Sense of Entitlement?

[Bromo Ivory]

I know the following will be controversial, and will ruffle more than a few feathers, but as this is a democracy, I feel the need to point this out.

Through the discussion in the Forums I am detecting what I view to be a growing poisonous attitude in CDS among many people of medium length tenure. A sense that CDS owes them something. As we scrutinize the payroll and see the amounts paid, it gives one sense that we've been paying the tier for someone and not expecting them to do much if anything in return. I feel that this scrutiny is both necessary, and the inevitable adjustments cuts and additions the follow are both healthy and good.

Enough people have been screaming when this topic is mentioned that it makes me think that this sense of entitlement is very much present, and people don't want some sort of comfortable deal to end.

The issue for me isn't some sort of sense that we can get everything done by volunteers - but that when we pay someone, we have to make sure we are getting the proper value for the money - and the person doesn't sit back and have his or her tier paid by everyone else who is paying in without stipend.

Unchecked, this falls into full fledged corruption - if it isn't there already.

I am wondering if we could end up going to some sort of job bidding situation? Where a position is placed up, people are allowed to bid for it, and the low price wins? It certainly would cut out political patronage, and a sense of entitlement...

[Rosie Gray]

As a person of "medium length tenure" in the CDS, and one that advocates for the small stipends that are traditional for some of the jobs, I would like to point out that I have never held any of those paid positions, nor do I expect to any time soon. In fact, almost all of what I have done for the CDS has been voluntary, and I have paid my own money to accomplish these things. It is true that I have been paid for creating the order of Anzere medal a small amount ($500L) which paid for the textures I uploaded but in no way compensates me for the approximate 5 hours it took me to make it - nor was I expecting it to.

So, if this was aimed at me, then I want it understood that I have nothing to gain from my position on this topic. I do not see anyone advocating for these stipends displaying a "sense of entitlement"; rather I see it as a declaration of appreciation to the people that take on tasks. I do agree that it is a good idea to review job descriptions and salaries where there are some though, that makes sense.

[Beathan]

My thought on this is that to have a thriving community, even a surviving community, we need to grow -- both in size but more importantly in population. As our population increases the pool of potential volunteers will also increase, and we will be able to fill all positions without stipends, which have a substantial and growing impact on our discretionary budget, now totaling nearly 1/4 of all discretionary expenditures. I think that stipends are neither necessary nor fiscally sound.

However, I do recognize the need to recognize effort within our community so that people see their contributions acknowledged and respected. That is important. However, I think that stipends are not the way to do that. Surely we can think of an equally meaningful, or more meaningful, way to show our respect while using our funds to actually improve and expand our community.

That said, I don't think that the support for stipends, or the unfettered and unwise expansion of the stipends, is a result of a "sense of entitlement." I think it is a legitimate effort to recognize effort, and a legitimate request as a recognition of effort. I just think we can do better by doing differently.

However, stipends do produce the real possibility of graft and corruption -- especially if me make paid positions within the Chancellor's gift. That way lies the Spoils System, with all its attendant ills.

Beathan

[Bromo Ivory]

I wasn't trying to single out any one persons, just those of us who weren't around during the crisis when Ulrika deleted half of Neufreistadt, when people had to pull together to rebuild, and not include the just-arrived who haven't been here for more than the current election cycle.

This includes me as I arrived in 2007 and have been quiet for a couple of years.

I was thinking that I may have jumped to a few conclusions, but I also got very concerned (and I admit, I could be drawing the wrong conclusions!) when the subject of stipends and value for lindens came up - there was a huge pushback. My natural reaction was the pushback may indicate an underlying political patronage or "payola" for lots of money for not very much actual work given to those well connected. But on further reflection, it could be that the messenger (Cleopatra and Caesar) may have been pushed back as much as the message.

Having said this, I wasn't trying to point fingers at anyone in particular, but call in to question the validity of the pushback I detected, and speculate about the source of that pushback.

We are in a good financial position with the SIM just about full (due to a large part in the efforts Cleopatra has put in, btw) - let's start including more of these new residents!

[cleopatraxigalia]

Bottom Line,
I think we should pay people! I simply believe that the Chancelor appointing people to salaried positions in CDS is wrong. It does not promote group cohesion, it does not promote mass citizen involvement. And at the very worst can be the conduit of corruption. Pay people for doing work.
Piecework rates put out to bid, or our own ratesheet.

Thank you Bromo,

We both know there is a long tradition in CDS of people only pushing back when certain people say or do anything and agreeing with others no matter what they say. I think the thing each of us has to do is be very thoughtful about responding to "what people say" and not who says it.

Thank you for the credit for selling the land. I did that to help. But, no, I was not alone in that activity. Lots of citizens gave me leads, and the fact that I told them properly about CDS and what it is and stands for spoke for itself. In fact, Tor helped one day by lowering the price of a CDS owned plot down to 1L a sq m , well below what every one else was paying, and sold it to a friend of CDS that was a friend of Pip's and subsequently friended by several of us. So, see, I did not sell the land all by myself.

In regards to stipends: This conversation started by me simply asking questions .Questions about the old budgets, because that seemed to be where the current budget was derived per the current chancellor who starting writing his budget before he was sworn in. And honestly, sure, when someone is getting paid to do what we were doing for free, and even the paid people trying to hinder us and not supporting us and accusing us of wrong doing.. well gosh , how would you feel?

In the world of non profits where voluteers are used a lot, the field I work in rl, what I notice is that if the paid staff on salaries are working very very hard, for a good cause, its easy for them to find volunteers in the community to help them out. But, when paid salaried staff are not doing their job or doing it poorly, it is very difficult to find volunteers to help once they realize that paid people are "riding" on the volunteers efforts.

That said,
I would like to direct something at what Rosie posted:

As a person of "medium length tenure" in the CDS, and one that advocates for the small stipends that are traditional for some of the jobs, I would like to point out that I have never held any of those paid positions, nor do I expect to any time soon. In fact, almost all of what I have done for the CDS has been voluntary, and I have paid my own money to accomplish these things. It is true that I have been paid for creating the order of Anzere medal a small amount ($500L) which paid for the textures I uploaded but in no way compensates me for the approximate 5 hours it took me to make it - nor was I expecting it to.

So, if this was aimed at me, then I want it understood that I have nothing to gain from my position on this topic. I do not see anyone advocating for these stipends displaying a "sense of entitlement"; rather I see it as a declaration of appreciation to the people that take on tasks. I do agree that it is a good idea to review job descriptions and salaries where there are some though, that makes sense.

I actually think this is precisely what should happen. Go ahead and give "titles" to people who want to be PIO and assistant PIO and things like that. What a nice honor and way to appreciate them, do not give them our money.. But, when it comes to doing real work. I think that should be something that gets paid for piecework. This is no more difficult and it will make people accountable and afford all transparency required of a democracy.

The work should be able to quickly go "out to bid".

Or CDS can certainly have a "rate sheet" of what we pay for recurrent jobs. DJ,event coordination, live musician etc. So, CDS paying you, Rosie, $500L for a custom made medal for Moon, thats perfect ! (It would have been better if they had asked if anyone in CDS wanted to do it .. that could have been done in private IM to builders without spoiling the surprize. Many many citizens are capable of making a medal and for way less than 50 texture uploads and 5 hours. I do hate we took so much of your time).

Rosie, you actually did something meaningful and it was a fair price. And thank you for all the volunteering you have done for CDS. I think it's a shame, that while you spent five hours working on this, someone else was paid a lot more to have a title and who was not able to do the job and took the payment of CDS funds that month.

We need at the very least a minimal job description that includes required skills for any titled position. The chancellor instead of appointing who he is closest to should do a public review of minimally qualified citizens who apply for the positions based on first their skills, and availabilty and abilities. This term, for example, the chancellor didnt even consider the new citizens for positions, clearly, by his subsequent to the appointments, asking who the citizens are and what they do in his forum post.

Who are you?
by Trebor Warcliffe » Fri Dec 02, 2011 3:46 pm
In my new role as Chancellor I’m involved with the planning of many activities. My first choice when possible is to use the services and talent of our very own citizens. In looking through all my paperwork I realize what I need is a list of our citizens and what they do.

He clearly did not review their talents for positions, only people he knew very well, and in fact, he has so much as chastized them already for not voluteering for him for projects he needs help with.

job description example..
i.e. the CEO , or covenent enforment officer, ( should be a qualifed builder, who can advise people on how builds can be brought up to covenent standards, able to measure, able to read and interpret covenents, as well as be unbiased in their views, and if they are speaking with citizens they need to be able to be very diplomatic and able to commuicate effective in a non confrontational way.

Bottom Line,
I think we should pay people! I simply believe that the Chancelor appointing people to salaried positions in CDS is wrong. It does not promote group cohesion, it does not promote mass citizen involvement. And at the very worst can be the conduit of corruption.
Pay people for doing work. Piecework rates put out to bid, or our own ratesheet.

TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMPETENCY

[Trebor Warcliffe]

Cleo,

We need at the very least a minimal job description that includes required skills for any titled position. The chancellor instead of appointing who he is closest to should do a public review of minimally qualified citizens who apply for the positions based on first their skills, and availabilty and abilities. This term, for example, the chancellor didnt even consider the new citizens for positions, clearly, by his subsequent to the appointments, asking who the citizens are and what they do in his forum post.

I have only appointed one position and that is my PIO, Tor Karlsvalt. Unlike previous Chancellors, and I'm not implying my method is better than theirs, I have reached out publicly to each and every citizen by posting the positions in the forums and provided my email address, asked anyone to reply in the forums, or to personally IM me in-world. So far I have spoken with two people for the Commerce Commissioner position, one person for the covenant position, and two people for the Welcoming Committee.

He clearly did not review their talents for positions, only people he knew very well, and in fact, he has so much as chastized them already for not voluteering for him for projects he needs help with.

I willingly admit I haven't yet reviewed their talents for positions and their are two reasons for this. Like I mentioned earlier, two people made contact with me about the covenant position and the welcoming committee and I made contact with two different people about the CC position. No one else, new or old, has shown an interest in the positions I've posted. It has been mentioned very recently that along with my forum postings I should actively seek out the new citizens in-world and meet them and introduce myself. So I will make it a point when I'm in-world to do just that and if you see me in-world before I see you, than IM me, let's chat for a few minutes and get to know each other.

I apologize to all the citizens of the CDS and specifically the newer citizens for allowing my frustration to get the best of me. As I posted in a previous post sometimes I hit the submit button before I should. I promise to choose my words wisely before I post them on the forum. So I ask all citizens old and new to bare with me in the beginning of my term with my transitioning of being a citizen to now being your Chancellor. I am full of energy as many of you have seen over the past 18 months I've been here and I really want to accomplish so much this term.

Thank you,
Trebor Warcliffe

[Aliasi Stonebender]

Through the discussion in the Forums I am detecting what I view to be a growing poisonous attitude in CDS among many people of medium length tenure. A sense that CDS owes them something. As we scrutinize the payroll and see the amounts paid, it gives one sense that we've been paying the tier for someone and not expecting them to do much if anything in return. I feel that this scrutiny is both necessary, and the inevitable adjustments cuts and additions the follow are both healthy and good.

Enough people have been screaming when this topic is mentioned that it makes me think that this sense of entitlement is very much present, and people don't want some sort of comfortable deal to end.

The issue for me isn't some sort of sense that we can get everything done by volunteers - but that when we pay someone, we have to make sure we are getting the proper value for the money - and the person doesn't sit back and have his or her tier paid by everyone else who is paying in without stipend.

Well, I don't think I'm screaming, but then, I'm not exactly a 'medium length tenure'. I'm not quite a founder like Sudane, but I was pretty much the first outside person to get a plot during Neualtenburg Phase II. I've done a little of everything in my time here, so when I approve of things like minor stipends, it's because I know how hard it was to get anyone to DO ANYTHING otherwise. I know. I was the first Chancellor and couldn't get ANYONE to step up for any of several positions.

Without it, we do run the risk of having a much milder version of the real life situation where only the wealthy can afford to run for political positions or take political appointments, as the average citizen simply cannot afford to do so. Now, nobody should be putting their real-life rent money on the line here, but knowing that the CDS has some appreciation for what one does to the point of giving what is effectively a slight discount on tier has never seemed like a bad idea to me. (I refrained from pushing it when it first came up since I believe I *was* Chancellor at the time and I was afraid of appearing to engage in just the sort of thing you fear.)

I believe the most effective remedies against inappropriate stipends are oversight and keeping them small. They're an aid, not your main SL income. It's why my original conception was a tier discount, so people still had to pay in something - as it is now, a small enough property and you can practically live free, no?