Discussion of Stratofox Charter in SBAY.ORG

This discussion is intended to capture and maintain the traditions of Stratofox for its charter under the SBAY.ORG By-Laws. This is not the actual charter, but just a discussion and note-taking area for it.

In some places this refers to SBAY.ORG's By-Laws, which can be found at http://corp.sbay.org/

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.

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