Difference between revisions of "Consuls"

Revision as of 21:01, 16 July 2016

In Roman civic administration, two Consuls were elected to manage the affairs of the city. Each had broad powers, but every act was subject to veto by the other Consul. This was the model chosen for the administration of The Augustan Society, Inc., in 2007, and is the foundation for consular authority and limits. Obviously, they also serve at the pleasure of the Board under contract, and under Board direction through the President.

The logic for having two persons share what would normally be the duties of one executive director is that the job is felt to be larger than one person might manage (especially considering it is a volunteer position), and because the only viable candidates identified in 2007 were a couple, both of whom were long-time members having joined the Society in 1974. Their skills and competencies are largely complimentary, and while it would be inaccurate to describe their administration as being without conflict, these are in nearly all cases resolved between them without recourse to Board authority.

Consuls are permitted by contract to style themselves differently as circumstances permit, especially when dealing with those outside the Society who may not be familiar with the term "Consul". "Executive Director" is generally preferred for this, and may be employed by either Consul.

Contract

Consuls work under a Consular Contract, renewed (usually with revisions) for each calendar year. For a brief period of unrest, their contract was month-to-month, but that now is behind us.

Their contract includes a payment in lieu of rent for the space the Society occupies in their home. This is meant to compensate them for the space used by the Society within their home, and for the additional expenses of operating Society equipment. It is not meant as compensation for their time—they serve as volunteers.

Rent

The rent was set at $2 for 2007, doubling each year thereafter. In practice it has been increasing in a 1-2-5 sequence, and there were exceptions made in the year that rent was paid monthly, thus in the tenth year of the contract (2016) the rent was be $2000. It is expected that multiples of two will be applied in future.

The logic for the exponential payments is that at the time the first contract was signed, $2 was a significant fraction of Society reserves. The predictable increases were intended to give the Society both the incentive and the time needed to obtain a Headquarters outside the Consuls' home; not to impoverish or take over the Society (though should this continue, that would be the effect). Consuls will negotiate lower or no increases if the Board demonstrates concrete progress toward the goal of an independent Headquarters facility.

To encourage this, starting with the 2016 contract, payment will be split in half; the first half due in January, and the second half in July, giving Consuls the opportunity to waive half the fee if the Society — in their sole opinion — has made significant progress toward moving out. Should the rent be thus reduced, the following year's rent would be twice the reduced amount.

Official Duties

In general, the duty of the Consuls is to perform all work of the Society under the direction of the Board not assigned to others. This includes some specific roles:

1. Attendance (by one) at each meeting of the Board
2. Service as Editor-in-Chief of Society publications
3. Eagle Administrator for the Order of the Augustan Eagle in cooperation with the Eagle Council
4. Rose Administrator for the Noble Company of the Rose in cooperation with the Rose Council
5. SDLKJ Administrator for the Society of Descendants of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, in cooperation with the Dean of the SDLKJ
6. SDI Administrator for the Society of Descendants of Ireland in cooperation with the Dean of the SDI
7. SDS Administrator for the Society of Descendants of Scotland in cooperation with the Dean of the SDS
8. SDC Administrator for the Society of Descendants of the Conquest in cooperation with the Dean of the SDC
9. Librarian
10. Curator (until such time as the Museum collection is dispersed
11. Making themselves available to the Board and Membership as appropriate

That said, it is desirable that all duties that do not benefit from being performed at Headquarters be transferred to other volunteers. It would also be desirable to transfer some of the HQ duties once a public Headquarters has been obtained and local volunteers become known.

It has also become customary for one of the Consuls to deliver a "State of the Society" address at the Annual Membership Meeting. Often the Board will direct that copies be distributed to either the Board or the Membership. Not all such have been suitable for general publication.

Unofficial Duties

Consuls have a second set of obligations, ones that are but for this page unwritten, and as a result largely misunderstood.

Consuls, if only by virtue of their long tenure with the Society, including time spent with the Founder, must serve as the Society's organizational memory, especially in those many areas where the history is unwritten. In the performance of this duty, they not only answer questions, but pro-actively advise officers and councils of that history. This isn't to say that they have the authority to block change, only that they may require that it be done knowingly, and with full awareness of relevant Society history.

They also serve as that nasty little voice of conscience in the heads of officers, chairmen, and others. They will try to keep track of which tasks have been assigned or assumed, and gently (and privately) remind others of what yet needs to be done.

There is also a negative duty — to conduct ourselves in ways that prevent this from becoming the "Metcalf Society", just as it was earlier the "Hartwell Society". Focusing too much of the attention on any individual is hazardous for such a group; look only to the chaos that followed our Founder's decline and demise. The Society does not have the depth of management that permits us to allow anyone to become irreplaceable.

Consuls' duty in this regard is thus to strengthen the Board so that it can actually manage the affairs of the Society, to develop volunteer chairmen who can carry out the work, to develop vice-chairmen who can step up at need, and to deemphasize the need for our services until we can be replaced by a clerk or two.

This work has been in progress since 2007, and the prognosis is not good.

There is a "Plan B" in reserve that provides for us taking over the operations of the Society and making it quite deliberately the "Metcalf Society" until such time as the Board is ready to resume its duties ... or we utterly fail to sustain operations. This plan will be proposed only as a last resort, as Consuls think it the worst possible answer short of dissolving the Society.

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