Stratofox Charter
This is the Stratofox Charter within the South Bay Community Network, Inc.
This text was approved as follows:
- no objections by Stratofox members on July 16-23, 2006
- 2/3 vote of the corporation's Board of Directors on July 25, 2006
Table of Contents
Purpose
The Stratofox Aerospace Tracking & Recovery Team ("Stratofox") is
an amateur technical, educational and recreational association of
aerospace enthusiasts primarily from California. The organization
promotes technical expertise in tracking high-altitude balloons and
rockets, including space launches. The organization seeks invitations
for its members to participate in launch events through maintenance of
competence and a good reputation in search and recovery operations, and
in safety.
Stratofox is a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the South Bay Community
Network, Inc., a California non-profit corporation, also known as
SBAY.ORG or SBAY. In this charter it will be called "the corporation."
Stratofox is organized under Article 12 of the corporation's By-Laws.
Definitions
A "simple majority vote" is a vote where the minimum number to pass
must be greater than a fraction of the total votes that were cast. If
no other fraction or percentage is specified then the vote must be
greater than 1/2 to pass.
An "absolute majority vote" is a vote there the minimum number to pass
must be greater than a fraction of the total eligible voters. If no
other fraction or percentage is specified then the vote must be greater
than 2/3 to pass.
Elected Officers
The only elected position in Stratofox is the Coordinator.
The Coordinator is elected for one-year terms each calendar year.
The Coordinator shall supervise and manage affairs of Stratofox. All
activities which represent the organization externally shall be under
the authority of the Coordinator. The Coordinator may appoint, delegate
or remove volunteers in any position in the organization.
The Coordinator shall have responsibility to ensure that Stratofox
complies with (in order from highest to lowest precedence)
- applicable federal, state and local laws
- the corporation's By-Laws
- Stratofox's charter (this document)
- the corporation's rules and policies
- Stratofox rules and policies
The Coordinator shall have authority to make any decisions necessary to
implement this requirement.
SIG Coordinator
The Stratofox Coordinator shall serve as the SIG Coordinator according
to the corporation's By-Laws, and represent Stratofox to the
corporation.
Qualifications of Stratofox officers
The Coordinator shall be a member in good standing of the corporation.
The Coordinator shall be a member in good standing of the Stratofox Core Team.
The minimum age of the Coordinator shall be 21 years.
Procedures for election and removal Stratofox officers
At the beginning of each calendar year, or in any event where the
Coordinator position becomes vacant, the members of the Stratofox Core
Team shall elect one of the Stratofox Core Team members as the
Stratofox Coordinator. If there is only one unopposed candidate, he or
she becomes the Coordinator. If there is more than one candidate, an
election by electronic voting shall be performed.
The previous year's Stratofox Coordinator shall be responsible to
implement the selection process for the new calendar year's Stratofox
Coordinator. This task may be delegated to one or more Stratofox Core
Team members. No candidate shall be involved in the nomination or
election process.
In the event of a vacancy in the Coordinator position, the Stratofox
Core Team shall select a new Coordinator. If the Stratofox Core Team
fails to select a new Coordinator within 5 days of the vacancy, the
President of the corporation shall be authorized to appoint a qualified
Stratofox Core Team member as interim Coordinator to serve until the
Stratofox Core Team selects a Coordinator to serve for the remainder of
the calendar year.
The electronic voting system to be used for election and removal of
Stratofox officers shall meet the same requirements as in the
corporation's By-Laws in Article 5.
Any Stratofox officer or volunteer may be removed from their post by
the corporation's Board of Directors.
E-mail lists
Stratofox shall maintain e-mail lists for discussion. New e-mail lists
may be created with the approval of the Stratofox Coordinator.
Stratofox shall adhere to the corporation's e-mail list policies
including e-mail etiquette. Stratofox may make its own policies
according to the Policies and Rules section below.
Voting on issues put before the members
When a decision on an issue is put before the entire Stratofox Core
Team, voting may take place by e-mail with the following requirements.
This procedure is called a "team e-mail vote".
- Voting shall take place for a minimum period of 24 hours.
- Only votes e-mailed to the entire Stratofox Team will be counted.
Votes shall be known to the entire team but otherwise kept private.
The Stratofox Team's private mail list is recommended. Votes sent to
an incorrect destination may be re-sent by the voter or forwarded with
the voter's permission to the team.
- All Stratofox Core Team members in good standing shall be eligible
to vote.
- Votes use the style from the BSD and Apache open source projects:
- "+1" is a positive vote
- "0" is an abstention
- "-1" is a veto, which requires an explanation and follow-up
discussion, in which the vote may be changed if reasons for the
objection or question are resolved. If the veto occurs with less than
6 hours remaining in the vote, then the discussion period may continue
until 6 hours after the veto. Any period after the end of the 24 hours
is called the "extended voting period".
- Members may change their votes during the discussion period. A
veto during an extended voting period shall not cause an additional
extension.
- A vote on an issue fails if there are any unresolved vetos at the
end of the voting period and extended discussion period.
- Votes on any issue require a minimum of 3 positive votes in order to pass.
Stratofox Leadership Team
All former Stratofox Coordinators and Assistant Coordinators who are
current Stratofox Core Team members in good standing shall be invited
at the beginning of a new Stratofox Coordinator's term to serve on the
Stratofox Leadership Team. The primary role of the Leadership Team is
to act as advisors to the Stratofox Coordinator. The Stratofox
Coordinator shall serve as the chair of the Leadership Team. All
Assistant Coordinators appointed by the Coordinator shall serve as
members of the Leadership Team.
When the Stratofox Leadership Team must vote on a matter, the vote may
take place at a meeting or by any reliable means of distributing the
topic of the vote to all of the Stratofox Leadership Team and
collecting enough votes from the Stratofox Leadership Team.
Members of the corporation's Board of Directors may be invited to the
Leadership Team by the Coordinator.
Policies and Rules
A proposal for a new policy may be made by any Stratofox Core Team
member. A draft of the policy shall be posted to the Stratofox Core
Team's mail list for a minimum of 72 hours of review, unless cancelled
by its author.
Stratofox may adopt proposed policies or remove existing policies of
the organization by either of two methods:
- a simple majority vote of the Stratofox Leadership Team, or
- a team e-mail vote of the Stratofox Core Team.
Stratofox policies may be removed by the corporation's Board of Directors.
In case of conflict, the corporation's by-laws, the corporation's
policies, US Federal law, and laws of applicable state and local
governments take precedence over any Stratofox policy. A policy or
proposed policy found by the Stratofox Leadership Team or the
corporation to be in violation shall be cancelled and returned to its
author with recommendations as a new proposal.
Qualifications for membership in Stratofox
There are no dues for membership.
The minimum age for membership is 16 years. Under 18 years requires
parental permission.
Stratofox members are not required to be members of the corporation.
Stratofox shall encourage its members to support the corporation by
joining.
Stratofox is a private club - membership is by invitation only, subject
to approval and qualifications.
Any member of the Stratofox Core Team in good standing may nominate an
individual whom he or she believes to be competent for Stratofox
membership. Under either of two conditions, a nominee may advance to
the status of a Stratofox invitee:
- approval by a simple majority of the leadership team after review
of the nominee's qualifications, or
- approval by the Stratofox Core Team by a team e-mail vote.
The Leadership Team may, at their option, ask the Stratofox Core Team
members about the nominee's trustworthiness, ability to function in a
group and ability to get along with other Core Team members. The
Leadership Team has the responsibility to use this authority to sustain
a cohesive Core Team. Nominees who are approved will be added to the
pool of potential new members called the Stratofox Invitees.
The Stratofox Invitees may be given some details about upcoming
Stratofox activities that they may participate in. Stratofox Invitees
must participate in a Stratofox event in order to qualify for being
voted into the Core Team.
The Leadership Team may grant an Invitee a provisional membership in
the Core Team, if necessary to include them in the planning process due
to a role they have volunteered for, or due to use of their property
such as a vehicle or aircraft. A provisional membership is temporary -
if no sooner expiration date is set then a temporary membership expires
at the end of the calendar year if the individual has not participated
in a Stratofox event and been voted onto the Core Team. Expiration of
a provisional membership returns the individual to Invitee status.
Stratofox Invitee status does not expire as long as the individual
remains in good standing with Stratofox. It expires immediately if the
individual fails to maintain good standing. It may also be ended at
the option of the individual.
After an Invitee or provisional Core Team member participates in a
Stratofox event, the Stratofox Core Team shall hold a team e-mail vote
on whether to admit the individual to the Stratofox Core Team. The
discussion must consider at least the following criteria:
- How well did the individual help the team to achieve its goals for
the event?
- How well did the individual do the part for which they had
volunteered in the event?
- How well did the individual get along with other team members?
If the vote passes, the individual shall be added as a member of the
Stratofox Core Team.
Handling of sensitive information
Stratofox may at times be entrusted with information that requires
restricted access. Examples of "sensitive information" include but are
not limited to
- a partner or client organization chooses to keep information
private, whether for a rocket or balloon launch
- communications resources
- personally private information of members and participants
- other purposes to which Stratofox is invited to participate.
All dissemination and discussion of sensitive information within the
organization shall include "handling instructions" whenever possible
regarding restrictions and proper usage of the information. These
instructions may be updated by the owner or source of the information
at any time. Handling instructions may include but shall not be
limited to
- "need to know" - only Stratofox Core Team members with a need to know
- "team only" - only Stratofox Core Team members
- "team and invitees" - only Stratofox Core Team members and
Stratofox Invitees
- "project participants" - only invidividuals who have volunteered
for a project or event, and the Stratofox Leadership team
Stratofox Core Team members, Invitees and other Stratofox participants
shall provide handling instructions along with any sensitive
information, and shall be held responsible to follow the handling
instructions.
Anyone representing Stratofox shall not accept on behalf of the
organization any restrictions which are illegal, unreasonable or would
violate the privacy of Stratofox participants.
Removal or suspension of Stratofox Members for misconduct
Any Core Team member or Invitee who is found by vote of the Leadership
Team to have committed behavior contrary to the purpose of Stratofox or
which endangers the reputation of the organization, including but not
limited to inappropriate disclosure of sensitive information entrusted
to Stratofox, shall be subject to disciplinary action. If the
individual is on the Leadership Team, the decision shall be made by the
remainder of the Leadership Team. If the individual is an Invitee, he
or she shall be expelled from Stratofox. If the individual is a Core
Team member, the Leadership Team shall decide whether the degree of the
offense warrants an apology and temporary suspension of some or all
membership privileges, or in the most severe circumstances expulsion
from Stratofox. Expulsion of a Core Team member requires a 2/3 vote of
the Leadership Team - all others require a simple majority vote.
A Core Team member shall not be considered on good standing while a
suspension of any membership privileges is in effect.
Decision-making procedures and conflict resolution
Decision-making procedures of Article 6 of the corporation's By-Laws
shall also govern decisions within Stratofox. It shall be the
responsibility of the Coordinator to ensure that these procedures are
followed and to perform or delegate the role of conflict resolution
arbitration when necessary.
Amendments to the Stratofox Charter
This document may be amended when a proposed amendment is announced to
the Stratofox Core Team members and approved by either of the following:
- A 2/3 simple majority vote of the Stratofox Core Team members and
approval by a simple majority vote of the corporation's Board of
Directors.
- A 2/3 absolute majority vote of the corporation's Board of Directors.
