1) The Union Of Freedom is an organization that uses its member's Powers, and Abilities in order to investigate crimes that threaten the Freedoms of both the individual and the world at large. 2) The Union Of Freedom is role-playing oriented, but OOC behavior is allowed as we are here to have fun. And anything that promotes the enjoyment of the game is welcome. (as long as it is not detremental to others enjoyment of the game in the process) 3) All members of the Union Of Freedom are expected to render aid and assistance to any other member that requests it. 4) The hierarchy of the Union Of Freedom consists of the Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, Mission Specialist, Public Relations Officer, Operations Officer, Public Relations Assistant, and then Regular Members. In that order. -4a) The roster itself is dived into three levels: Leadership (consisting of the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson), Officers (consisting of the Mission Specialist, Public Relations Officer, Operations Officer, and Public Relations Assistant), and then Regular Members. This is reffered to as the Core Membership, and those in these positions are reffered to as Core Members.There is a fourth level, Reservist, that functions as a support to the Core Membership. -4b) The Union of Freedom shall have no more then 22 total Core Members, including the Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, and all Officers. The last four of the Member slots (19-22) will be provided for neccessary recruiting (reffered to as Exigents). Use of these 4 Exigent slots should only be used when there is a strong need for a particular Archetype, Power Set, etc., or when the team feels it absolutely neccessary to vote a Hero in. The Exigent Members (19-22) will be counted as Core Members for the purpose of voting. -4c) The Union of Freedom may also have up to 22 additional Reservist Members. One for each of the members. Reservists are Secondary (or Alternate) Characters created and ran by Core Members. In order to have a Reservist the Core Member's Primary Character must be at least 15th Level, and at no point may the Reservist Character's Level equal or exceed the Level of the Player's Primary Character. If this does occur the Player's Reservist Character will become their Primary and their former Primary will become a Reservist forfeiting all Rank and Position they may have. -4d) Reservist Characters are not entitled to a Vote, nor may they hold any Position, and they may not submit Amendments. 5) The Chairperson will be responsible for adjudicating any disputes between members, speaking for the Union Of Freedom in matters of alliances or such with other Teams, promoting a positive view and direction for the Team, and supporting any Union activities or functions. The Chairperson will also be the final arbitor of all votes. 6) The Co-Chairperson will assume any of the above duties whenever the Chairperson is unavailable, or in the event of a dispute that concerns the Chairperson. The Chairperson may also delegate any of the above tasks to the Co-Chairperson in order to eleviate heavy workload. 7) Every Member is expected to Post and check in with the Union Forum on the City of Heroes Website, at least once a week. 8) All petitions for new members, motions, grivences, and possible additions to or amendents of the Union Bylaws, must be Posted on the Union Forum. Issues brought to a vote will be discussed on the Union Forum. -8a) The standard period of time between when an Issue is brought to a vote and when the vote will close is one week. -8b) The process for applying to the Union is as follows: Applicant must fill out an Application (as per First Post on Thread), and Post it to the Thread. The Date this is Posted is the Date the 7 day "Interview" process starts. Applicant must then contact at least one of the Current Members in game, and Group with them. Applicant must keep checking the Forum and Post at least twice during their week long Interview. Current Members who Group with an Applicant must PM feedback on Applicant to the Public Relations Officer within a day so that the PRO can provide feedback to the Applicant. 5 days after the Application is accepted, Current Members will be able to start PMing Votes to Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson. All Votes should be submitted prior to the 7th day of the "Interview". Chairperson will then announce the results of the Vote on the Thread. After an Applicant has been accepted into the Team they should submit an Origin Story to the Forum (we will help any who need help with this). 9) All votes will be then be submitted to the Chairperson by e-mail (and a cc: sent to the Co-Chairperson, or to both by PM) before the next week passes. After the votes have been tallied the Chairperson will make a final decision on the matter at hand. The only exceptions are additions to, or amendents of The Union Of Freedom Bylaws. These will be determined soley on the basis of majority vote. With Chairperson and Co-Chairperson having 2 votes apiece for these issues. -9a) All votes are submitted as a Yes, No, or Abstain. Failure to submit any vote will be considered a "Default Abstain". 10) Every 6 months (first week of April and first week of October) a vote will be held to elect a new Chairperson and Co-Chairperson. Anyone wishing to run for these positions must be nominated by another member and the nomination must be seconded by another member (takes place between the 1st and 6th of the Month). At that point a vote is held (due on the 7th day of said Months), on the Union Forum, and the positions will take effect immediatly. (Note: There is no limit to how many times any one individual can hold these positions). -10a) Current holders of these 2 positions are immediatly considered nominees for the position again (although they may forfiet this nomination if they wish). If no other nominees are put forward then the vote is closed, and the current holders continue in those positions for another term. -10b) No Member can hold more then one Officer Position (ie. Chairperson, Mission Specialist, etc.) at any one time. If for any reason an Officer is elected or appointed to assume another Officer Position said Member will need to abdicate thier current position just prior to assuming thier new position. The abdicated position will then be filled as per the respective ByLaw that covers the vacancy. 11) All New Members must pass through a 30 day Probationary Period. During that time the New Member will be closely monitored by the Mission Specialist and Public Relations Officer to insure that they are meeting the requirements and expectations of the Union of Freedom. If At any time during this Probationary Period either of the two Officers feel the New Member is not living up to the ByLaws and/or Standards of the Union of Freedom, they will notify both the Chairperson and Co-Chairperson (by e-mail) of the specific instance or instances. At that point the Chairperson and Co-Chairperson will determine if the New Member needs to be warned and their Probationary Period restarted, or if the Membership should be revoked entirely. If Membership is revoked the Hero may repetition for membership as per Article 8 of the Bylaws after 1 months time. 12) All petitions for new members (from existing members), motions, grivences, and possible additions to or amendents of the Union Bylaws, that are submitted, should be clearly worded and include as much of an "argument" as one wishes to make for that issue. While discussion of these issues can be conducted on the Union Forum, it should be kept to a minimum so as not to intice arguments or grand discussion. The Chairperson will present the issue to the Team using the submission as a base script. Clarifiyng when needed. Members may Post questions or clarifications if they believe the issue is being misrepresented or misunderstood (in order to help clearly state the matter). But again that will not be the time to make the main point of your issue, that must be done beforehand. 13) On the matter of abdications, any Regular Member may abdicate their positions by informing either the Chairperson, or Co-Chairperson by e-mail. As soon as this notification is recieved the Member will be removed from the roster and they forfiet any rights or privilages they had aquired as Members. Said members may repetition for membership as per Article 8 of the Bylaws after 1 months time. If either the Chairperson or Co-Chairperson wishes to abdicate, they must name a regular member who will assume thier position for the remainder of their term. If the Chairperson abdicates and names the Co-Chairperson to take their place the Co-Chairperson will have to name another regular member to take their position for the remainder of thier term (Note: The Chairperson or Co-Chairperson are demoted to status of Regular Member when they step down). On the matter of terminations, if for any reason the Chairperson or Co-Chairperson believes that any member has generated sufficient reason to be terminated, this motion will be put forward on the Union Forum. The following week an open vote will be held to determine if the member will be terminated (terminated members can never reapply for membership). -13a) Any Member who recieves 3 consecutive "Default Abstains" (from votes), will be placed on 30 Day Probation to determine if further action will be required. -13b) Members on Probation may be terminated by a consensus of both the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, not requiring a general vote. -13c) In the event that either the Chairperson, or Co-Chairperson, remain out of contact with the UoF for more then seven consecutive days, that Member will be demoted to Regular status. In the event that it is the Co-Chairperson who is delinquint, the Chairperson will appoint a new Co-Chairperson to carry out the remainder of his/her term. If it is the Chairperson who is delinquint the Co-Chairperson will either assume the position, and assign another Regular Member as the Co-Chairperson or the Co-Chairperson will assign another Regular Member to assume the Chairperson position. Again this is only for the remainder of the original terms. In any case the Chairperson, or Co-Chairperson, will immediatly Post to inform the Team of the transition of power on the Union Forum. -13d) If the Public Relations Officer (see Article 15) chooses to relinquish the position, all funds within the Treasury will be turned over to the Chairperson (or Co-Chairperson) until another Member is selected to fill the position. -13e) If the Mission Specialist (see Article 16) chooses to relinquish the position, the Operations Officer (if there is one) will take over all duties of this position until another Regular Member is selected by the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, to take the position. -13f) All Regular Members are expected to remain in constant contact with the rest of the Regular Team Membership. Any Regular Member who remains out of contact for seven consecutive days, will recieve an E-Mail promting them to make contact as soon as possible. If said Member does not make contact within another seven days, this will result in removal from the UoF. Any Member removed in this fashion can reapply for Membership as per Articles 8, after one month's time. Any Member may request leaves of absence by mearly informing the the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, of the time period they will be gone and the date by which they will be returning. 14) On the subject of alliances, all members are expected to render aid and/or assistance to members of any team the Union of Freedom is allied with. As long as that aid and/or assistance is not contrary to the benefit of the Union of Freedom, its members, or any mission that they may be involved in. When considering actions to assist allied teams all members must give precedence first to the Union of Freedom. Also any aid and/or assistance that may run contrary to the benefit of another allied team, must first be cleared through either the Chairperson or Co-Chairperson, before being performed. Specifics of any alliance may ammend, or add to this general Article.
-4a) The roster itself is dived into three levels: Leadership (consisting of the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson), Officers (consisting of the Mission Specialist, Public Relations Officer, Operations Officer, and Public Relations Assistant), and then Regular Members. This is reffered to as the Core Membership, and those in these positions are reffered to as Core Members.There is a fourth level, Reservist, that functions as a support to the Core Membership. -4b) The Union of Freedom shall have no more then 22 total Core Members, including the Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, and all Officers. The last four of the Member slots (19-22) will be provided for neccessary recruiting (reffered to as Exigents). Use of these 4 Exigent slots should only be used when there is a strong need for a particular Archetype, Power Set, etc., or when the team feels it absolutely neccessary to vote a Hero in. The Exigent Members (19-22) will be counted as Core Members for the purpose of voting. -4c) The Union of Freedom may also have up to 22 additional Reservist Members. One for each of the members. Reservists are Secondary (or Alternate) Characters created and ran by Core Members. In order to have a Reservist the Core Member's Primary Character must be at least 15th Level, and at no point may the Reservist Character's Level equal or exceed the Level of the Player's Primary Character. If this does occur the Player's Reservist Character will become their Primary and their former Primary will become a Reservist forfeiting all Rank and Position they may have. -4d) Reservist Characters are not entitled to a Vote, nor may they hold any Position, and they may not submit Amendments.
-8a) The standard period of time between when an Issue is brought to a vote and when the vote will close is one week.
-8b) The process for applying to the Union is as follows: Applicant must fill out an Application (as per First Post on Thread), and Post it to the Thread. The Date this is Posted is the Date the 7 day "Interview" process starts. Applicant must then contact at least one of the Current Members in game, and Group with them. Applicant must keep checking the Forum and Post at least twice during their week long Interview. Current Members who Group with an Applicant must PM feedback on Applicant to the Public Relations Officer within a day so that the PRO can provide feedback to the Applicant. 5 days after the Application is accepted, Current Members will be able to start PMing Votes to Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson. All Votes should be submitted prior to the 7th day of the "Interview". Chairperson will then announce the results of the Vote on the Thread. After an Applicant has been accepted into the Team they should submit an Origin Story to the Forum (we will help any who need help with this).
-9a) All votes are submitted as a Yes, No, or Abstain. Failure to submit any vote will be considered a "Default Abstain".
-10a) Current holders of these 2 positions are immediatly considered nominees for the position again (although they may forfiet this nomination if they wish). If no other nominees are put forward then the vote is closed, and the current holders continue in those positions for another term. -10b) No Member can hold more then one Officer Position (ie. Chairperson, Mission Specialist, etc.) at any one time. If for any reason an Officer is elected or appointed to assume another Officer Position said Member will need to abdicate thier current position just prior to assuming thier new position. The abdicated position will then be filled as per the respective ByLaw that covers the vacancy.
-13a) Any Member who recieves 3 consecutive "Default Abstains" (from votes), will be placed on 30 Day Probation to determine if further action will be required. -13b) Members on Probation may be terminated by a consensus of both the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, not requiring a general vote. -13c) In the event that either the Chairperson, or Co-Chairperson, remain out of contact with the UoF for more then seven consecutive days, that Member will be demoted to Regular status. In the event that it is the Co-Chairperson who is delinquint, the Chairperson will appoint a new Co-Chairperson to carry out the remainder of his/her term. If it is the Chairperson who is delinquint the Co-Chairperson will either assume the position, and assign another Regular Member as the Co-Chairperson or the Co-Chairperson will assign another Regular Member to assume the Chairperson position. Again this is only for the remainder of the original terms. In any case the Chairperson, or Co-Chairperson, will immediatly Post to inform the Team of the transition of power on the Union Forum. -13d) If the Public Relations Officer (see Article 15) chooses to relinquish the position, all funds within the Treasury will be turned over to the Chairperson (or Co-Chairperson) until another Member is selected to fill the position. -13e) If the Mission Specialist (see Article 16) chooses to relinquish the position, the Operations Officer (if there is one) will take over all duties of this position until another Regular Member is selected by the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, to take the position. -13f) All Regular Members are expected to remain in constant contact with the rest of the Regular Team Membership. Any Regular Member who remains out of contact for seven consecutive days, will recieve an E-Mail promting them to make contact as soon as possible. If said Member does not make contact within another seven days, this will result in removal from the UoF. Any Member removed in this fashion can reapply for Membership as per Articles 8, after one month's time. Any Member may request leaves of absence by mearly informing the the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, of the time period they will be gone and the date by which they will be returning.
15) A Treasury has been established to purchase/maintain and upgrade a Headquarters for the Union of Freedom. Each Regular Member (including Leadership and Officers) must donate(X) on the first day of every month. This Treasury has been designed to facilitate a Headquarters, it is not intended as a "Bank Account" for Members to withdraw from. Members may also make additional donations, beyond the monthly stipend, as they wish. These additional donations will never count toward a Members monthly stipend nor towards potential future loan repayments (see Articles 15a-15e). If a Member is unable to make their monthly payment they may defer the payment until the beginning of the next month, at which point they must pay both months payments. A Member may continue to defer their payments for up to three months, with the cumulative amount due at the beginning of each successive month. After three months the Member has two weeks to pay the entire amount, failure to make payment at this point results in the Member being placed on Probation (see Article 13b), for 30 days. Regular Members on Probation then have two additional weeks to pay the adjusted amount. If unable to make payment by the end of that period the Member is Terminated. -15a) If for any reason a Regular Member feels they need to request a loan from the Treasury, the following criteria will be applied: The request must be submitted in writing (via e-mail). The request will then be brought to the attention of the remaining Regular Members at the next weekly meeting. After this a vote (as per Article 9) will be held, and the result will then be announced at the following weeks meeting. If passed the funds will be made available at the earliest possible convenience for both the Public Relations Officer and Member making the request. -15b) Requests for loans should only be for things that benefit the Team (or aid in a mission the Team is involved in), not just a single Member. -15c) Additional donations made and length of membership do not grant any special consideration concerning loans. -15d) There will not be any "emergency loans" granted, regardless of circumstances all loan requests must go through the above outlined procedures. -15e) All loans incur a 50% interest charge and must be repaid within two weeks of recieving the loan. Loans that exceed that time period incur an additional 10% cumulative charge per day until the loan is repaid. -15f) All payments and donations will be kept, and maintained by the Public Relations Officer. This position will be appointed by a consensus of both the Chairperson and Co-Chairperson. The position is held by the same person until such time as both Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, deem that it needs to be transferred to another Member. The Public Relations Officer will also work with the Mission Specialist in recruiting New Members and helping to oversee them during their Probationary Period. The Public Relations Officer may post another Regular Member as a helper or a substitute in times of need. This position is reffered to as the Public Relations Assistant. The Public Relations Officer may appoint the PRA with specific tasks, but the Public Relations Assistant must not be the one in charge of all the Public Relations Officer’s duties, unless the Public Relations Officer is absent and appoints the Public Relations Assistant to take over. The Public Relations Officer does not have to appoint a Public Relations Assistant if he/she does not want one. The Chairperson or Co-Chairperson may remove the Public Relations Assistant from his/her duties.
-15a) If for any reason a Regular Member feels they need to request a loan from the Treasury, the following criteria will be applied: The request must be submitted in writing (via e-mail). The request will then be brought to the attention of the remaining Regular Members at the next weekly meeting. After this a vote (as per Article 9) will be held, and the result will then be announced at the following weeks meeting. If passed the funds will be made available at the earliest possible convenience for both the Public Relations Officer and Member making the request. -15b) Requests for loans should only be for things that benefit the Team (or aid in a mission the Team is involved in), not just a single Member. -15c) Additional donations made and length of membership do not grant any special consideration concerning loans. -15d) There will not be any "emergency loans" granted, regardless of circumstances all loan requests must go through the above outlined procedures. -15e) All loans incur a 50% interest charge and must be repaid within two weeks of recieving the loan. Loans that exceed that time period incur an additional 10% cumulative charge per day until the loan is repaid. -15f) All payments and donations will be kept, and maintained by the Public Relations Officer. This position will be appointed by a consensus of both the Chairperson and Co-Chairperson. The position is held by the same person until such time as both Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, deem that it needs to be transferred to another Member. The Public Relations Officer will also work with the Mission Specialist in recruiting New Members and helping to oversee them during their Probationary Period. The Public Relations Officer may post another Regular Member as a helper or a substitute in times of need. This position is reffered to as the Public Relations Assistant. The Public Relations Officer may appoint the PRA with specific tasks, but the Public Relations Assistant must not be the one in charge of all the Public Relations Officer’s duties, unless the Public Relations Officer is absent and appoints the Public Relations Assistant to take over. The Public Relations Officer does not have to appoint a Public Relations Assistant if he/she does not want one. The Chairperson or Co-Chairperson may remove the Public Relations Assistant from his/her duties.
16) The Mission Specialist will be in charge of scouting locations, planning missions, this includes handing out maps (when they become available), and leading the team safely (or as safely as they can make it) through a particular mission (Those offered by other Hero organizations). The Mission Specialist will also assist the Public Relations Officer in recruiting New Members and helping to oversee them during their Probationary Period. This position will be appointed by a consensus of both the Chairperson and Co-Chairperson. The Mission Specialist has a life-long term unless he/she abdicates their position, or the Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson, removes the officer from his/her position. The Mission Specialist may post another Regular Member as a helper or a substitute in times of need. This position is reffered to as the Operations Officer. The Mission Specialist may appoint the Operations Officer with specific tasks, but the Operations Officer must not be the one in charge of all the Mission Specialists duties, unless the Mission Specialist is absent and appoints the Operations Officer to take over. The Mission Specialist does not have to appoint an Operations Officer if he/she does not want one. The Chairperson or Co-Chairperson may remove the Operations Officer from his/her duties.