I haven't decided if I have another term in me right now. I have more I'd like to see done: reviving the SlowNews, getting our laws codified and standardized, and documenting more of our gameside history, and possibly pushing for an expansion and reinvention of the LC itself... but alas LC duties already eat into those other activities I'd like to keep up on. My knowhere national roleplay has withered and I yearn to pick that up again. My poor Prime Minister has been languishing a coma for over 6 months now and I think it's time she either made a fantastic recovery, or just died... either way, there are stories to tell there and I've neglected them.

The Local Council is essentially the gameside equivalent of the assembly, and so in theory it is the lower house in the TSP government structure. The Charter sets out 4 broad directives:

• represent the interests of all players in the region,

• moderate the Regional Message Board,

• encourage activity on the gameside, and

• administrate itself on issues unique to the in-game community.

To me, in practice, the LC operates more like a Neighborhood Association in a small city. It does what it can to make the neighborhood better by running a crime watch program, a welcome wagon, maybe a small community library, promotes community events, and meets to set the rules on how often people should mow their lawns and how big their front deck can be. The LC is given a lot of power legally that it has never really exercised, given that it in theory it is an equivalent to the forumside assembly. Given that it's always been three people it hasn't needed to form the same kind of support structures that the forumside Assembly has developed over the years.

By design there just broad directions in the Charter, leaving a lot of the day to day up to each Local Council to determine it's own goals and priorities. I would note that that the Charter stipulates at least three Local Councilors and requires that at least one be appointed a Regional Officer, which means we could, as gameside, alter the LC within the charters broad directives. But more on that later.

I would think the job right now is to foster and promote the gameside community. We do this by being present and active, running polls, being helpful to new nations, knowing where to direct people to accurate information, safeguarding the RMB by watching out for inappropriate content, and making decisions in the best interest of the region. And yes, sometimes we have to put a post-it up over an RMB post now and then, meaning people don't have to see it unless they choose to lift the little post-it note.

So essentially the job of being a LCer is that of a cheerleader, with a stack of post-its. And now I'm thinking of Aumeltopia and Auphelia as two rival cheerleaders, and makes me smile. A lot. I'm sure they are both very cute when they shake their pompoms.

It's a mixture. Everything starts with one Local Councilor making a suggestions or asking to discuss a topic. We always strive for unanimity, and have some excellent collegial discussion on discord or telegrams, but ultimately policies can be adopted by a majority. We had had some serious and some fun meetings. Someday I'll have to see if I can find the LC meeting conducted only by Meme Posts.

So when we've revised the RMB guidelines we have always started off with what do we currently have, and opened up each section for input from each of the three of us. If no one wants changes then we close off that section and debate the sections where an LCer wants changes, section by section. We debate and strive for unanimity, but yes, if it comes down to a point where we can't have agreement, then a majority vote proceeds on that section. When two LCers realize they just can't agree on a section, they ask the third for a vote. Once it's done we close that and continue on to the next section. I think we've been a very cooperative Council.

When we developed the new LC election act I wrote an entire Act as an initial "starting point" proposal and then we spit balled idea's in a discord chat, and I would suggest language to incorporate those ideas, without votes at that point, just making a really really big document, and then we started reading through what we had, trimming, combining and amending as we went. When the High Court removed Concrete Slab from Council over his illegal suppression of posts during his prior term there was a section where Auphelia and I were not able to agree and sought the input of the RMB to help us end the deadlock. We did this via a non-binding regional poll.

Auphelia and I jointly asked for the removal of Concrete Slab's Regional Officer powers, leaving him voting in council but without Officer powers, which we did by a two person joint proposal to Cabinet, without him. I think this process could be more formalized into a gameside law setting out recalls and removal from office, but the current legal structures simply required a majority. It was a pretty new situation, but I think it cold be used when there are nations that go "dormant" during their LC term, which has been common.

When Aumeltopia joined the LC we started using Goggle docs in addition to Discord and Telegrams, which made everything a lot easier and I recommend whole heartedly that all future LC's make use of this, just to keep on top of everything.

No, I don't think that is the case. The LC is elected to debate and make exactly these decisions. No one wants an RMB where every decision is debated ad naseum in the RMB.

I do agree that there may be that perception, and that has been stoked and exploited by some residents, and that this perception could be addressed by expanding the Local Council to say, 7 or 9 people, to include more voices in decisions, and that the Local Council selects three of it's own number to serve essentially as an "LC cabinet" to hold the Regional Officer Powers, but that the decision and debates include more people. The LC could also then rotate office positions amoungst this body to handle vacations or times when people need to deal with real life. However, I can't imagine the nightmare of an LC election selecting 9 people that would take weeks to complete. I would leave such legal reforms to future Local Councils and the full RMB to debate.

I think having regularly scheduled public meetings on TSP Discord where citizens could present proposals directly to the LC for votes would also help with transparency within the Council and give nations an ongoing voice in the region.

OMG Legal Battles! Defending the RMB guidelines in court wasn't completely unexpected, given that NHC has challenged every new LC within the first month of their election for the past what, year and a half? Him making a court complaint within 18 hours challenging the very validity of the guidelines itself meant I spent many, many more hours writing High Court Briefs than I would have liked. After a well documented series of RMB outbursts, we ultimately had to exercise our authority to ask that he receive a short ban to cool off. When I felt his constant attacks crossed the line from political disagreement to defamation I filed my own complaint, and while it was ultimately dismissed I feel he got the point. So I guess the secret is you need to brush up on the High Court Archives.

Oh you said lighter note... um... yeah the amount of telegrams can really get out of hand. I finally broke down and just paid for a post-master general upgrade to my account.

The LC is a representive body, so the LC should reflect the wishes of the region. I think it is the job of every WA nation in the region to question candidates carefully about exactly what they want to do if elected. So yes the council should base laws around what the populace wants, however, as the laws are currently written, the LC could agree jointly to become bullies, subject to the checks and balances of the Delegate, CRS, and judicial oversight. If people aren't careful they could end up with a many tentacled tyrant in office, with only a quiet little penguin and raccoon to defend them! Oh my goodness, could you imagine??? Thankfully, the LC isn't empowered to do anything that could permanently harm the region.

However, I would hate to get to the point that we expect a three day regional poll every time we want to suppress a spammer, or ask the CRS or delegate to boot a troll. Maybe one day the region will elect a slate of people that will operate that way, though I would miss the silly polls and such if all the region did was debate the day to day workings of the region.

I'm proud we have all reached the end of the term without being burnt out or lapsing into dormancy. Specificy I'm most proud of The LC Election Act reform, which curtails some of the powers of the LC and requires in game polls to change.

What do I wish I had done differently? Honestly, I wish I had pushed the CRS for a permanent ban on NHC: In my opinion he thrives on stirring up toxic drama and we simply don't need it. At the time felt a five day ban was reasonable, but on reflection I wish I had pushed for an outright ban. While I appreciate that he has cooled his heels a bit, I just wish I had done more to closed the door on that petty drama permanently. _{Well, I guess if I do run again I won't get that vote.}

This question isn't for me, so I'll just hang out over here with my crayons and pebble bedazzler.

I think all of us ran for LC because we wanted to make the region better, and were able to support each other even when we disagreed with each other. I love my council mates and all of TSP, and think that part of our greatness as a region is that we are always changing and evolving. Always Embrace the Entropy.

When I returned last fall after a 6 month hiatius I found TSP had become a magical floofland of animal based roleplay so I adapted. I didn't love it but I got used to it and developed my own penguin persona. I could do without the star struck love fest, but it's fine right now. Of course, I'm looking at you Auphelia and Drystar.

I love and miss realistic, ongoing nation based roleplay (I'm gonna miss Midand a lot in that regard), and would love to see national roleplay's revived, in Knowhere ideally so it doesn't annoy the folks who aren't interested.

If I could wave a wand and just change something unilaterally then TSP Radio would reflect the lyrics of Madonna's Music/Disco Inferno Mashup from the groundbreaking Confession Tour of 2006:

"Alright boys and girls
It's time to get the dance shoes on
You're listening to K.U.N.T.
It's all Madonna, all the time"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rNs-2IjP7Y

32 years of back cataloge! I bet we could even get Drystar dancing!

Well the prior LC had basicly thrown in the towel on trying to moderate anything on the RMB, other than Concrete Slab, who was re-elected, along with both Auphelia and I who both included increasing moderation of the RMB in our campaigns. I really didn't feel strongly one way or the other on double posting but Auphelia was passionate about it and so I relented. Now I think it's a godsend since it means there are less emotional outbusts since folks need to take a moment when posting multiple replies and hopefully it's ultimately lead to a less drama filled RMB, even though the adjustment period was jarring for some people. We went from almost zero suppressions to maybe 1% of posts being subject to having a post-it note placed on top of them in order to be seen. Clearly, some folks felt this was over the top... but you can't please everyone.

What could I have done differently? I suppose I should have pushed to ban NHC permanently when he crossed the lines repeatedly and willfully in what I felt was clearly an attempt to bait emotional responses from the LC. I felt the personal attacks and constant sniping made it next to impossible to carry on an actual conversation within the region.

Patience.
Maturity.
Fun.
Active.
Openness.

Yes it's been a fantastic tool I would love to see future LC's continue to make use of. I really think we should open it up access to it by the Delegate, and possibly the CRS members as well.

Any player that previously served in the LC would be great.

As far as new faces go Lily Pad Nation, Zess and Hanguk-Nippon would be great LCer's because of their great patience and kindness, especially to new nations. You (Poppy) and Kerlodia would bring a lot of energy and fun to the region, and stay with me here... NHC: If he's gonna snipe and complain about everything then he might as well have a turn putting in the work. (Also, I did like his RMB triva games and the RMB news dispatches.) Drystar and North Prarie would bring a lot to the LC. And of course, once the ban is served, I really felt Concrete Slab was good and served the region well, and had learned his lesson and should be re-elected at somepoint down the road.

There's not really one secret sauce to success on the LC... the more we all put into the region the better we become! I say we remain willing to experiment and try new things... if they work, well great, and if they don't work then we move on and try something else.

Maybe it's time for an All Penguin LC? I say it's worth a try, what's the worst that could happen? PenguinPies, Antarctic Empires, are you busy the next 4 months?

Know why you are running, is there something you want to accomplish, or is this a vanity run?

Always listen and seek common ground.

Keep Calm and Embrace the Entropy.

When all else fails, log off the Forums and Discord and just focus on the RMB. Gameside might be a crowded mass of people but sometimes the torch wielding mob can be right.

Take a break and sleep now and then.