Consuls

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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 who 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 (unless that office is created, in which case such use would be confusing and inappropriate).


Contract

Consuls work under the Consuls' 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.

The 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 for space in the Consuls' home was set at $2 for 2007, doubling each year thereafter. In practice it increased in a 1-2-5 sequence for the first few years, 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 $2000. It is expected that multiples of two will be more strictly 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 the Board fail to obtain a Headquarters, that would soon be the effect).

Consuls have expressed a willingness to 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 in the first six months. Should the rent be thus reduced, the following year's rent would be twice the reduced amount. Thus continuous progress would result in freezing the rent.

Another proposal that has been offered would cap the rent at the annual revenue of the Investment Fund, provided that the Society deposit ten percent (10%) of gross revenues into the Investment Fund. This proposal won't be worthy of consideration until 2019, at which point it would offer measurable savings to the Society.

With the upcoming termination of the office of Consul, contracts will still need to be executed annually for Headquarters space in the Metcalfs' home. They have expressed the intent to continue the fee schedule described above, including reductions in the event of significant progress by the Board toward moving out.


Official Duties

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

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 their 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 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. The 2017 address will be the last of these.


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, serve as the Society's institutional 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 at the chaos that followed our Founder's decline and demise. The Society does not have the luxury of allowing 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.

These unofficial duties will not be performed after the end of 2017, and some are being discontinued or deemphasized already.


Alternative

There is a "Plan B" in reserve that provides for the Board to appoint a true Executive Director to assume all power and authority of the Board save his hiring, compensation, and amendment of the By-Laws. A draft of an implementing By-Law has been drafted, and would require member approval. The challenge here would be to find a suitable candidate, as such a role would move Consuls in the direction opposite of their desires. Considering they take some of the blame for the Society's recent decline, they suggest that a different candidate would likely be preferable.

Consuls feel that this plan, especially if one of them is to be named Executive Director, is the worst possible answer short of dissolving the Society.

Termination

It has been determined that the office of Consuls will be eliminated. This motivated by the failure of this mixed-authority form of Society management, and by the emotional exhaustion of the incumbents. Conversion of the Society to one without Consuls has begun, and will be completed by the end of 2017.

The Metcalfs intend to continue in the elected and appointed offices they now hold, generally shown above as Official Duties, but will surrender their obligation to serve as the motivating force for the Society and other activities shown above as Unofficial Duties. It will thus be up to the Board, Sub-Group councils, and especially the President to see that things continue to happen.

The Metcalfs will continue to offer their services as institutional memory on request, but will try to resist the temptation to speak up without invitation. The President and others who appoint officers will be expected to do their own follow-up.

The annual contracts will continue, but as a rental agreement only, and with the same pricing as described above.


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