The directors of the Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA) have called a Special General Meeting to ask eligible members to vote on a new version of the association's constitution, something that has been worked on behind closed doors for the past couple of months. This is the first complete overhaul of the SLSA constitution since the association was founded more than a year ago. Other than a lot of minor changes aimed at removing ambiguities and bringing more clarity to certain clauses, the overhaul makes some important changes to voting rights and the definition of responsibilities within the SLSA."We've reviewed and revised the whole constitution," said Radical Twang, SLSA director. "We've revised clauses over and over, and ran it through different advisors to make it the best that it can be, with safeguards to prevent any constitutional crisis and straight forward clauses to provide clear rules for the future."
Voter eligibility
Perhaps the changes of interest to most SLSA members are those to the definition of who is eligible to vote during SLSA elections. The current rules state that only SLSA members that have competed in the last three months of SLSA surfing competitions prior to the election may cast votes. The new proposed constitution requires that, in order to be eligible to vote, an SLSA member must have either competed and been assigned a score in at least one of the previous 6 competitions prior to the vote; or must have served as a director or officer in one of the last three competitions prior to the vote; or must be an SLSA Hall of Fame inductee. The net result of the changes is more eligible voters and less brain drain on the electorate.
Other than provided much needed clarifications regarding the roles of board directors, officers and advisors, the new proposed constitution tightens up the rules regarding the election of the board, responsibilities of board directors and enters a new clause to allow the association to replace directors that simply don't show up ("if a director is out of contact for one month then their position shall be declared vacant and a by-election held to fill their position"). The new constitution also officially creates and defines roles for Head Judge, Marshal and Security officers.
Teams officially recognised, but that's all
The SLSA's terms or recognising surfing teams are also defined under the new proposed constitution, but the new document stops short of spelling out how teams might be involved in SLSA competitions in the future. However, it does state that "surfers and event participants are not required to be a member of any team".
Only SLSA members that have competed in an event in the last three months are eligible to cast votes on the new constitution and have been asked to do so by the SLSA directors between midnight 5 August and midnight 7 August 2008 (SLT).
Meanwhile, the next election to vote in new board members is scheduled for 1 September 2008 (with nominations being accepted by the SLSA between 11 August and 18 August).
Updated 9.54am SLT 29 July 2008
Useful links
SurfWatch: SLSA Elections (Part II) - Why should you care? (17 May 08)
SurfWatch: Election voices continued (2) (15 May 08)
SurfWatch: Election voices ( (14 May 08)
SurfWatch: SLSA Election Up-date (13 May 08)
SurfWatch: SLSA Elections (Part I) - What's going on? (10 May 08)
SurfWatcy: New SLSA directors announced (2 Mar 08)
SurfWatch: SLSA Opens Hall of Fame (9 Feb 08)
URL: New proposed constitution (PDF file)
URL: SLSA Website
URL: SLSA Forum
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