Article VI: The Executive Council
- The governing body of the UFOP is composed of the Executive Council and the Captain’s Council, which shall determine and administrate such matters as from time to time may be required to operate the UFOP and effectuate the purposes of this CONSTITUTION in the manner hereafter related.
- The EC shall be composed at all times of five members. If at some future time the UFOP has grown to the point where fairness and demographic considerations suggest additional members, the number shall be increased by amendment of this CONSTITUTION in accord with article IV.
- The Membership of the EC shall be composed only of flag officers, to wit, admirals (any), fleet captains or commodores, or by captains with at least one full year of service at that official rank.
- The EC shall appoint during each year a “captain at large” from the CC which captain shall retain his position in the CC and so perform his duties therein. The CC member at large shall be selected by majority vote of the EC in the event of more than one interested candidate.
- Except as specifically related herein otherwise, all votes of the EC shall be by majority (3 of 5) and no vote shall be deemed valid unless at least three voters have participated. In the event that only four member voters can participate and after all due diligence the fifth member cannot be contacted to so participate, the CC member at large shall vote to break any tie, and only in that event.
- While the member at large may freely opine and participate in any process or discussion or other business of the EC, they shall not vote otherwise than as outlined in section 5.
- No CC member at large shall serve in such office more than two years in five as a captain.
- While all members of the EC must be flag officers, not all flag officers shall be members of the EC unless the EC is expanded or an EC member retires or is expelled.
- Once a flag officer becomes a member of the EC, he shall remain a member of the EC until such time as he shall be removed in accordance with Article VIII hereafter or until he retires.
- Reserved Powers: The EC reserves to itself the following powers which can be exclusively exercised only by the EC by majority vote or by other such vote as may be called for elsewhere in this CONSTITUTION:
- Commissioning a new starship installation or base;
- Decommissioning a starship installation or base;
- Bestowing upon a captain any flag rank or upon a flag officer a higher rank and bestowing upon a full commander the rank of captain;
- Administrating the discipline of captains;
- Administrating the discipline of flag officers;
- Serving as the appeals body for discipline of commanders and junior officers;
- Enacting or altering by-laws, rules or regulations;
- Creation and appointment of committee membership and committee chairpeople to address the needs of the UFOP as those needs arise and decommissioning said committees when appropriate;
- The appointment of a new EC member when an EC member retires, places himself on administrative leave or is expelled;
- Creation, alteration or amendment of the requirements for promotion to the rank of Captain and above.
- Creation or alteration of awards applicable exclusively to flag officers only.
- Majority Veto of any action undertaken by the CC (4 of 5 or 3 of 4 required).
- Voting for the EC and CC apart from emergency votes: In order for a vote to pass by “majority” on either the EC or CC, and unless otherwise stated in this CONSTITUTION or any bylaw, rule or regulation, voting shall be conducted in the following manner:
- The vote shall be deemed passed if and only if the vote is by 51% or greater majority. The vote shall only be valid if at least 60% of the members of said committee have participated in the vote.
- Each calendar year, the CC and the EC shall each designate a magistrate from one of its membership to serve the function of administrating votes on all issues. The magistrate shall serve for the calendar year. He shall appoint his or her successor before the close of the year and may appoint any assistants or substitutes to stand in their place during the year for any temporary period. He may serve consecutive terms if he so desires and if no other candidate comes forward. In the event of two or more candidates interested in the same magistrate position, the winner shall be by majority vote, the vote administered by the current magistrate.
- The function of the magistrate for each year shall be to administrate votes and assure that first, sufficient numbers of the council in question have participated; and, secondly, that the votes were validly counted.
- The magistrate shall in the exercise of their discretion set a specific time period during which all votes are to be transmitted via e-mail on any issue and the time by when if not received, no further votes will be counted. Once the tally is completed, the magistrate shall inform the council in question of the final decision and shall make a notation in a permanent log the entirety of which shall be turned over to the executive council at the end of each year for permanent storage.
- During the period of the time set by the magistrate for the purpose of the vote, which in the exercise of discretion should be no more than twenty days, nor less than ten, any and all members of the involved council may comment as often as they deem necessary and proper and may exchange ideas and debate the matter as fully as they may deem proper. Any votes may be officially transmitted by any voting member during that time period for recordation and may be changed before the deadline as often as desired. A vote shall be distinguished from a colloquy or commentary on the issue by utilizing the specific format of: “(member) votes ‘yes’ or votes ‘no’ on the question” shall be utilized so that there is no confusion.
- The magistrate shall assign a sequential number to each separate question or issue which is to be subject to a vote, and the number sequence shall progress from year to year for the purpose of accurate history.
- When there is a vote called for, the magistrate shall inform the assembled membership of the council in question via electronic mail and shall announce the time during which the tabulation and registration of all votes shall begin and end.
- Framing of Questions for vote: It is the function of the magistrate to make every effort to accommodate the agreed upon phrasing of a question for vote and to first obtain majority consensus on the phrasing of the question before formal debate and voting begins. If, after consultation and informal comment among the voting members of the relevant committee the phrasing of the question cannot be agreed upon (which period shall not last more than ten days), the magistrate shall have the discretion to adopt such phrasing as he feels most accurate.
- All captains or higher ranks properly on leave or inactive (and not AWOL) have the power to vote.
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