User:John Stephenson/sandbox

Only the proposer of the referendum and Election Committee members may modify this page. Substantive modifications by the proposer after the referendum has been formally proposed at 'June 2014 Referenda' will invalidate the signatures of any current supporters, and require them to sign again. Comments should be placed on the Talk page.

Under Article 37, section 'Furthermore', point 3 of the Citizendium Charter, any amendment to the Charter itself requires a referendum in which a qualified majority of two-thirds of votes validly cast is necessary for the change(s) to pass. For example, if 30 valid votes are registered, at least 20 of these must support the modification. This proposal seeks support for a Charter referendum that would reduce this threshold to a qualified (absolute) majority of valid votes of over 50%. In the above example, that would mean 16 votes rather than 20. There is also an additional rule proposed to allow other referenda held at the same time to pass if they satisfy the new version of the Charter.

This page contains a proposed referendum question, the existing Charter article(s) or rule(s) which the proposer and any supporters of the referendum wish to change, and the proposed new text. A further section elaborates on the proposal.

Abolition of the office of Ombudsman, June 2014

Proposed by John Stephenson

A proposed referendum on parts of the Charter follows. If it is voted on, Citizens could support or oppose the question by indicating 'Yes' or 'No'. Under Article 37, a two-thirds majority is required to modify the Charter.

To support the establishment of a referendum on this issue, sign here.

Proposed referendum

The office of Ombudsman shall be abolished and its powers transferred to the office of Managing Editor.

Text

The following changes shall be made to the Charter:

1. Article 24 shall be edited to delete the text , Ombudsman from the end.

2. Article 25.4.3 shall be edited to replace the text seats on the Citizendium Council shall be filled on a temporary basis by the following elected officials in the following order: Ombudsman, Managing Editor. with the Managing Editor shall fill one seat on a temporary basis as a voting member. The following text so constituted with temporary members shall be deleted.

3. Article 25.4.4 shall be edited to delete the text Ombudsman or.

4. Article 28 shall be deleted in its entirety.

5. Article 36 shall have the following text copied into it from Article 39, amended as follows and appearing as point 4, with the full stop at the end of point 3 replaced with a semi-colon:

4. to offer guidance on existing policy and its interpretation to help resolve disputes; to advise the Council; and settle disputes including imposing interim solutions pending relevant policy decisions. Throughout, the Managing Editor's guidance is expected to be in accord with the established principles and policies of Citizendium, and particularly with the Charter. The Managing Editor is available to mediate any dispute. The Managing Editor mediates a dispute when requested by all involved parties or when requested by the Chief Constable. Agreements worked out through mediation shall be binding but may be appealed.

6. Article 48 shall be edited to delete the text Ombudsman,.

7. All other occurrences of the word Ombudsman in the Charter shall be replaced with Managing Editor.

Proposed new text of Article 25.4 in full

Section Four: Council Size

1. The Council may propose a change of its size by an even number of members; this proposal shall be subject to a referendum held together with the next election. If passed, the new seats shall be filled by special election.
2. A Council member may request a temporary leave of absence. Such leaves shall not exceed 120 days in a year. The temporary vacancy shall be filled with a citizen in good standing chosen by the Council. The term of this appointment shall equal the term of the temporary leave.
3. If, through resignations or simultaneous expiration of 90 day inactivity, Citizendium Council membership falls below a quorum, 'the Managing Editor shall fill one seat on a temporary basis as a voting member. The Citizendium Council shall be devoted to the task of establishing an elections committee for the purpose of holding an election.
4. If, through resignations or simultaneous expiration of 90 day inactivity, Citizendium Council membership falls below a quorum, or upon the resignation of the Managing Editor, the Citizendium Council shall appoint an elections committee, giving it the task of filling empty seats via an election.

Proposed new text of Article 36 in full

• The Managing Editor has the following duties:

1. to ensure by means of executive decisions that the principles and policies of the Citizendium are effectively and coherently observed; such decisions shall be based on established policy where defined;
2. to make interim decisions on behalf of the Citizendium Council when established policy does not provide guidance; these decisions shall be overridden by the establishment of relevant policy;
3. to represent the Citizendium in its relations with external bodies, such as the mass media, and academic or non-academic institutions;
4. to offer guidance on existing policy and its interpretation to help resolve disputes; to advise the Council; and settle disputes including imposing interim solutions pending relevant policy decisions. Throughout, the Managing Editor's guidance is expected to be in accord with the established principles and policies of Citizendium, and particularly with the Charter. The Managing Editor is available to mediate any dispute. The Managing Editor mediates a dispute when requested by all involved parties or when requested by the Chief Constable. Agreements worked out through mediation shall be binding but may be appealed.

Elaboration

1. The office of Ombudsman was created to resolve disputes between parties; after several cases early on in which the office-holder was asked to mediate, the post was rarely needed.

2. Only one person has ever held the office, with a term that expired in 2012. Since then, no candidates have been put forward.

3. The duties of the Ombudsman are currently held by the Managing Editor, under the transitional Council structure which expires after June 2014. No obvious problems have arisen from this arrangement. However, after June, the office will become independent once again and, if no-one is elected in that month's election, lapse.

4. The Managing Editor is a non-voting member of the Citizendium Council but has no other powers except as the public face of the project. Transferring the powers of the Ombudsman to the office of Managing Editor on a permanent basis would advance the role.

Notes

• This proposal can also be discussed on the forums.