Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Lilith Ivory »

I am a bit out of topic here but when reading "old Technology rocks" the ancient ice rock and the "paradise" sign came in mind again.
Both items are important for our history and I´d hate to see them accidentally replaced through something new in the future :)
Would it be possible to place a NC giver there that tells about their history?

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Rosie Gray »

I have meant to post a sign regarding those ancient relics for ages now. Will do so, because indeed we don't want them inadvertently returned or 'updated'! Thanks for the reminder.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Lyubov »

In Tan's proposed draft, it is suggested to move the "Transparent Region Development Guidelines" from NL 5-7 Civil Service Act to this LUC Act.

Permanent changes to public land, outside of the seasonal tree and ground texture changes and official CDS temporary structures for events, have to be announced in the forums and allow a comment period of 2 weeks, to make sure the interests of neighboring parcel owners are taken into account. Public spaces have to be developed in accordance with policy and changes need to be subject to public comment and review.

In the open EEP discussion, http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9535 I suggest that the environmental settings (ie. Windlight) also be explicitly mentioned as being a Chancellor responsibility that does not require a 2 week public comment period.

This section, requiring a 2 week public comment period was added relatively recently, on 5 November 2018. Now that we have been operating under this regulation for some time, I wonder if 14 days is too long. Could this be reduced?

Most people who are interested in commenting on any issue usually do so within the first few days, certainly no more than 1 week. 7 days may be sufficient notice to gauge the public response to any issue to decide "no opposition, proceed" or "controversial, pause and review". Presently, 2 weeks can be a "tight" schedule. A suggestion made at an RA meeting must be immediately posted to be able to vote on the measure by the next RA meeting usually scheduled 2 weeks later. A LUC suggestion made at a Sunday meeting following a Tuesday RA meeting may need to wait nearly a month before it may be considered in a vote.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Rosie Gray »

I agree with putting the environmental settings specifically to the Chancellor's responsibilities - that can be delegated, and that there's no need for 2 weeks notice. As to the question of reducing the 2 weeks notice for comment on permanent land changes I do agree that it seems a long time. What about reducing it to 10 days instead? That would be a compromise.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Kyoko »

10 days seems fine.

I do have a question though re: Rosie's list

1) LUC makes recommendations for work to the RA
2) RA approves recommended work
3) Chancellor assigns work

During my time on LUC, as chancellor and as attendee, I or the current chancellor was always asked if they approved. Whatever the rules said, I took that as "the" approval. I vaguely remember some RA votes on The Fishing Village and perhaps by the time Stella Marina reached the RA . And I know I made some changes without going through either LUC or the RA, such as the walkway on the CN wall to break that wall up a bit.

Feel free to blast me for not knowing the "rules", but if all the chancellor does is enact, then I'm wondering about this clause in the constitution:

"The Chancellor of CDS shall, subject to the laws of CDS, have the power:
(a) to determine the use to which any and all land in CDS shall be put;"

I do know that the LUC was partially commissioned to keep certain "chancellorian" (?) overreaches under control. If so seems to be that you would need to revise or strip that clause from the Constitution. And if you do that why would anyone want the job? I took the chancellorship as a chance to help push along some changes. Which we did.

I resigned as chair of LUC partially because what had been my (obviously "incorrect") assessment of the situation based on my experience had shifted dramatically.

I'm not writing this to further discussion of anything more than what I (at least) see as a conflict between the constitution and the LUC Law.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Rosie Gray »

Kyoko is quite right about the constitution, and about being the main benefit of being Chancellor (at least for me, and for Kyoko, and a couple of other ex-Chancellors I can think of) is to go ahead and get some things done.

When I proposed simplifying the language I was referring only to the LUC Commission and how it functions. The Chancellor taking initiatives without the LUC is separate, as I see it. The Chancellor as the Executive is not even strictly subject to NL 5-7 Civil Service Act, although posting the given amount of time for comment on 'permanent changes', and taking comments into consideration is advisable. The Chancellor doesn't require the okay of the RA or the LUC to be involved. At least this is how I interpret it. The balance to this is turfing out a Chancellor that over-steps.

I think that with the LUC functioning as advisor to the RA and the Chancellor is important and very beneficial, especially where there is a Chancellor that does not have expertise in sim development or much interest in it, but even in with a Chancellor such as myself who is very interested and experienced in sim development, it is still a valuable tool.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Kyoko »

Thanks for the clarification, Rosie.

But then why does LUC ask for the Chancellor's approval? Is it "pro forma"?

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Rosie Gray »

No it's not pro forma. The LUC is an advisory body to the RA and the Chancellor.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Tanoujin Milestone »

Clarification: I did not intend to *move* the 2-week notification for permanent changes *from* the Public Servants Act to the LUC Act, but double that passage. Artisans are not necessarily public servants and vice versa - so I wanted this rule apply in both fields.

As to the powers of the chancellor: the impression that the draft is cutting the chancellor‘s powers is correct. This is deliberate - according to my POV. We can discuss it. I would like to cut the chancellor back ;)

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Almut Brunswick »

As announced and partly based on Tan's draft, here comes finally my proposal. I beg your pardon in advance for my not-so-skilled legal English.

LAND USE COMMISSION ACT (Almut's Draft)

§1 Motivation and Purpose

(A) The Confederation of Democratic Simulators (CDS) strives to let participating their citizens actively on proposing, discussing, deciding and implementing the three-dimensional environment and all its directly related topics and items which make up the geography of the CDS territories. This may also comprise the control of environmental conditions like regional windlight settings, seasonal changes and other phenomenons, so far these are controllable by Second Life residents with the respective permissions.

(B) As the elected body for this aim, the Representative Assembly (RA), in accord with its constitutionally mandated service role to “perform long term planning,” shall establish a permanent commission as a means to advise, to prepare, to record and to supervise their approved projects in respect on the CDS land use. This commission shall be called the Land Use Commission (LUC).

(C) The LUC is an executive organ of the citizenship of the CDS under direct supervision and control of the RA for the purposes outlined in (B). Its powers and permissions are directly tied to public discussions in the CDS Discussion Forums and to the votes of the RA. The LUC shall be responsive to demands from the RA, but may set its own agenda.

(D) Furthermore, the LUC is obliged to collaborate closely with the Chancellor in an advisory role. This way, the LUC shall assist the Chancellor in fulfilling his/her constitutional tasks in respect on land use.

(E) Referring to (B), the LUC shall work out and recommend concepts of region development and usage both on public and private land, to keep the covenants up to date and introduce new, more effective technologies as they become available. The LUC may inspect public and private land to find problematic locations that need improvement and to help saving land impact.

(F) Another obligation of the LUC shall be to create and to maintain suitable means which ease the RA and the Citizenship to gain a sufficient database for discussions and decisions. This comprises, but is not limited to, the creation of pictures, drawings, maps and inworld videos (machinimas) for documentation purposes.

(G) Though the long-time experience has shown that the commissoned creators of public projects are often LUC members, the LUC as such must not serve as the actual building contractor in order to prevent conflicts of interest.

§2 Membership, Structure and Roles

(A) The LUC shall be re-established at the beginning of every election term. The LUC term in office shall be bound on the CDS election period and shall end automatically as soon as a newly elected RA has gathered for the first time.

(B) The LUC shall be composed of six members, preferably design experts of various fields of activity, and further interested citizens in order to encompass a variety of viewpoints and approaches to the discussed matters. Such members are to be nominated:

  • 1. Two citizens by the CDS Artisans Guild,

  • 2. one citizen by the RA from its membership appointed by the RA by simple majority,

  • 3. one citizen from the Executive Branch appointed by the Chancellor and

  • 4. two citizens appointed by RA members from the Citizenry-at-large via a simple majority vote by the RA.

(C) The LUC shall elect the LUC Councilor as chairperson, the LUC Deputy Councilor as pro tempore and the LUC Secretary. The regulation regarding their term in office shall apply as defined in (A).

(D) The LUC shall follow democratic modes of decision making as usual at any RA committee. Though meetings are public in general and citizens are welcome to attend at any time, only LUC members have the right to vote. In the case of an equality of votes, the LUC Councilor's vote is the decisive one.

(E) It is the obligation of the LUC Councilor or - in the case of absence of the LUC Councilor - of the LUC Deputy Councilor to set up the agenda for the LUC meetings, to invite the LUC members and all interested citizens to meetings and other activities of the LUC, to moderate the meetings and to represent the LUC in the CDS public.

(F) It is the obligation of the LUC Secretary to publish the meeting transcripts and keep the Minutes of Meeting in the LUC Forum. Minutes of all meetings shall be accepted at the following regular meeting, and be published with the transcript of that regular meeting.

(G) It is the obligation of the RA LUC Delegate to report the RA at any meeting about the ongoing work of the LUC.

(H) A LUC member may resign or be removed from office at the discretion of the RA upon the recommendation of their nominator. This resulting vacancy, or the vacancies due to end-of-term, shall be filled according to the legislated process, the new member(s) assuming the term of the member(s) replaced.

§ 3 Meetings

(A) Meetings of the Commission shall be held at published times, at a frequency dependent on the demands of its mandate, but not less than once per month.

(B) The LUC is expected to welcome all interested citizen at their meetings and be open to their suggestions and concerns.

§ 4 Public Information and Discourse Policy

(A) Permanent changes to public land, outside of the seasonal tree and ground texture changes and official CDS temporary structures for events, have to be announced in the CDS Forum and allow a sufficient comment period to make sure the interests and concerns of all interested citizens can be taken into account by the RA. Public spaces have to be developed in accordance with policy and changes need to be subject to public comment and review.

(B) The duration of comment periods in the CDS Forums needs to be decided by the RA. It may differ in dependency from the nature of task, but it needs to be defined in a separate law.

(C) The regulations of the LUC Act regarding transparent region development guidelines must not be in contradiction to other laws.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Tanoujin Milestone »

Good job, Almut, thank you. This is a big step forward. I support this proposal. It might need some final honing regarding the usual legal CDS-jargon, and some minor details possibly need a bit more discussion, but I want to leave that to others.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Mizou Vavoom »

Thumbs up Almut!

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Brooke Brandenburg »

Well done, Almut!

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Lyubov »

Thank you Almut, this is an important step forward.

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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Almut Brunswick »

Dear fellow CDS citizens,

it's been awhile that we discussed the reform of the LUC Act in the forum. Meanwhile Tan has continued working on the Transparent Region Development Guidelines which also concern the LUC Act, so that I allowed myself to apply some changes and additions to my initial draft. Furthermore I regard it as useful to add some lines about meetings in the interest of effectivity and a mutual civilized way of communication. See the changes highlighted in red. I really would like to see the LUC Act finally approved by the RA at the beginning of the coming term along with the other related acts to be reformed.

LAND USE COMMISSION ACT (Almut's Draft V. 2)

§1 Motivation and Purpose

(A) The Confederation of Democratic Simulators (CDS) strives to let participating their citizens actively on proposing, discussing, deciding and implementing the three-dimensional environment and all its directly related topics and items which make up the geography of the CDS territories. This may also comprise the control of environmental conditions like regional windlight settings, seasonal changes and other phenomenons, so far these are controllable by Second Life residents with the respective permissions.

(B) As the elected body for this goal, the Representative Assembly (RA), in accord with its constitutionally mandated service role to “perform long term planning,” shall establish a permanent commission as a means to advise, to prepare, to record and to supervise their approved projects in respect on the CDS land use. This commission shall be called the Land Use Commission (LUC).

(C) The LUC is an executive organ of the citizenship of the CDS under direct supervision and control of the RA for the purposes outlined in (B). Its powers and permissions are directly tied to public discussions in the CDS Discussion Forums and to the votes of the RA. The LUC shall be responsive to demands from the RA, but may set its own agenda.

(D) The LUC is obliged to collaborate closely with the Chancellor in an advisory role. This way, the LUC shall assist the Chancellor in fulfilling his/her constitutional tasks in respect on land use and to help integrating new buildings and infrastructure to the landscape. This comprises, but is not limited to trees, rocks, water, roads, parcels, permanent decor, CDS-owned infrastructure and terraforming.

(E) Referring to (B), the LUC shall work out and recommend concepts of region development and usage both on public and private land, to keep the covenants up to date and introduce new, more effective technologies as they become available. The LUC may inspect public and private land to find problematic locations that need improvement and to help saving land impact.

(F) Another obligation of the LUC shall be to create and to maintain suitable means which ease the RA and the Citizenship to gain a sufficient database for discussions and decisions. This comprises, but is not limited to, the creation of pictures, drawings, maps and inworld videos (machinimas) for documentation purposes.

(G) Though the long-time experience has shown that the commissoned creators of public projects are often LUC members, the LUC as such must not serve as the actual building contractor in order to prevent conflicts of interest.

§2 Membership, Structure and Roles

(A) The LUC shall be re-established at the beginning of every election term. The LUC term in office shall be bound on the CDS election period and shall end automatically as soon as a newly elected RA has gathered for the first time.

(B) The LUC shall be composed of six members, preferably design experts of various fields of activity, and further interested citizens in order to encompass a variety of viewpoints and approaches to the discussed matters. Such members are to be nominated:

1. Two citizens by the CDS Artisans Guild,
2. one citizen by the RA from its membership appointed by the RA by simple majority,
3. one citizen from the Executive Branch appointed by the Chancellor and
4. two citizens appointed by RA members from the Citizenry-at-large via a simple majority vote by the RA.

(C) The LUC shall elect the LUC Councilor as chairperson, the LUC Deputy Councilor as pro tempore and the LUC Secretary. The regulation regarding their term in office shall apply as defined in (A).

(D) The LUC shall follow democratic modes of decision making as usual at any RA committee. Though meetings are public in general and citizens are welcome to attend at any time, only LUC members have the right to vote. In the case of an equality of votes, the LUC Councilor's vote is the decisive one.

(E) It is the obligation of the LUC Councilor or - in the case of absence of the LUC Councilor - of the LUC Deputy Councilor to set up the agenda for the LUC meetings, to invite the LUC members and all interested citizens to meetings and other activities of the LUC, to moderate the meetings and to represent the LUC in the CDS public.

(F) It is the obligation of the LUC Secretary to publish the meeting transcripts and keep the Minutes of Meeting in the LUC Forum. Minutes of all meetings shall be accepted at the following regular meeting, and be published with the transcript of that regular meeting.

(G) It is the obligation of the RA LUC Delegate to report the RA at any meeting about the ongoing work of the LUC.

(H) A LUC member may resign or be removed from office at the discretion of the RA upon the recommendation of their nominator. This resulting vacancy, or the vacancies due to end-of-term, shall be filled according to the legislated process, the new member(s) assuming the term of the member(s) replaced.

§ 3 Meetings

(A) Ordinary meetings of the Commission shall be held at published times, at a frequency dependent on the demands of its mandate, but not less than once per month.

(B) The LUC has the right to decide a Code of Procedure for its meetings. This Code of Procedure shall be published in the forum.

(C) The LUC is expected to welcome all interested citizens as guests at their meetings and be open to their suggestions and concerns. It is expected that all guests behave respectfully and that they comply with the rules of the Code of Procedure.

(D) The LUC Councilor and the LUC Deputy Councilor have the right to invite LUC members to internal working sessions and on-site inspections. For this kind of meeting, a public invitation is not obligatory.

§ 4 Public Information and Discourse Policy

(A) Permanent changes to public land, outside of the seasonal tree and ground texture changes and official CDS temporary structures for events, have to be announced in the CDS Forum and allow a sufficient comment period to make sure the interests and concerns of all interested citizens can be taken into account by the RA. Public spaces have to be developed in accordance with policy and changes need to be subject to public comment and review.

(B) The duration of comment periods in the CDS Forums needs to be decided by the RA. It may differ in dependency from the nature of task, but it needs to be defined in a separate law.

(C) The regulations of the LUC Act regarding transparent region development guidelines must not be in contradiction to other laws.

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