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Date: Thu, 24 Feb 94 01:09:29 EST
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Subject: From TRM Gregory, King of the East, RE: Estrella

[The following was sent to me to distribute to on-line forums from 
 Sir Gregor von Heisler (Gregory Heist),  King of the East.  Permission to
 spread this on the various channels of communication is granted so long as 
 you forward the complete letter. Don Danulf Donaldson, King's Champion of 
 Fence]

Unto the People of the Known world does Gregor von Heisler, King of
the East, send greetings.

	This is a message to explain what transpired at the Royalty meeting 
at Estrella.  By now many of you have heard of our request of the directors 
for the board to immediately expand to 13 members.  There is to be one from 
each kingdom,  chosen by the kingdom,  financed by that kingdom,  and 
responsible to that kingdom.  The current directors would be allowed to 
remain and they would represent the kingdom in which they currently reside. 
We have demanded a response from the board by March 21 at which point if 
our request is refused we will consider our next move. 

	Let me explain how we came to this decision.  Many of us had been 
in touch with each other over the past month and knew where each other 
stood.  As you can imagine,  even though we all wanted action,  it was 
difficult to completely agree on exactly what to do in the short time we 
all could meet together.  Many of us had hundreds of letters from our 
populace that enabled us to act with some degree of confidence that we 
represented the wishes of our people.  Several kingdoms had over a thousand 
signatures from their populace backing them up.  The things that we could 
all agree on was that we needed better representation and more 
accountability.  What 11 out of the 13 Monarchs could agree on was that 
their kingdoms wanted immediate action.   The other two felt they needed to 
confer with their kingdoms more and withheld their decisions.  We felt that 
the directors, and the people of the known world, had to be assured that we 
are going to stick together and that we will follow this through to it's 
conclusion.  We discussed the importance of continuity,  and we are happy 
to report that our heirs are all behind us in these matters,  and these 
issues will not die out as some of our reigns end.  The representative 
Board that we have asked for will gain us immediate representation and 
accountability.  It is not necessarily the final product that we all 
desire.  We are not so egotistical as to think that we can solve all the 
problems in the SCA after a four hour meeting even with all the research 
and information that we had prepared for this meeting.  We do,  however,  
feel that a representative Board can better facilitate our evolution to our 
final form  (whatever that may be)  far better than the board in its 
current composition that, as it stands, has no checks and balances.  In 
other words,  this is potentially an intermediate step that will take the 
Society in the direction that it wants to go,  with the financial stability 
that it requires.  At the very least it is a warning shot across the 
corporate bow.  We will not give up,  we will not back down.  We are 
willing to discuss alternatives that give us the representation and 
accountability we need.  The next step is theirs,  and we patiently wait 
their response.
	
	  One idea that was discussed seriously is a move toward 
decentralization.  There are expenses of our organization that make much 
more sense to implement on a kingdom level,  there are expenses that make 
more sense to administrate on a corporate level.  We feel that the entire 
structure needs to be reexamined over time and the appropriate 
restructuring implemented.  There are advantages to incorporating as 
kingdoms within an SCA association that should be examined and discussed.  
Several of our cousins are convinced that that is the way to go.  One thing 
we could all agree to is that the road toward "saving the SCA"  is a long 
one that will take a lot of hard work to accomplish,  and that the boards 
current "solution" is not the way to go.

	We recieved many letters calling for impeachment.  Impeachment is a 
tool that can be used later if necessary.  We felt it better to offer the 
directers a chance to work with us and come up with a solution,  rather 
than put them on the defensive immediately.  Of course,  as many of you 
know,  the impeachment procedings as they stand are hollow and impotent 
other than as a way to voice our displeasure.  Even if we all vote for 
impeachment,  actual removal depends on a vote by the directors,  and since 
there is no conflict of interest clause in the by-laws,  they can vote on 
their own removal.  They do,  however,  have to respond to a call for 
impeachment so it does have some usefulness.   

	Our next gathering will be at Gulf Wars at which time our next move 
will be discussed.  In the interim,  we plan to poll our populace to 
determine their wishes,  we also plan to have a meeting of the peerage and 
landed Barony at the Mudthaw event March 12 in Settmour Swamp.  I urge as 
many of the peers and landed Barony as possible to attend.  My heir, Lucan, 
will be attending Gulf Wars with our proxy and I want a good picture of 
where the kingdom stands before we go any further.   We need to know that 
the kingdom is behind us and has confidence in our ability to represent 
their wishes.

I hope this has answered some of your questions.

In service to the People of the East and of the Society,

Gregor von Heisler,  King of the East