to everyone to seeing this through.

[admin]

Thanks for the clarification, Ms. Spelt. I had misread the end note.

I would feel more comfortable if it were mentioned explicitly somewhere in the constitution that members of the Rules Committee being alleged, or doing the alleging, of a certain violation would not be allowed to sit on the council making the ruling in that case.

But, in any case, I'm glad that you agree on this point.

[Lisa]

Very good point, Chris. I will make that addition. (I know I had it in my notes somewhere, but evidently it didn't make it into my final edits.)

Sue, you're absolutely right about quorum issues, both on the rules committee and for the VanSlam Family. I will make those additions as well. I think up to $300 in discretionary spending (to be reported to the Slam Family) will help a lot in terms of keeping things running smoothly.

[Sean]

And the attending of four slams in the past year...

[ms_spelt]

here's the line item as written sean-
Membership

All Van Slam Family meetings are open to any and all members of the Vancouver Poetry Community. They are free to attend, listen and contribute their opinions to any discussion at hand. However, for the purposes of voting only those who have attended a minimum of 4 Vancouver Poetry Slams (either as an audience member, poet, or volunteer ) shall be entitled to cast a ballot during Van Slam Family meetings.

i'm agreeable to amending it to read in the past year,because as it reads now it would be 4 slams spread out over however long.i intended it to be within the season.