- Message posted on Stardate 99032.2 at 0007 hours
- Posted by Bob Spurlin.
- Message posted on Stardate 99032.0 at 1845 hours
- Posted by Deanne Morgan.
- To the members of STF:
- :
- I have waited two days now for Mr. Spurlin to answer my queries regarding his questionable Edict #5. In those two days, I have done a lot of thinking about what has transpired this past week within STF’s current administration. And in that thinking, I’ve discovered a lot of seemingly unethical moves. If Mr. Spurlin had had the courtesy of answering the questions I posed against his Edict, perhaps some of these moves could be explained. Without his answers, however, I have only that which has been said and documented over the past week to use as explanation.
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- On that note, I am officially challenging the ethics of Edict #5 on the basis of Mr. Spurlin’s own statement earlier in the week that resignations sent to the STF mailing list were not valid until they were posted in the Command Area of the WeBB.
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- My resignation as GMDir, contrary to the report made in GIN #2, was based solely on a previous arrangement made with then Candidate Spurlin. My tenure as GMDir was always intended to be temporary, lasting approximately four months. My goal was to reorganize a department that had fallen into disarray during my absense, and train a successor who would keep the department running at the level of quality I had attained. Even before Mr. Spurlin was elected into office, my choice as heir apparent was Stuart Coll.
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- Mr. Coll briefly co-GMed the Columbus with me during what has been touted as one of the best sims ever run. As recently as Friday, Nikolle Burchett commented in command that the mirror universe was the best sim she’d ever seen. Mr. Coll impressed me then with his enthusiasm for the sim and his willingness to do what was best for the ship. He displayed no outrageous ego, and exhibited an obvious knack for creativity. Anyone who has roleplayed with him knows the attention to detail he puts into each post.
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- When Mr. Coll began working with me as AGMDir at the beginning of Mr. Spurlin’s administration, he further impressed me with his administrative skills. Indeed, he was the perfect person to take over the GMD. He approached issues from all sides, and went with the solution that best served STF and its members. He was a credit to the cabinet. So much so that, with the GM Regulations protected by Presidential Edict, a move for which I do commend Mr. Spurlin, I felt that I was not needed as GMDir for the entire four months. I announced this in a letter to the command mailing list.
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- With Owen Ashcroft on as his assistant, and me available as an advisor whenever he needed me, I believed Stuart was ready to take the helm. My letter ended with me stating my intent to resign on April 1, 1999, unless anyone felt my suggestion was ill founded.
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- The letter was one of intent. If no one made issue of my decision, I figured I would post a note in Command a week before my resignation was to take place to make it official. Needless to say, Mr. Spurlin’s Edict #5 came as quite a surprise. He never emailed me regarding my intent. Nor had I ever made the resignation official by posting it in command, a step necessitated according to Mr. Spurlin.
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- Additionally, Mr. Spurlin’s naming of Owen Ashcroft as GMDir, rather than Stuart Coll, is both baffling and riddled with peculiarities. Mr. Spurlin nullified my recommendation of Mr. Coll because I had resigned. This despite the fact that (A) I had not yet officially resigned and (B) Mr. Spurlin stated in his campaign that he felt the greatest weight for naming a successor was put on the advice of the predecessor. Rather than my recommendation as “the best GMDir in STF history” for Mr. Coll as the next GMDir, Mr. Spurlin relied on the input of two cabinet members he refused to identify. The recommendation was made to put Mr. Ashcroft ahead of Mr. Coll because Mr. Ashcroft has GMing experience. Had anyone bothered to approach me, the GMDir, about this issue, I would have explained that Mr. Coll also had GMing experience. And has demonstrated a much more level head than Mr. Ashcroft.
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- If anyone had asked you for your private opinion you would have been well within your rights to give such an evaluation. To post these words here, for the entire club to see, is in my mind insulting to Captain Ashcroft and undermines his authority as the newly appointed GMD.
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Clearly, Mr. Spurlin’s removal of me from the GMD, without any previous word to me and well before I even formally resigned, was beyond the realm of fair play. He replaced me behind closed doors. His secretive moves to staff the department went against everything I had put into place to insure that the GMD would continue at the quality level I had worked to create.
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- Mr. Spurlin’s handling of my resignation as CO and FComm-5 was equally played close to the vest, behind closed doors, and against that which is best for STF. My resignation from these posts was not even issued to the command list. It was issued solely to the cabinet members and fleet commanders. In it, I expressed my dismay that things had deteriorated within the administration because Mr. Spurlin did not like me challenging a decision he made. I had made several public attempts to heal the rift that existed, without effect. I felt that if I were to remove myself from the command level, it would reduce the conflicts. I had hoped that by making such a move, it would open the doors for possible reconciliation.
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- However, Mr. Spurlin in his Edict #5 jumped the gun. My resignation, again per his statement, was not official until it was posted in command. I had been waiting for someone to step forward and open discussions on how to best serve STF. The only thing I received was a brief conversation with Mr. Spurlin where he asked me to reconsider giving up my command. Erroneously, I thought he meant my total resignation (CO and FComm). However, I learned the next day via an email from Butch Carter asking for CO info for the fleet report, that Mr. Spurlin had only meant the CO status. In fact, Mr. Spurlin was already replacing me in my positions, to the point of going to the IDir and having my access level reduced before he even posted Edict #5. In fact, although Mr. Spurlin granted me until Thursday evening to think about my resignation from the Genesis, he had FComm-4 Larry Garfield working to replace Ms. Burchett as CO on the Monty as early as Wednesday evening, a move only necessary if he was intending to move Ms. Burchett to the command of the Genesis.
:
Fleet Captain Morgan your statement regarding the Idir and your access level is totally and completely false. I posted edict #5 at 1441 hours on March 18, 1999. Upon posting that edict I went to the Star-Fleet IRC DalNet channel. I joined that channel at 14:56. Approximately an hour later Owen Ashcroft entered the channel and I told him to go and read the command area. Once he had seen the official edict he asked about his access levels. The Assistant Internet Director, Randy McCullick, was in the channel and I asked him to make the necessary adjustments to Captain Ashcroft’s, Stuart Coll’s, Captain Burchett’s, Captain Johnson’s and your accounts. I simply instructed the AIDir to make all of the necessary changes at once. There was absolutely nothing improper about this request. In fact Mr. McCullick went and read the edict in command to make sure he got the names right.
- Your statement that my move to replace Captain Burchett as CO of the USS Montgomery was only necessary if I intended to replace you as Genesis CO is also completely false. As I have stated before and the logs back me up, If you had chosen to remain as Genesis CO Captain Burchett would have been given a new ship in Fleet Five. If you are going to state information second hand from private conversations you have an obligation to get it right and not post either half-truths or outright falsehoods. In this case I know you possessed the truth but you blatantly posted that which you knew was false.
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Despite the unethical way in which Mr. Spurlin handled my resignation as CO and FComm, I would have let it stand if it was to help STF. However, his FComm-5 replacement only creates more questions. While Nikolle Burchett is AFComm-4 so she has some experience, a recent email from Ms. Burchett regarding my invitation that she be a GM indicated that she didn’t have time. She has recently been promoted at work and is now working six ten-hour days each week. She felt that until her hours at work were reduced, she couldn’t put the time into being a GM that the position deserved. Knowing that, I can’t help but wonder how she will have the time that an entire fleet deserves.
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- I do not intend to cast disparaging light on Ms. Burchett. Unfortunately, I must bring up these facts in order to shed light on the questionable administrative actions taken of late by Mr. Spurlin. I would like to think that Mr. Spurlin’s actions are not spurred by personal feelings. However, the string of events makes it difficult to not, at the very least, wonder about it.
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- But you have, indeed, cast a disparaging light on Captain Burchett by making a private communication between the two of you public. The club as a whole had no right to this information. Again if you had been asked for your opinion you could have given it in private but again you chose post it publicly and without Captain Burchett’s permission.
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I sent my intent to resign from the GMDir, because I believed I had accomplished that which I set out to do. I trusted my replacement, Mr. Coll, to serve the department with the same dedication and passion for excellence that drove me to do well. My resignation was never official, per Mr. Spurlin’s own words regarding what makes it official, and was not even slated to take effect until April 1, 1999.
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- My intent to resign as CO of the Genesis and FComm-5 was a passionate endeavor to make things right within STF and remove myself from further conflict. Again, it was never official. My resignation never even made it to the mailing list.
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- In light of this, my question now is if Mr. Spurlin is going to rescind his hasty Edict #5. If he chooses to stand by it, then, by the power of his own words, I never resigned. This means that Mr. Spurlin is firing me from all three positions.
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- If that is the case, I challenge Mr. Spurlin to find proof where I ever misserved STF in any of these capacities. Where did I fail as GMDir? Where has my ship suffered? How has Fifth Fleet been left without leadership? Where have I abused my authority as Fleet Captain?
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- In all of this fiasco, I am guilty of two things on an official level: Passion for what is just and an improper use of language in a debate on who I could appoint as captain on a new ship slated to be placed in my fleet. I used the word “screw” to indicate that I felt my fleet was being denied a good captain solely because of personal ties. As noted earlier, I have apologized numerous times for this indiscretion.
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- Over the course of this, the argument got heated between Mr. Spurlin and myself. However, it was never conducted in a public arena. If, however, I am to be held culpable for losing my temper in an ongoing assault by Mr. Spurlin in this situation, then he, too, must be held for his behavior. Especially for his statement to consider myself replaced in all my positions for questioning his integrity.
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- As ever, I want what is best for STF. I expect that, if Edict #5 is to remain valid, the reason for my resulting terminations will be explained to prove that they were done to meet that criterion. Since I have done nothing that was not above board in these positions, I fail to see how this requirement can be met.
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- Sincerely,
- Fleet Captain Deanne Morgan
Edict #6:
For the record I went to Captain Morgan this today, twice and I told her that her post contained false statements and I gave her the opportunity to either withdraw the post or modify it before I commented. She assured me that she stood by her words.
Based on the four incidents noted above. Two of posting false information to the club, one of casting an insulting remark against a fellow officer and one of sharing private email communications with the club, I have no choice but to find that Fleet Captain Deanne Morgan is guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer.
Therefore:
1) Fleet Captain Deanne Morgan is hereby reduced in rank to Captain.
2) All Cabinet and Command members are hereby instructed that Captain Morgan is not to hold and Cabinet or Command position in this administration which includes assistant positions. This administration will not be placed in the position of having Captain Morgan end up in a Cabinet or Command position should the appointee become unavailable to serve.
3) Finally, I am instructing the Internet Director to remove Captain Morgan from the Channel Operators List in the #Star-Fleet IRC DalNet channel. Since this is the official channel of Star-Fleet I feel that this is appropriate.
This is not a decision I make lightly. In fact it is one of the most difficult I have ever made. I hold no malice against Captain Morgan. I am not her enemy. I went to her and asked her to withdraw this; Twice. She chose to ignore those requests and to stand by her statements and now she must stand by the results of them as well. As President of the club I am duty bound to take this action. No one in the club has the right to do these things and they cannot be tolerated.
Bob Spurlin
STF President