[Ponte Alto] Proper Procedures for Financial Commitments

[Max Nelson]

Master Tirloch:

"The Community of Fighters" is not a non-profit organization that is  
capable of officially doing anything with the school -- the funds, no  
matter their source, need to come from the Barony which is an official  
group of SCA, Inc.

The debate has *not* been about whether the allocation of Baronial  
funds and how much the Barony has to chip in per se (particularly  
given the unbelievable outpouring of financial willingness by so many  
individual Baronial members), but instead is solely focused on  
procedure and whether the Emergency Committee can decide to sign a one- 
month contract with the School -- regardless of the source of funds  
and if the Barony has to pay *anything*.

After the first month, continuation of the indoor site can be  
determined at a regular business meeting, but the whole discussion has  
centered around whether the Committee can decide that we can use the  
site in January, or if all our work is to grind to a halt for a month  
and our motivation and momentum with it.

Hope that helps clarify!

In Service,

Baron Max Von Halstern

On Dec 24, 2007, at 3:24 PM, Tirloch wrote:

> This is an interesting proposal and I am still very curious why  
> there is an emergency before us.
>
> From all the email traffic I have seen, it sounds like that the  
> community of fighters have raised funds to cover at least the month  
> of January 2008 for an indoor activities area.
>
> What if the community of fighters puts forward the donations for the  
> January term and then at the regular business meeting of the whole  
> Barony, funds can be allocated for the remainder of the winter  
> season.  Or am I missing something from this dialogue so far?
>
> Tirloch of Tallaght, OP, OL
>
> From: ponte-alto-bounces at atlantia.sca.org [mailto:ponte-alto-bounces at atlantia.sca.org 
> ] On Behalf Of thrid at aol.com
> Sent: Monday, December 24, 2007 10:28 AM
> To: ponte-alto at atlantia.sca.org
> Subject: Re: [Ponte Alto] Proper Procedures for Financial Commitments
>
> Excuse me, I incorrectly posted prior to e-mail before completing it.
>
> Your Excellency,
>
> As we have tried to lay out the proposal before, we are looking at 3  
> separate monthly contracts with the School.  Each contract, for one  
> month's use of the site, would be committing members of the Barony  
> to $520.  If after one month, the plan is a total failure, we can  
> decide not to renew it.  I don't believe a commitment from the  
> Barony of $520, especially when a large potion of it will be coming  
> from the individual resources of its members is beyond the scope of  
> the financial committee.
>
> >From what I can tell, based on the financial commitments of the  
> three of the people (including my self) who have posted there is  
> already a minimum of a $300 per month commitment to see the barony  
> does not take a lost.  In addition, as I have previously state, If  
> need be, I am willing to deposit $920 into barony's funds to ensure  
> the barony takes no financial loss.
>
> I apologize for the frantic pace of this discussion.  The fighters  
> at our practice have developed some momentum and do not look forward  
> to the lack of activity during the winter months.  In addition, many  
> of us at the practice felt that obtaining the site might be a good  
> opportunity for others in the Barony to make use of it.
>
> The issues which have been raised against obtaining the site have  
> been:
>
> 1) The amount of financial to risk the Barony, which I have  
> repeatedly tried to show, is not very much.
>
> 2) The fact this has not been raised at a Baronial meeting and run  
> through the normal channels.  Clearly this would have been the  
> preferred method of handling this proposal. I apologize this has not  
> been placed in front of the barony through this method. The  
> opportunity and the commitment from the fighting community came  
> after the last meeting and with no meeting in December this was the  
> only forum left to us. I believe however, this forum does give  
> members of the barony a chance for thoughtful consideration and  
> debate.  With a one month financial commitment from the barony being  
> so little, I believe the financial committee, with the general  
> consent of the barony, has it within its power to decide to help  
> fund the project. What we are looking for is the general consent of  
> the barony.
>
> 3) That the fighters "pledge" are not worth much to the barony and  
> the Barony it's self is taking all the risk.  The first time this  
> was raised, the Max explained this was a real financial commitment  
> on our part and not some hollow words.  The second time this concern  
> was brought up I found offensive to myself and to the fighting  
> community in general.
>
> When I first propose this idea a few days ago, I was expecting the  
> negative comments to be: This plan would not work; there is not  
> enough interest in the Barony; and you will not get enough people  
> willing to pay. For these were my concerns.
>
> I am surprised and happy have not seen any of these comments made by  
> the members.  In fact, my own concerns and doubts have been greatly  
> alleviated by the strong statements of both a personal and financial  
> commitment by members of this Barony.
>
> The Barony has a solid financial policy for which we all should be  
> proud of.  We have always made our decisions, as a group, based on a  
> sound argument with a good debate.
>
> It is the fighters desire to place this before the barony for  
> debate, at to work within the framework of the barony's financial  
> rules.  It is our belief that those financial rules do make room for  
> a decision to be made for a one month contract with Lemon Road  
> Elementary school.  It is our belief that we have reduced the  
> financial risk to the barony to an absolute minimum.
>
> The fighters would have liked to have funded this directly with the  
> school; however, the SCA requires that funding for events and  
> activities go through Baronial channels.
>
> What we ask, is that through this forum, the Barony give discussion  
> to the merits of this proposal. And finally that the financial  
> committee use the merits and support (or lack of) for this proposal  
> to decide as to whether it will approve funding for this activity  
> (most of which will come directly from the fighters themselves).
>
> Thomas of Calais
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Capozello <afpopa at cox.net>
> To: 'The Barony of Ponte Alto' <ponte-alto at atlantia.sca.org>
> Sent: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 6:05 am
> Subject: [Ponte Alto] Proper Procedures for Financial Commitments
> While We do think this is a very worthy idea, the Barony has  
> policies and procedures in place to deal with this sort of situation  
> (which our Baronial Exchequer has already explained).  Trying to  
> force this through the Emergency Financial Committee is *not* the  
> proper way to do this.
>
> What you are seeking to do is akin to running an event - i.e.  
> expecting the Barony to be financially responsible for a obtaining a  
> site, and expecting to be reimbursed by collection of a "site fee".   
> Your original proposal would have the Barony aquiring a financial  
> liability of over $1,500.  This is more than the budget for most  
> events we have run.  Every event we run, from its initial conception  
> onward, has to be approved by the Barony, not just the Emergency  
> Financial Committee.  Please do bring your proposal to the Baronial  
> business meeting so that it can be discussed and dealt with in the  
> proper forum.
>
> Yours in Service,
>
> Marcellus Capoziello da Napoli and Belphoebe de Givet
> Baron and Baroness of Ponte Alto
>
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