These are questions for Jerome and James based on their recent headquarters post, which I am including excerpts from.

1) EGO legislation being amended to permit membership of only to those members between the ranks of Captain and Commodore who have a minimum year in command of a ship and three years of club membership, with selection voting remaining with Flag & Fleet Captains. Further, give EGO some latitude to serve as sort of a final mediator; with a less narrowed scope to allow them to assist as necessary with concerns such as bullying & gaslighting within the club.

Why not higher the ranks? What benefit is there of being promoted past Commodore if the only change is that it takes away what you can be involved in? And why drop down the requirement to the Captain level?

I assume you think gaslighting is a problem in STF since you want it addressed. Can you explain what you mean by that and how you’ve seen that?

Let’s say a ship member believes they are being bullied by their CO and this complaint goes all the way up. At what point does EGO get involved and how do you think that would work? I’d like to understand why you think this is better than the President making the final call. Also I’m wondering how the Inclusion and Diversity Board ties into dealing with bullying, since that’s a second additional group beyond who currently deals with bullying that you are suggesting.

4) Promotions above Commander shall be made taking into consideration Club Tenure, Performance of OOC duties, Recommendation of fellow club leadership, and Time in Grade. We feel establishing a Promotions Task Force to develop these guidelines will make promotions even more meaningful and obtainment of new pips even more special. This we hope will provide incentive for members to engage more in the STF community as a whole.

What do you find inadequate about the current guidelines for promoting?

7) Creation of a formal Inclusion & Diversity Plan for the club that includes guidelines for;

• Establishment of a Board to mange the Inclusion & Diversity efforts of the club that serve on a voluntary basis separate from the Executive
• Handling complaints of bullying, sexual & general harassment, unconscious bias, and other similar issues.
• Sets guidelines for an annual census of the club membership
• Increasing awareness, building community, and fostering collaboration within the membership

Why do you feel this would be better than those currently handling complaints? How large would this board be? Would they handle all complaints that fall under these categories that originated as incidents in the Discord server?

What is the purpose of the census you are suggesting?

8) Finally, a firm commitment from our ticket that our administration will serve with the fervent belief that all of our members have an expectation of privacy in issues raised with the Executive or Executive team. While our role as leaders is to, at times, facilitate discussion between members that may be at odds… we stand committed to never divulge private conversations without first discussing and receiving permission from all parties involved, and then only as necessary to assist in creating and fostering productive dialogue.

Let’s say you’ve banned someone who then appeals to EGO. EGO requests to see the interaction you had that led to the banning. Do you ask the banned person for permission? If yes, what do you do when they say no?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Adam W.