I started writing an e-mail yesterday, decided to finish it today, and discovered that I'm going to have to spend an hour updating the web page with everything that was said today.
I have two groups of things to say, one about the MH issues, and one about the decision in general.
There seemed to be a number of problems with Kris' original e-mail. He stated that Sameer and Brian would not be allowed to run; while Jon has the authority to arbitrarily prevent people from running, I fail to see why Sameer and Brian should not be allowed to run in this case.
As regards the domain status, this seems like a rather silly threat. The Green/Yellow/Red/Black standard is purely informal. The Camarilla Council can disband any domain at any time, based purely on its discretion. The color codes are a guideline, but nothing more. There's nothing in the Membership Handbook that supports the idea that domains should be punished because their officers haven't reported in a while, and there's nothing in the Membership Handbook the says a domain should be punished because it doesn't elect a DST. Given that it's a purely discretionary act on the part of the Camarilla Council, the color codes are pretty irrelevant (particularly since we won't enter Black until November anyway). The suggestion that there's something wrong with making an exception, in what is clearly a special case, to an *informal guideline* is absurd.
As for an interim DST, the Membership Handbook states that it has to be one of the former officer's assistants (p. 85). This doesn't require a referendum, so I appreciate Jon deferring to the domain's wishes on this.
On to comments about the situation. Fundamentally, I agree with Krotscheck and Anthony--I'd like to see people sit down and work this out fairly. I'd like to see this discussed openly and calmly. Indeed, as this domain is aware, I've said as much to the MST.
I was happy to work the matter out then, and I'm happy to work it out now. I think most of the domain feels the same way. But every time we've tried, we've been met with lies. Alex has lied about why he removed Jason. Jon professes to want to work with the domain, but lies about his powers when he doesn't want to do what we request.
Despite that, I'm still willing to cooperate. I'd still like to see this discussed openly, calmly, and honestly. And if Jon and Alex decide that they want to do so, I'm willing to put aside everything they've done so far and cooperate with them; I don't speak for anyone else, but most of the people I've talked to seem to feel the same way.
If Jon wants to hold an election which follows Camarilla rules, I'd be happy to participate, and to vote for the best candidate. However--and let's be clear about this--the election Jon wants to hold is in violation of the Camarilla Constitution. I, for one, refuse to support such a farce, and refuse to accept as legitimate anyone elected in such an election.
So, and this is directed mostly at Anthony and Krotscheck, how do you see us moving on in a cooperative way? Members of this domain--Rachael, me, and others--have done every thing we can think of and followed every procedure we can find to try to begin a constructive discussion. At every step, Camarilla officers have stonewalled, broken rules, and lied. Discussion isn't a one-sided thing, and a resolution can't just consist of accepting that Alex and Jon will break rules whenever they feel like it.
Henry Towsner
US2003112558