Posted by Melissa Aragon in Question for the candidates - CO and XO replacement timelines.
Morning (or evening) everyone. I think this can safely go to the Pres and VP of both ballots.

I noticed most recently with the Dresden and now with the Memorial, we are seeing an uptick in the rotations of COs and XOs. My concern is how long it’s taking these spots to be filled.

I understand X amount of time is needed to accept apps, X amount of time is needed to review and choose, and X amount of time is needed to get the edict actually ‘done’. But there seems to be no standard on what those Xs represent. Would you see a need or want to making it more consistent, or not? And why is that your answer?

Meli the Mobstress

Hi Melissa,

Over the past seven months, Steve and I have maintained group DMs with each set of fleet leadership to try to stay informed on the happenings in their fleet. This is a model that I intend to continue with Rob so that we have a quick, informal place to check in on the status of situations like XO vacancies (which do not fall under the direct purview of the exec) and we’re not trying to reference a million different individual DMs when we need to see where something is.

As for CO applications, while it’s important to ensure that the lack of a CO does not negatively impact the ship in question, this needs to be balanced with due diligence. There are always going to be unexpected candidates that no one knew was interested and having a set application timeline and application contents ensures that these people have a chance to get their applications in and be competitive, even if they aren’t in Discord. Typically, I expect applications to be open for a week and then there to be about a week review period expected after that where the Prez, VP, FComm, and AFComm all get together to figure out the right choice. My preference is that this be a collaborative discussion between this group of people; I wouldn’t put my FComm into place if I didn’t want to hear their thoughts for the direction of the fleet. :)

That said, though, I think it’s important to remember that life happens – we all do the best we can to get things done in an expedient fashion, but sometimes, you don’t want to write an edict from your phone while stuck under a sobbing child, so it has to wait an extra day or two (not that this has happened to anyone this term… ;)). Communication is truly key and keeping that line of communication open is an essential aspect to making all of this work.

• Sarah