Second Pride - Finally A Full Board Again

I have been remiss in my bogging to keep you updated on Second Pride, if you desperately need someone to blame I suggest you speak to Mr. Tomais Ashdene.

However, there was a board meeting last Thursday (which I unfortunately could not attend due to timezone hassles) that presented quite a few interesting developments. If you should wish to read the complete and unadorned minutes please visit the Second Pride website, Meeting Minutes of SP Board Meeting Nov 20, 2013 (url).

Here are my personal reflections on what occurred.

The attending membership was informed that Damian Tar had chosen to resign as Chairperson of the Second Pride board. He was duly thanked for his services to Second Pride.

This news saddened me greatly. Damian has been treated abominably by parts of the gay community, both in the election process and afterwards. He has received countless vicious and unreasonable personal attacks ever since he declared his intention of running for Chair. Damian has not even been granted the common decencies, that are fundamental principles of every democratic society, the right of being considered innocent until proven guilty or the chance to be heard in his own defence. Instead he has been judged, condemned and hung out to dry by the mob in whispering campaigns on social forums with little or no mercy shown.

I have grown to like, respect and admire Damian, but I can also see that in the end the hostility and focus on his person took away his and the boards ability to perform the important work they are elected to do. With the added burden of his sickness it is understandable that he, for his own good and the good of Second Pride, finally decided to step down. Like the board, I wish Damian all the best for the future.

Petr Hasting-Vanbeeck was appointed to replace Damian as chairperson.

Petr is a hardworking, no-nonsense and charming man who is well equipped to handle this position. I trust him and his level headedness to assure that the board's focus now is turned to the business at hand.

Andy Long was appointed to the position of Secretary/Co-Chair. I welcome this appointment also, although I will implore the new secretary to in the future spell my last name correctly, i.e. McMillan with two capital M's.

Sutry Long was appointed to the vacant position of Security Director. I am certain that Sutry will be an asset in the boards continued work.

So we finally have a full board again, lets get some work done people!

IT Director Jagger Naughton informed that Baz Ceawlin had agreed to become his co-chair.

At the meeting Petr then commenced to announce the creation of an ad hoc committee to review the bylaws of Second Pride.The committee is to be co-chaired by board directors Karl Karlchek and Marge Beaumont and include "Doc Spad, Bock Mcmillan (sic!) and one more as yet unnamed committee member".

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is by Wikipedia defined as the "pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. (...) It is the feeling of joy or pleasure when one sees another fail or suffer misfortune." 

In Swedish we even have a cynical proverb that goes "schadenfreude is the only true joy".

The reason I thought of this word and the Swedish expression was that I got an offline message from SecondLife in my email today. The message was from a person that I have considered a friend for the last three years, but the message and the glee in it made me wonder if the friendship is perhaps only one-sided.

My friend tells me in his message that he "supposes that (I) know what (my) choice for Second Pride (chairperson) has done?" 

He is of course referring to the recent rumors circulating in the gay section of SecondLife, especially those of us in some way affiliated to Second Pride. The rumors make the following claims:

1. Three of the Folsom-sims have been shut down recently by Linden Lab due to unpaid tier. The three sims belonged to Damian Tar, the chairperson of Second Pride.

2. Damian Tar has been collecting tier from those living on the sims during the last months, but has still failed to in turn pay tier to Linden Lab.

3. Damian Tar, who has previously claimed to be sick in pneumonia, is now believed to be abroad and is therefor not available to comment or speak up for himself in this matter.

To my friend and everyone else, I would like to say the following. I am not going to pass judgement on Damian Tar without hearing what he has to say in his defence. Admittedly, the accusations are serious and I am not at all sure any explanations will clarify things enough to remove doubts concerning his suitability to remain as chairman of Second Pride. Nonetheless, I am anxiously waiting to hear what he may have to say in this matter, if and when he returns.

So as to alleviate any doubts on why I supported Damian Tar in the election of chairperson for Second Pride let me say this. Yes its true, Damian was by no means an ideal candidate. However, truth be told, given the choice between the two available candidates for chairperson in the election I had no other option but to support Damian Tar. I have had no reason to regret my choice in anyway whatsoever. Up until this latest development I also truly believe that Damian has handled himself as well as could be expected in the difficult circumstances.

Lazy Sunday

The laird rests while his guardian angels Butch and Guyke watch

Rest and recreation is essential for a man like The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls and sovereign ruler of The Commonwealth of Southern Enchantment with Outer Territories and UN Protectorates.

Noblesse oblige, so between his laden social calendar, his lairdly duties and his investigative blogging (or being a general busybody as some call it when he doesn't report as they would wish he reported) take a heavy toll on even a strong man.

Yesterday an opportunity for some rest opened up, as the board meeting of Second Pride was not unduly prolonged, although some unsuccessful attempts were made.

The present board of Second Pride (with the exception of Tylo Mabelion), from left
to right Jagger Naughton, Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck, Damian Tar, Gaius Tripsa,
Karl Kalchek, interim build director Jak Calcutt and Hotboy Lockjaw.

The board announced that it had received two applications for the vacant positions as Treasurer and Build Director. It was decided that the candidate statements would be posted on the Second Pride website for membership review and that the board would later vote on the issue at a public meeting on Wednesday night October 2, 2013, at 6PM SLT.

The candidate statements are already posted here: Second Pride; Board Candidate Statements (url).

Although I will not spoil your fun when going there to check out the applicants, I must say that I welcome them both. The two would, in my not so humble opinion, be a tremendous asset for the Second Pride Board in its future work.

An Interesting Second Pride Board Meeting

Last Sunday morning, at 8AM SLT, was the first meeting of the SP2014 board after their installation.

Damian Tar

The agenda for the meeting contained items that can be classified as "potential dynamite" for those of us who are versed in reading such dreary documents. Among other things there was a proposal for changes in the roles of the chairperson and the treasurer. 

The meeting room was packed with mostly interested members and one member who mainly focused his attention on my allegedly puny, insignificant and uninteresting derriere, the sight of which caused him to blackout with boredom according to a post on said members blog.

Although there was a risk of this meeting getting out of hand I am proud to report that it was throughout conducted in a respectful and orderly fashion, much thanks to the competent leadership of the Chair Damian Tar, who was obviously well prepared and conducted the meeting in a calm, kind and responsive manner.

The directors (from left to right) Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck, Karl Kalchek,
Paul Gracemount (Mr. G), Gaius Tripsa, Damian Tar and Hotboy Skytower.

The complete minutes from the meeting are posted on the Second Pride website, SP Board Meeting September 8, 2013. I will however give you my subjective summary here.

The meeting was shocked and astonished to be informed of certain aspects of what had been going on within the board since the election.

It became clear to the assembled members (from the proposed bylaw amendments and the additional information received during the meeting) that the Treasurer had certain trust-issues which had lead him to refuse to, in direct contravention of the bylaws, share the password to the Second Pride Avatar (the treasure chest of the organisation) with the Chair and Co-Chair and to refuse to submit monthly financial reports to the board. The Treasurer had thereby also refused access to the Second Pride Avatar by the Auditing Committee. 

It was also apparent that the Treasurer - for unclear reasons - was at odds with the practice that had been established by the previous boards and had refused to share ownership of the Second Pride Festival Group with the Chair.

After these alarming issues had been discussed extensively the board (or a majority of it) directed the Treasurer to comply with the bylaws and established practices and share passwords and ownership with other members of the board.

I was filled with a great relief and much pride when I left the meeting. Relief  for the competent way the Chair and the board as a whole had handled the situation and pride that the serious topics had been discussed in such a respectful and thoughtful way despite the potentially inflammatory issues.

---

After the board meeting I have learned that the Treasurer, has complied with or made arrangements for complying with all the boards decisions.

Following the board meeting Paul Gracemount (Mr. G), the Build Director, posted the following message on Facebook.

"To: Second Pride Membership and Board

This letter is to Inform the Second Pride membership and board that effective immediately, I resign the position of Second Pride Build Chair. I wish you good luck in the coming year but I do not have the time to put my best effort into Second Pride. If the Board would inform whomever they elect / select to fill the vacant position to contact me when they assume their duties to discuss the current Second Pride headquarters build.

Thank you all for your support in the past year,Mr Paul Gracemount"

I was extremely sad to read this notice as Mr. G is a levelheaded and charming man and an extremely talented builder who did a great job on the builds for this years festival and the beautiful new headquarters for Second Pride. He and his talents will be sorely missed.

The New SP2014 Board

The results of the elections of the SP2014 Board of directors were announced at midnight. The new board will consist of the following members.

Chairman:: Damien Tar

Dextrum Boucher - 70 votes (48 %)
Damien Tar - 76  (52,%)

Secretary/Co-Chair::  Petr Vanbeeck
Andy Long - 65 votes (46 %)
Petr Vanbeeck - 75 votes (54 %)

Treasurer:: SquirtN Wonder
SquirtN Wonder - 123 votes (unopposed)

Events Director:: Hotboy Skytower
Female avatar X - 70 votes (48 %)
Hotboy Skytower - 75 votes (52 %)

Community Relations Director:: Karl Kalchek
Male avatar Y - 46 votes (32 %)
Karl Kalchek - 68 votes (48 %)
Joshie Drew - 29  votes (20 %)

Building Director:: Mr Gracemount
Mr Gracemount - 121 (unopposed)

Security Director; Gaius Tripsa
Gaius Tripsa - 120  (unopposed)

Marketing Director::  Tylo Mabellon
Tylo Mabellon - 121 (unopposed)

Communications/IT Director:: Jaggy Naughton 

Jagger Naughton - 127 (unopposed)

My congratulations to the winners, it was a close race but you made it. I also wish to thank those candidates who also ran for making this election so interesting.

The new board will be installed on August 18, 2013, at 11AM SLT and have their first meeting as a board of Second Pride. The existing Board will step down at that time and any transfers will take place at that time.

Special note. The candidates mentioned above as "Female candidate X" and "Male candidate Y" have expressly asked me to never mention their names again on my blog (for Y that restriction also includes never showing his picture). As none of them won their race I see no need to mention them at this time.

Rumors...

As we are getting close to the end of the voting period the air is rife with rumors of what may or may not happens once the results are declared. The last days the tumors have mostly been along this line "if so-and-so doesn't get elected to this or that position (usually chairperson) X, Y and maybe even Z will resign from the board even if they have been elected"

I sure as hell hope that the rumors are untrue, because if that should indeed happen the persons resigning from the board will have proved themselves to be blatant and shameless liars and completely untrustworthy persons who didn't give a damn about Second Pride or the LGBT community in SecondLife at all, but were intent on making Second Pride their own little roadshow for a year.

I would especially like to urge the two running for chairperson of the board to see to it that anything along these lines doesn't happen, because I - and I believe a large part of the community - will hold them responsible.

Below I have listed how the candidates responded in part to my question about "a ticket".

Dextrum Boucher: "I will of course work with whoever is elected, this is a basic principle of democracy. Once the election is over, we pull together and put the will of the people to work."

Damian Tar: "No I have not formed an alliance of any sort formally or informally."

Andy Long:  "I have not even made recommendations to my friends as to who they should vote for, just that they should choose and vote for the person they feel is the best candidate. I feel like we should stand on our own merits and qualifications, and as such, i have tried to ally myself with all the candidates, and not just a select few."

Petr Vanbeeck: "I feel that I can work anyone who is elected. And will do my best to accomplish that."

SquirtN Wonder: "I am not part of a ticket"

Mz Marville: "...there was discussion about the formation of a ticket. However, a formal ticket was not utilized..."

Hotboy Lockjaw: "As far as i know there is no official or unofficial ticket. All we can do is support other members of the board if we are elected."

Garrett Ceriano: "... this list is not evidence that we don't believe the others are not excellent candidates. There are other candidates that I would enjoy working with. I know other candidates on the list would love to as well."

Karl Kalchek: "... if elected we would work together, and I meant it."

Joshie: "I have absolutely NOT formed any ticket nor have I reached out to create any type of “arrangement” with anyone else running in the Second Pride Board Elections."

Mr G: "I will work with whomever gets elected Bock. I shall try to do it productively – but until you actually work with someone that cannot be answered in a simple yes or no."

Gaius Tripsa: "I look forward to working with the new Board members, whoever the voters select, for the good of the LGBT community and the Second Pride Festival."

Tylo Mabellon:  "I’ll work with whoever is voted to the Board this year regardless of the outcome. I wish everyone well in the election!!"

Jaggy: "In no way, shape or form have I ever considered myself part of some alliance or ticket. The community should be THE alliance…every friggin’ segment of it"