[SCA-AE] lawsuit and changes

[Karen Kasper]

Hi Michael,

As I've said in other venues, those are good questions. Since you are a lawyer and I am not, I'm hoping you can answer MY questions:

Given that the SCA has already settled the lawsuit, and now has 10 days to comply, 

AND

Given that the Board has stated that, if pressed, they can (reluctantly) legally seize the assets of every SCA group,

What do we gain by opposing their requirement that the member groups pay?

I don't like it any more than you do. I agree that discussion is warranted regarding whether and what we can do to protect ourselves from such things going forward, possibly to include decentralizing the SCA's structure.

But what would we accomplish by saying "No" to the BoD's (politely phrased) demand at this point?

And as I also stated on other venues, I firmly believe that the members of the Board did the best they could with a bad situation. The many past Board members I've known have all been thoughtful and intelligent people who are long-time players at our cherished game. I do not for one moment believe that any of the current Board members would do anything they believed would damage the Society if there was another option. They might decide differently than I would in their place, but I expect that they had good and reasonable justifications for what they have done. They are not faceless bureaucrats or greedy CEOs, they are VOLUNTEERS who have worked hard in service to the SCA, just like many of us. And I say that as a somewhat disinterested party, since I do not know any of the current Board members personally.

And all that said, I agree that it would perhaps have been better if they had told us all months ago that this was coming, so the local groups and Kingdoms could have planned their expenditures and done fundraising. I don't know if there were contingencies that they hoped would nullify the payment, or if they engaged in wishful thinking, or if something changed along the way, or if they thought we would all panic, but I do wish we'd had more time to prepare. All that is, however, moot at this point.

Arianna of Wynthrope  


Pedantic post-script: "Corpora" is the document of rules that governs our game. This decision came from the Board of Directors, commonly known as the BoD. "Corpora" cannot make decisions or announce decrees. Just sayin'...


________________________________
>> From: Michael Greenstein <greenstein at earthlink.net>
>>
>>
>> Here is my characterization 
>>of essential questions for which we deserve satisfactory answers as a 
>>necessary prerequisite to compliance: