[Proposal] OWBN One World by Night Corporate Bylaws
Status message
Displaying output for plurality votingOpen Votes
Proposal Type: Other Public
Opened: 06-Jan-2016 11:55PM EST
Closing: 17-Jan-2016 11:55PM EST
Hello Council,
On behalf of Rojir, our Head Coordinator, I submit the following proposal to be added as it's own bylaw category.
As we previously proposed earlier in the year, the organization agreed on becoming a legitimate entity. As such, we have put together a compilation of bylaws dedicated to finishing necessary preparations for us to file under one of the clubs.
I'm extending the voting period by 3 days on this proposal to give more time for those wrapping up the holidays.
Please read the bylaws linked in the proposal this link goes to.
Sincerely,
Nick Lamb
File / Document:
Ballot Options 
Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating
No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions
Abstain
63 out of 160 eligible voters cast their ballot
No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions
73% (46 votes)
Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating
21% (13 votes)
Abstain
6% (4 votes)
| Chronicle/Position | Voted for | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Dubuque, IA - USA, Kingdom of Ashes | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | While I am fully in support of the transition to an NPO, I do think that we need to take more time and care in crafting the rules that will govern that organization. |
| New York City, NY - USA, Kings of New York | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | NONE of my concerns have been seriously addressed or elevated. Instead I will simply list out my concerns and reasons why should no longer do this. 1. US tax implications. I have no counter points from a tax expert appointed for owbn in this manner in regards to risks the organization and it's members face doing this. We do not know nor has it been stayed who our tax advisor is. Having a tax advisor is strongly recommended to do such a thing as this. 2. CFC membership. This assumes we will be getting joining the CFC. We do not know anything about this CFC license. It's costs, who gets that money. What it's restrictions are or what be nights it gives. Instead this prop attempts to simply say "yes we are also doing that. 3. Greater power. This prop grants sweeping powers to the board members (and thus the exec team) taking away a lot of authority of council and the games themselves. There is a very real concern of the games authority being stripped away and checks and balances being removed. 4. Why? The main reason we were looking st this in the first place is no longer valid. White wolf was purchased by paradox from ccp. The IPS and white wolf itself now falls under Swedish law not US law. Not the mention the new heads of white wolf want to work with games. I no longer see a need or reason to do this. I just want to play game. 5. Protection for legal repercussions. Individuals can always be sued for anything in the US. Being a non profit does in fact not change that. If anything it is easier to sue an established group then it is a non existent group (as you have to sue individual members in each their respective states.) If this props passes my games will be leaving owbn. That's not a threat, just a fact. We find this prop to not be cleat and seems to a preference then a need. We strongly urge other members to seriously consider the impacts of this prop and to consult their own legal/tax experts. Considering we don't even know WHO owbn lawyer on retainer will be or if we will even have one. Which seems like a bad idea at best. |
| St. Louis, MO - USA, Shadows of St. Louis | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Los Angeles, CA - USA, La Sangre De Los Angeles | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | |
| Rio Grande, RS - Brazil, Sobre a Areia Sempre Hostil | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| São Paulo, SP - Brazil, São Paulo by Night | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | |
| Rockland, NY - USA, Under The Rock | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | |
| Saint Paul, MN - USA, Obsidian Towers | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | We do believe that incorporation is necessary. However, we have concerns that were not addressed in discussion. |
| Mt. Dora, FL - USA, Mutual Alliance | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Curitiba, PR - Brazil, Curitiba By Night | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| La Crosse, WI - USA, The Rivers Edge | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | |
| Cape Cod, MA - USA, Rage Across the Cape | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Berkeley, CA - USA, Wasting the Dawn | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | |
| Martinsburg, WV - USA, Martinsburg by Night | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Tampa, FL - USA, Tampa Bay by Night | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | We should be making sure that the individuals who actually handle money and interactions with "the real world" are not directly legally liable. |
| Philadelphia, PA - USA, Honor in the Shadows | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | see KONY |
| Cedar Rapids, IA - USA, Five Nights | Abstain | I agree that we need to incorporate. I'm not certain this is the best way to do it. |
| João Pessoa, PB - Brazil, Eternal Shadows | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | I did not see in the proposal as addressing the international characteristics of the org. |
| Sacramento, CA - USA, Sacramento By Night | Abstain | We are evenly split in the game. |
| Duluth, MN - USA, Thicker than Blood | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Chicago, IL - USA, Dark Requiem | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | Supporting the HC, who we elected to act in the best interest of the org. |
| Fredericksburg, VA - USA, Caine's Chosen: Liberty in Death | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | I think the wording needs to improve and we should wait to see how our new relationship with Paradox will be. |
| Indianapolis, IN - USA, Stars Never Rise | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | I believe that being an NPO is a good thing, but I do not feel that this is the best way to go about it. There are too many concerns being left unaddressed. |
| Sorocaba, SP - Brazil, Sorocaba by Night: The Abyss Within | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Cedar Falls, IA - USA, Blackhawk Co. by Night | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Norwalk, CT - USA, Rails of Revolution | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | Uncomfortable with this unless we get someone who is actually a lawyer to draft these and get some time to answer the questions that have been brought up on council / etc. |
| San Francisco, CA - USA, Always Comes Evening | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | I am not a lawyer. Therefore I will rely on the head coordinator and the lawyer he consulted to draft a good legal document. |
| Atlanta, GA - USA, Whispers of Atlanta | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Dayton, OH - USA, Dying Embers | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Orland Park, IL - USA, Enigmas of Rage | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Allentown, PA - USA, Steel Valley by Night | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Cincinnati, OH - USA, Shadows of Cincinnati | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil, Eternal Blood | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Columbus, OH - USA, Columbus in Darkness | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | |
| Denver, CO - USA, Front Range Sabbat | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | -The new management of White Wolf has not come forward with what they want of people playing their games and the vote that resulted in these bylaws, and incorporateing, being something we need to do at all, may nolonger be valid.
-The wording is sloppy.
-The structure of the org changing into something so official with board members and the like is needless for the kind of games we present. OWBN's Casual style is one of it's unique and desirable qualities.
-Dissatisfied with the lack of transparency in the processes that lead up to this document and this direction. Very little information from the legal entities involved has been shared with council and the Head coordinator has been absent from discussion of the org much of this year EXCEPT to push this issue.
This comment has been revised 1 time. Click here to see revision history Version 2 dated: Jan 13 2016, 12:00pm EST -The new management of White Wolf has not come forward with what they want of people playing their games and the vote that resulted in these bylaws, and incorporateing, being something we need to do at all, may nolonger be valid. -The wording is sloppy. -The structure of the org changing into something so official with board members and the like is needless for the kind of games we present. OWBN's Casual style is one of it's unique and desirable qualities. -Dissatisfied with the lack of transparency in the processes that lead up to this document and this direction. Very little information from the legal entities involved has been shared with council and the Head coordinator has been absent from discussion of the org much of this year EXCEPT to push this issue. |
| Ouro Preto, MG - Brazil, Dying of the Light | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Lewiston/Auburn, ME - USA, Shadows and Light | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Lexington, KY - USA, Panders Playground | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Savannah, GA - USA, City of Shadows | Abstain | |
| Phoenix, AZ - USA, Secundus Surrectum | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Boston, MA - USA, Reclaimed | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | This might be jumping the gun and be entirely unnecessary with the new management and WW. No reason to make drastic changes to the way we operate if it's unnecessary. |
| Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Brazil, City of Wonders | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Green Bay, WI - USA, Shattered Dreams | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| New Orleans, LA - USA, Long Night | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Bridgewater, MA - USA, Into The Darkness: Sabbat | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Athens, GA - USA, Athens After Dark | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Natal, RN - Brazil, Legacy of Blood | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Gimli, MB - Canada, Sang Nordique | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | We should take steps to protect the Exec Team and the Coordinators from legal action. |
| Iowa City, IA - USA, L'Ange Noir | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | |
| St. Augustine, FL - USA, On Haunted Ground | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | Too many questions have been left unanswered. We do not support age restrictions. We would like to see member clarified to member games or council members. We do not support language that assumes we will join the CFC. These seem to be a decent copy/paste job with some editing, but we believe we need to see far more. |
| Ann Arbor, MI - USA, Tower of Broken Glass | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | Concerns brought up on council have me voting no on this. If we can fix those issue, I'll vote yes. I think being part of MET would help us a lot, but some of the corporate wording has me concerned. |
| Annapolis, MD - USA, Vitae Aeternus | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Bradenton, FL - USA, Chaos & Entropy | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | My concerns do not seem to have been addressed to my satisfaction. |
| Edwardsville, IL - USA, Caught in Eternal Twilight | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Phoenix, AZ - USA, Unchained Arizona | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | |
| Chicago, IL - USA, New Moon Rising | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | Kony has some good points. Players in my chronicle dont feel this is nessecary as well as if it is - there has been little transparency that it is _needed_ and _every_ detail there in. Personally, the document has a lot that doesn't apply to us. Which leads me to believe that it was a form contract that was given to us; and a few changes were made to it. OWBN needs a lawyer and tax adviser who are able to work us. If there is one, there needs to be more transparency because at the moment it is "I had this checked out, this is what they say.... they say the same thing I said" There are some problems google can't solve and role playing a lawyer wont really help us here. |
| Lakeland, FL - USA, Lagos de los Muertos | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | At this time the reason for doing this is no longer a concern. We should wait till we get concrete information about what the new company plans to do. |
| Worcester County, MA - USA, Quabbin | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | While incorporation is likely in the org's best interests, these bylaws do not feel like the right way to start off. We should get a clear answer from Paradox/White Wolf about our position relative to new MET and our ability to adapt material as we see fit, as they may have a different interpretation of how BNS may enforce their license. We should revisit the age barrier, and making allowances for signed waivers from parents/guardians. And we clearly need to have more discussion about the role of a board vs the role of council, where the separation of powers and responsibilities lie, and how to set a balance between the two. |
| Gainesville, FL - USA, Won't Back Down | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | Clean this up. This looks like a bad copy/paste job, and we need to make this something that is OWbN-centric. |
| Hartford, CT - USA, Dark Colony | No - We do not desire to incorporate under these conditions | With all of the changes happening with how the license is handled, I see no reason we can't wait to see where things go from there. |
| Head Coord | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating | As Head Coordinator, I was elected to do what I believe is best for One World by Night. Our organization becoming a 501c7 protects our elected volunteer staff from legal ramifications of actions committed by other members of this organization. You may say what you will, but I believe strongly that this is in the best interest of our organization. |
| AHC 1 | Abstain | This is a decision that needs to be made by the chronicles for the collective of chronicles. For that reason, I abstain unless I need to help break a tie. |
| AHC 2 | Yes - These are the conditions we want for incorporating |
-The new management of White Wolf has not come forward with what they want of people playing their games and the vote that resulted in these bylaws, and incorporateing, being something we need to do at all, may nolonger be valid. -The wording is sloppy. -The structure of the org changing into something so official with board members and the like is needless for the kind of games we present. OWBN's Casual style is one of it's unique and desirable qualities. -Dissatisfied with the lack of transparency in the processes that lead up to this process. Very little information from the legal entities involved has been shared with council and the Head coordinator has been absent from discussion of the org much of this year EXCEPT to push this issue.