Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

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

Post by Almut Brunswick »

Dear Kyoko,

thank you for your statement to this discussion.

Kyoko wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:39 am

Thank you Tan for your clear analysis. In an ideal world I do think we serve on LUC out of genuine interest and not as a power grab.

I really would love to agree! Working in and for the LUC should be motivated by dedication and competence in respect on the tasks and responsibilities.

Kyoko wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:39 am

But there still is a legitimate reason why the one person tradition from the RA is different. The RA supervises the LUC. Period. Full stop.

I'm sorry, but this is not a valid argument in my humble opinion. "Tradition" is neither something which is backed by the Constitution nor a legitimation for something which can be abused for excluding any sort of dedicated and competent citizens from the LUC. "The RA supervises the LUC" is true, but first and foremost the RA sends requests to the LUC and evaluates the results of the LUC work - proposals, plans and other subjects obliged to the LUC by the LUC Act - as basis of RA decisions. The RA can follow the LUC proposals (which is mostly the case) or return them for rework - or even may completely ignore them. Since there is nothing what objectively can endanger the constitutional balance of powers caused by two SC members OR two RA members OR even both, I don't see any real reason for insisting on that "tradition" to exclude a second RA member from the LUC which is nowhere fixed in the Code of Laws.

A valid argument just to have one RA member in the LUC would be when there is a conflict of interests. This is, however, not the case, because the tasks of the RA and the LUC are different and so the roles of their members.

Actually I was meanwhile ready to retract the paragraph 2(I) from the draft. But now I think that something suitable most be anchored in the LUC Act which prevents the exclusion of dedicated and qualified candidates just by the fact that they are members of constitutional institutions like the RA. When we would experience the luxury of having dozens of builders, gardeners and landscapers in our community, then we could say: "There is enough work for everybody, so don't assign multiple functions to just a few persons." This is sadly, however, not the CDS of 2021.

FInally one very personal statement in respect on dispute culture: I'm not happy to read thought-terminating clichés like "Period. Full stop." in postings. It is something which shall not belong here even when you strictly disagree. You have the freedom to state your opinion here, so do I and everyone else. Thank you!

Almut

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

Post by Han Held »

Almut Brunswick wrote: Sat Feb 06, 2021 9:33 am

FInally one very personal statement in respect on dispute culture: I'm not happy to read thought-terminating clichés like "Period. Full stop."

Personally, I'm not a fan of policing other people's choice of expression.

This is particularly true when they're posting appropriately and within the rules.

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

Post by Tanoujin Milestone »

Draft 202112021900
Edit: discarded "exclusion"-paragraph (2I) - tm

CDSL 34-01 Land Use Commission Act
Enacted 16 October 2014
Updated by the 34th RA, Jan. 2021

LAND USE COMMISSION ACT

1 Motivation and Purpose

(A) The Confederation of Democratic Simulators (CDS) strives to let citizens actively participate by 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 with respect to the CDS land use. This commission shall be called the Land Use Commission (LUC).

(C) The LUC is a public institution of the CDS, entrusted with public functions outlined in (B). It is directly supervised and controlled by the RA. 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 process orders on behalf of the legislative and executive branches of the CDS. It thus shall be responsive to requests from the RA and the Chancellor, 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 with respect to land use and to help integrate new buildings and infrastructure into 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 advise the RA on keeping the covenants up to date and recommend new, more effective technologies as they become available. The LUC may inspect public and private land to find problematic locations that need improvement and make those recommendations to the Chancellor and the RA.

(F) Another obligation of the LUC shall be to create and to maintain suitable documentation such as drawings, maps, spreadsheets and more for RA and citizen understanding of projects.

(G) Though the long-time experience has shown that the commissioned 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. Building contractors may be suggested by the LUC to the Chancellor who will contract the actual work to a qualified CDS Artisan Guild member, or a member of the Executive team or CDS citizen at large.

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 appointed by:
1. Two citizens from the CDS Artisan Guild,
2. One RA member appointed by the RA
3. One citizen from the Executive Branch appointed by the Chancellor
4. Two citizens in good standing appointed by the RA

(C) The LUC shall elect the LUC Chairperson, the LUC Deputy Chairperson 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 CDS panel. Though meetings are public in general and citizens are welcome to attend at any time, only LUC members have the right to vote.

(E) It is the obligation of the LUC Chairperson or - in the case of absence of the LUC Chairperson - of the LUC Deputy Chairperson 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 considered advisable that the LUC Chairperson or the LUC Deputy Chairperson by way of a substitute attend the meetings of the Representative Assembly to give a report about the ongoing work of the LUC and answer questions. If both the LUC Chairperson and the LUC Deputy Chairperson are indisposed, the RA LUC Delegate shall fill this role. The RA LUC Delegate shall have the privilege to comment first on LUC related items. It is taken for granted that the Assembly Members read the LUC Minutes in preparation of the Meeting.

(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 legislative process, the new member(s) assuming the term of the member(s) replaced.

3 Meetings

(A) Ordinary meetings of the LUC 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 Chairperson and the LUC Deputy Chair have the right to invite LUC members to on-site inspections. For this kind of meeting, a public invitation is not obligatory, albeit a transcript must be kept and published.

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 is defined in a separate law by the RA.

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

IMPLEMENTING BY-LAWS TO CDSL 34-01 LAND-USE COMISSION ACT AS OF JAN. 2021

1st BY-LAW: MASTER PLAN
Based upon the Paragraphs 1(E) and (F) of CDSL 34-01 the Land Use Commission shall create, update and maintain a CDS master plan, under which future expansions in land area and themes shall occur. This plan shall be submitted to and approved by the RA, as well as being resubmitted to the RA for approval whenever modifications are deemed necessary by either the Commission or the RA.

2nd BY-LAW: NEW REGION PLANNING
Based upon the Paragraphs 1(E) and (F) of CDSL 34-01 the Land Use Commission shall, upon a request from the RA or the Chancellor, investigate the viability of new region purchase and present recommendations to both bodies. This will include, but is not limited to:

1. Consideration of type of region (full region, homestead, void, or other types that might become available in the future);
2. Consideration of placement of region;
3. Consideration of region theme;
4. A survey of Citizens;
5. Appropriate In-world meetings for discussion and public comments;.
6. Compilation and summarization of ideas and comments from citizens from surveys and official meetings, or future channels as they may be useful.
7. A consideration of finances, balance of public and private prims and any specific public spaces appropriate to the theme.
8. A draft of legislation for the acquisition of a new region or regions, including covenants and/or codes for said region, which shall regulate the manipulation or use of CDS’ three-dimensional, graphical environment, whether on Public or Private parcels.

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

Post by Delia Lake »

In accord with Article I, Section 6 of the CDS Constitution ("Final ratification of law is performed by the Philosophic branch, which can veto a bill or resubmit a modified bill for vote, if it conflicts with the Constitution."), and Article III, Section 8 ("The Philosophic branch may veto or rewrite and resubmit a bill or constitutional amendment if it is in violation of any of the founding documents.") The Scientific Council has put on its agenda to discuss the reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC) at its scheduled SC meeting on Sunday, February 28 at 8 am SLT.

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

Post by Almut Brunswick »

It seems that the SC came to a result about the LUC Act, so I've read in the transscript and in the notecard I found more accidentally in my NC folder yesterday. Actually it should be a sheer matter of respect to inform both the RA and the CDS community about such results in a public way - namely here! Otherwise it becomes difficult for all of us to react on the SC's objections.

Please understand that I won't post any statement regarding the content here as long as that SC decision is not made accessible for the public. Furthermore, I share Tan's astonishment that those objections have not brought up by the SC *before* the RA has eventually voted for the LUC Act after months of intense discussion in this forum.

Thank you!

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

Post by Delia Lake »

During the RA meeting of January 16, 2021, while revisions to the LUC Act were still being worked out, both Lilith and I did comment on process and restrictions given the fact that the LUC is a committee of and advisor to the RA and therefore having more than a single sitting RA member on the LUC would be problematic, https://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9680.

As a matter of process, the SC must wait until the RA passes a bill into law before conducting a review and ratifying, vetoing or returning that law to the RA for recommended modifications. That's what the CDS Constitution lays out as the sequence. In this case of the revision CDSL 21-01 Permanent Land-Use Commission Act, the SC reviewed the new version and voted in a public meeting to return it with specific comments as to why this was being done https://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9703. The traditional policy for doing this return is that the Dean of the SC sends a non-modifiable notecard to the LRA. The next steps, including making the notecard from the SC public, is up to the LRA.

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

Post by Almut Brunswick »

As agreed with the RA Leader and in fulfilling my obligation as his pro tempore, I publish the formal SC recommendations to the RA here:

TO: Tanojuin Milestone, LRA

FROM: Delia Lake, SC Dean

The SC is sending back to the RA the revised law CDSL 21-01 Permanent Land-Use Commission Act with strong recommendations for two sets of modifications. While the currently passed law is not technically in violation of the Constitution, by unanimous vote the SC agreed it is not consistent with the spirit of two articles and could encourage favoritism or conflicts. The SC make our recommendations or the general and long-term good functioning of the CDS government in accord with the Consitution and founding documents, not in regard to or with any specific individual or individuals in mind. Recommendations are as follows.

ARTICLE I, The Representative Branch
Section 8 – Limits on the RA
No member of the RA may engage in what might be considered a conflict of interest such as accepting money or favors from individuals or special-interest groups.

ARTICLE II, The Executive
Section 3 – Public Oversight
The Chancellor must provide for regular and active citizen participation and public review of any decision concerning land use or the aesthetic or functional environment.

The FIRST recommendation adds two sentences to
SECTION III: MEMBERS

To be composed of six members whose aggregate expertise is composed of, but not limited to: terraforming, landscaping, building, texture creation and application. Such members are to be nominated: 1. Two citizens, by the CDS Artisans Guild, or by subsequent, approved, NGOs; 2. One citizen by the RA from its membership, each term and not subject to the rotation, 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.

>> Adding two simple sentences here are strongly recommended. 5. Only one sitting RA member will serve on the LUC at any given time. 6. The sitting Chancellor may not serve on the LUC.

There are no restrictions needed regarding the SC because the SC has no management responsibilities, advisory position or control regarding the LUC. So for purposes of membership in the LUC, members of the SC are in that respect the same as the rest of our citizenry.

SECOND recommendation

Revised CDSL 21-01 states that

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 is defined in a separate law by the RA.

The relevant separate law is CDSL 17-01 Citizen Notification Act. That law however does not specify any duration of time for public notice other than for the proposed budget and proposed laws and amendments.

It is the recommendation of the SC that the RA amend CDSL 17-01 to specify public notice duration and comment period for proposed changes to public land in accord with the revised CDSL 21-01 requirement to post notice.

Respectfully submitted,

Delia Lake, SC Dean
6 March 2021

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

Post by Almut Brunswick »

Dear fellow CDS citizens,

to recommence working on the reform of the CDS Land Use Commision by updating the laws related to, the SC recommends to amend the

CDSL 17-01 Citizen Notification Act

for defining the duration of the comment period in this CDS Discussion Forum. My proposal is:

[...}

6. Permanent changes to public land, outside of the seasonal tree and ground texture changes and official CDS temporary structures for events, must be Posted at least 14 days before the RA may vote to approve.

The following paragraphs would just move one number further, but remain unchanged. I regard the 14 days duration as more appropriate and realistic than just 7 days, because the typical interval between RA Meetings is (at least) two weeks, and so there would be enough time to discuss proposed changes and to collect arguments.

After the ratification of the amendment, the draft of the CDSL 21-01 Permanent Land-Use Commission Act

would then need to be changed accordingly:

4 Public Information and Discourse Policy
[...]
(B) The duration of comment periods in the CDS Forums is defined in § 6 CDSL 17-01.

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

Post by Rosie Gray »

There is already a time defined for a posting to the forum for the public to discuss. I refer to:

CDSL 34-02 Transparent Region Development Act, Enacted Feb. 13, 2021

Public spaces have to be developed in accordance with policy and changes need to be subject to public comment and review. The Intention of this law is to keep our citizens informed about changes in our regions and give them an opportunity to state their opinions. On the other hand the legislator does not want to add more bureaucracy to our community and make the work of the executive team unnecessarily difficult.

1) The Chancellor has the discretion to replace/upgrade/place individual trees, rocks, street-lights, and any other environmental decor and perform corrective and adaptive terraforming as they see fit without consultation, providing that they fit the theme and ambiance of the area and don’t interfere with any citizen’s enjoyment of their land.

2) Important structural elements to be changed: including public buildings, roads and pathways, forests and parks, large dramatic or important land formations must be posted to the forum for a period of no less than 10 days for public discussion. If there are objections to the plans then the work must be kept on hold until a concensus is found.

3) The Land Use Commission (LUC) reviews the regions on a regular basis and finds areas that need attention for upgrades or changes. If changes are small they may recommend them to the Chancellor directly. If important changes are being recommended (see item 2 above), then the LUC creates a proposal and presents it to the Chancellor and the Representative Assembly (RA) and posts to the forum for a minimum of 10 days for public comment. If the Chancellor agrees to the changes, the Chancellor assigns the work to a CDS Artisan Guild member, or a member of the Executive team.

The RA’s role is to ensure that the process is followed properly, to make comment on behalf of RA and citizen members and approve the proposals if there are no serious and reasonable objections.

You can read the Minutes here when this was passed: https://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?p=50145#p50145
You can also read the discussion that brought the RA to pass this bill in this same thread.

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

Post by Kyoko »

Thank you Rosie for reminding us that the notification period, as well as other matters, are handled in CDSL 34-02 Transparent Region Development Act, Enacted Feb. 13, 2021.

I would also like to draw attention to the next paragraph, which describes the role(s) of the Chancellor in the process.

3) The Land Use Commission (LUC) reviews the regions on a regular basis and finds areas that need attention for upgrades or changes. If changes are small they may recommend them to the Chancellor directly. If important changes are being recommended (see item 2 above), then the LUC creates a proposal and presents it to the Chancellor and the Representative Assembly (RA) and posts to the forum for a minimum of 10 days for public comment. If the Chancellor agrees to the changes, the Chancellor assigns the work to a CDS Artisan Guild member, or a member of the Executive team.

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

Post by Almut Brunswick »

Thank you to Rosie for pointing on the correct law regarding the notification and discussion period.

Almut Brunswick wrote: Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:22 am

4 Public Information and Discourse Policy
[...]
(B) The duration of comment periods in the CDS Forums is defined in § 2 CDSL 34-02.

Now we still have that question open how many seating RA members in the LUC would be tolerable. At some point it makes sense to limit the RA members. The most pragmatic reason is that an advisory committee like the LUC that shall serve the RA and the Chancellor with its expertise should not be dominated by the demand carrier. On the other hand, it is not likely that two RA members would completely dominate the LUC. The SC sees a conflict of interests when too many RA members are also members of the LUC. However, "a conflict of interest such as accepting money or favors from individuals or special-interest groups" is quite unlikely in the CDS, especially these days. Luckily, corruption is not really a burning problem in our community :D

Our issues are more to find enough dedicated citizens to be willing and able for serving (not only) in the LUC as volunteers. Limiting the RA members to strictly just one may cause us problems to achieve a full completement of LUC members. Therefore, I propose to vote down the recommendation 5. Only one sitting RA member will serve on the LUC at any given time. and to replace it by a more moderate and realistic regulation: 5. Not more than two sitting RA member shall serve on the LUC at any given time, and that only when not any other volunteering citizens can be appointed.

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

Post by Almut Brunswick »

Dear fellow CDS citizens,

to finalize the yet pending ratification of the act enacted but currently suspended because of two not yet resolved SC's recommendations by the RA at February 13, 2021, I hereby present the changed legal text with changes highlighted for ratification:

LAND USE COMMISSION ACT

1 Motivation and Purpose

(A) The Confederation of Democratic Simulators (CDS) strives to let citizens actively participate by 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 with respect to the CDS land use. This commission shall be called the Land Use Commission (LUC).

(C) The LUC is a public institution of the CDS, entrusted with public functions outlined in (B). It is directly supervised and controlled by the RA. 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 process orders on behalf of the legislative and executive branches of the CDS. It thus shall be responsive to requests from the RA and the Chancellor, 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 with respect to land use and to help integrate new buildings and infrastructure into 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 advise the RA on keeping the covenants up to date and recommend new, more effective technologies as they become available. The LUC may inspect public and private land to find problematic locations that need improvement and make those recommendations to the Chancellor and the RA.

(F) Another obligation of the LUC shall be to create and to maintain suitable documentation such as drawings, maps, spreadsheets and more for RA and citizen understanding of projects.

(G) Though the long-time experience has shown that the commissioned 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. Building contractors may be suggested by the LUC to the Chancellor who will contract the actual work to a qualified CDS Artisan Guild member, or a member of the Executive team or CDS citizen at large.

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 appointed by:
1. Two citizens from the CDS Artisan Guild,
2. One RA member appointed by the RA
3. One citizen from the Executive Branch appointed by the Chancellor
4. Two citizens in good standing appointed by the RA

To limit the influence of the RA on the LUC, only one RA member as defined in 2. should be regularly part of the LUC. Only when no other citizen is willing or able to take one of the other seats as defined in 1. and 4., respectively, one further RA member is permitted as LUC member to fill the vacancy, so that the total number of two RA members shall never be exceeded.


(C) The LUC shall elect the LUC Chairperson, the LUC Deputy Chairperson 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 CDS panel. Though meetings are public in general and citizens are welcome to attend at any time, only LUC members have the right to vote.

(E) It is the obligation of the LUC Chairperson or – in the case of absence of the LUC Chairperson – of the LUC Deputy Chairperson 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 considered advisable that the LUC Chairperson or the LUC Deputy Chairperson by way of a substitute attend the meetings of the Representative Assembly to give a report about the ongoing work of the LUC and answer questions. If both the LUC Chairperson and the LUC Deputy Chairperson are indisposed, the RA LUC Delegate shall fill this role. The RA LUC Delegate shall have the privilege to comment first on LUC related items. It is taken for granted that the Assembly Members read the LUC Minutes in preparation of the Meeting.

(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 legislative process, the new member(s) assuming the term of the member(s) replaced.

3 Meetings

(A) Ordinary meetings of the LUC 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 Chairperson and the LUC Deputy Chair have the right to invite LUC members to on-site inspections. For this kind of meeting, a public invitation is not obligatory, albeit a transcript must be kept and published.

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 is defined in § 2 CDSL 34-02.

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

IMPLEMENTING BY-LAWS TO CDSL 34-01 LAND-USE COMISSION ACT AS OF JAN. 2021

1st BY-LAW: MASTER PLAN
Based upon the Paragraphs 1(E) and (F) of CDSL 34-01 the Land Use Commission shall create, update and maintain a CDS master plan, under which future expansions in land area and themes shall occur. This plan shall be submitted to and approved by the RA, as well as being resubmitted to the RA for approval whenever modifications are deemed necessary by either the Commission or the RA.

2nd BY-LAW: NEW REGION PLANNING
Based upon the Paragraphs 1(E) and (F) of CDSL 34-01 the Land Use Commission shall, upon a request from the RA or the Chancellor, investigate the viability of new region purchase and present recommendations to both bodies. This will include, but is not limited to:

1. Consideration of type of region (full region, homestead, void, or other types that might become available in the future);
2. Consideration of placement of region;
3. Consideration of region theme;
4. A survey of Citizens;
5. Appropriate In-world meetings for discussion and public comments;.
6. Compilation and summarization of ideas and comments from citizens from surveys and official meetings, or future channels as they may be useful.
7. A consideration of finances, balance of public and private prims and any specific public spaces appropriate to the theme.
8. A draft of legislation for the acquisition of a new region or regions, including covenants and/or codes for said region, which shall regulate the manipulation or use of CDS’ three-dimensional, graphical environment, whether on Public or Private parcels.

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

Post by Lilith Ivory »

To limit the influence of the RA on the LUC, only one RA member as defined in 2. should be regularly part of the LUC. Only when no other citizen is willing or able to take one of the other seats as defined in 1. and 4., respectively, one further RA member is permitted as LUC member to fill the vacancy, so that the total number of two RA members shall never be exceeded.

While of course I don’t want to see a seat in the LUC empty I am still concerned about two RA members being sent to the LUC.
I am NOT concerned about the influence the RA has on the LUC. My concern is that, especially if the RA has only three Members, the two RA members who are sent to the LUC will be able to dominate all LUC decisions completely. - Not through their vote in the LUC but by having the majority in the RA.

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

Post by Han Held »

Lilith Ivory wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:39 pm

My concern is that, especially if the RA has only three Members, the two RA members who are sent to the LUC will be able to dominate all LUC decisions completely. - Not through their vote in the LUC but by having the majority in the RA.

I'm not sure if I'm following you or not. While we often only have four people at a meeting, there's still five people in the RA. Even if there is only four members of the RA, two people still wouldn't be a majority -so I don't see them as dominating?

In my experience it isn't numbers, but personalities that end up dominating anyway.

---
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But I believe I would only waste my breath" -Roxy Music "Remake, remodel"
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Almut Brunswick
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Re: Reform of the CDS Land Use Commission (LUC)

Post by Almut Brunswick »

Dear Lilith and Han,

while the CDS has - politely spoken - some general motivation issues in winning new citizens for any sort of public functions, we are still academically discussing arithmetic constellations which may influence the work of the LUC negatively. I do appreciate and respect Lilith's point, albeit the fact is that we neither see the RA nor the LUC gathering in full strength these days. The LUC has not really been active in respect on new projects in the last and the current term and it seems to be hard encouraging citizens playing an (even yet small) active role here or elsewhere - and once we finally could persuade somebody, he/she seems to look for (more or less) good reasons to quit before even having started.

This constitionally balanced constellation Chancellor - RA - LUC originates from times when we had much more active CDS citizens than nowadays. When we are talking about adapting structures to the actual situation we have faced for a couple of years now, it does not mean that we want to enforce revolutionary changes, but to keep the CDS operable.

Permitting two RA members in the LUC are bound on an exceptional condition, so that this shall be just a makeshift, not the desirable rule. That should be considered when objecting this paragraph.

And I totally agree with Han: It isn't numbers, but personalities that end up dominating anyway. Not everybody is personally so shy and reluctant like e. g. the RA Leader of this term :D No worries, I don't have any ambitions to join the LUC as a makeshift member this term, even when I sadly see that vacant seat in the LUC.

But really, it sucks to see the LUC that inactive because this hitherto backbone of creative activities in the CDS is notoriously shorthanded while potentially capable citizens are hindered to contribute to the LUC obligations just because they are also RA members. By the way, the RA has the right not to follow LUC advices and to ask annoying questions about projects anytime, regardless if one or more RA members are sitting in the LUC. And just to remind what the LUC Act defines: The LUC is an advisory body and not a "shadow-government" for building and land use matters that may pursue their own things while the RA is only allowed to nod in agreement. So despite all good reasons and arguments, please let us finally see the actual situation and find a pragmatic solution.

Thank you,

Almut

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