9003 for Vice Delegate, March 2020 Special Election

[9003]

Hello and salutations my fellow Citizens of the North Pacific,

As you know a special election is taking place for the Vice Delegacy. Now you may be asking "Hey who is this new guy never heard of him?" and "What can this new guy bring to the table for the month that is he is in office?" Well I would like to tell you, below is outlined a little about me and a lot a bit about what I plan on doing.

A little about me:
I am currently serving as a deputy guild master in our cards guild
I am a SGT in The North Pacific Army.

A lot about what I plan on doing:

First and foremost I understand fully that as the term is only a month-long or so I will not have long to implement new things however a month is more than enough time to:

1. Increase Endotarting: This is extremely important that our region maintains as many nations endorsing each other as possible. I would like to see by the end of my term The North Pacific back to #1 in the world for the most endorsements. Knowing full well that we are capable of doing it, and seeing that while Endotarting events are great ways to spark short-term interest, I believe that the Security Council should and can lead by example by having the them Endotart on a daily basis. Beyond this I think it is critical that any nation not endorsing particular Council members should get reminders in the forum of TGs and dispatch pings. Hand sent TGs are often the most effective way to reach these nations as many do not know what they are missing out on by not holding keeper status. On the subject of keepers I will personally send out a friendly TG inviting all nations that are not currently keepers to step up to the bar and earn the status.
2. Weekly Updates: This weekly updates have in the past served as a source of information to all nations in The North Pacific I plan on continuing these with additional information showing various numbers giving a little insight into what it is I'm doing if that is the number of Endo the Security Council TGs I send or how many keepers have been recruited during the week. In addition to the standard information such as current influence levels and endorsement counts of the Security Council

I think one of the most important things to remember with this election is while we could just say "It's okay to slide and go with the status quo for a month" but this mentality is not acceptable. I want to bring a fresh new face to the political sphere.

If you have any questions I would love to answer them you can also reach out to me on Nationstates via TG or on discord. Regardless of platform that you feel the most comfortable reaching out to me
I will post your question and my answer here in addition to sending you the answer.

 

[Sil Dorsett]

Do you plan on running for this office in May? Since you'd be transitioning from participating in NPA operations to being required to hold 2nd place in endorsements received, and with such an endorsement build-up required in your case, I think it would make sense to commit to the office for not only this one-month partial term but the following four-month full term as well. What additions to your platform would you make if this were for a five-month term, or do you feel your current platform covers it?

 

[9003]

Do you plan on running for this office in May? Since you'd be transitioning from participating in NPA operations to being required to hold 2nd place in endorsements received, and with such an endorsement build-up required in your case, I think it would make sense to commit to the office for not only this one-month partial term but the following four-month full term as well. What additions to your platform would you make if this were for a five-month term, or do you feel your current platform covers it?

That is an excellent question and I am very glad that you brought this up. It will take time to bring my endorsements up and I will do everything in my power to reach the number 2 position in the region as quickly as possabile by myself starting to endotart daily and reaching out to ever nation requesting their endorsement. Touching on the 5 month term, given that I will have the opportunity to lead for 5 I have the opportunity to establish a trend of success. I think the biggest thing looking at it as a 5+ month term and goal setting is an important thing. As such I will set forth to accomplish the following general goals:

1. Increase Keeper counts
2. Set The North Pacific to #1 in the world again for endorsements
3. Increase over all endorsements received by both Security council and Delegate.

I plan on setting the regional goals for my term with in the first week of office. I will release an additional report that has all 5 months planed out with both weekly and monthly goals until ultimately we reach the long term end on. In my weekly reports I will include how close to the benchmark for that week/month as well as including how everyday nations can help reach this goal. I think It is also important to bring this information to the nation as a whole and not just those who grace the fourms so I plan on relaseing my weekly reports as a dispatch and in a forum post and should any one request I can also provide a personalized TG to their nation.

I believe that reaching out on a more personal and less robotic manor will produce significantly higher results in all goals as well as endo tarting on a dedicated scheduled going more then a day or two with out doing so would lead to an extremely slow transition and would hinder progress towards the goals set forth.

In a few words yes I will be running in May as well.

 

[Just a Lore]

Unfortunately I can not see you as a serious candidate. Assuming your nation is still, the_nation_that_will_win_soops_for_9003, your not even in the WA. It took Robes nearly 3 months to broach the top 10 with a starting of a few hundred endorsements.

How do you plan to gain nearly 800 endorsements in the span of a month to get into compliance with the legal minimum of the Vice Delegate office?

 

[9003]

Unfortunately I can not see you as a serious candidate. Assuming your nation is still, the_nation_that_will_win_soops_for_9003, your not even in the WA. It took Robes nearly 3 months to broach the top 10 with a starting of a few hundred endorsements.

How do you plan to gain nearly 800 endorsements in the span of a month to get into compliance with the legal minimum of the Vice Delegate office?

A very important thing is for the Vice Delegate to have the 2nd most endorsements. First I would like to clear the air that is no longer my nation for TNP related things. My TNP nation is 9003 who is now in the WA and currently working on earning endorsements in one of the best ways, Endotarting. I am currently working through the backlog of several thousand because I am a member of the NPA my WA often joined and left the WA and thus lost its endorsements.

Robes ended up endotarting every 3 or so days. I intend to daily. The average new WAs attention span if they are going to go endorce any nation is with in the first few days they are here. That is why it is important that all of the Security council and namely myself as Vice Delegate will have to be on top of endo tarting.

 

[Pallaith]

@9003 I did not see this coming at all. I must confess I am intrigued. It is no small thing to jump into the office of Vice Delegate after being a citizen who is only involved in a few specific areas far from the kind of work a Vice Delegate does. You have every right to pursue the office and be considered, of course, and I do like to see what fresh faces have to offer. From what I can tell, you are taking this seriously, you have given it some thought, and this is not just a mechanical run-for-the-sake-of-running sort of thing. And as an avid card collector you have long since proven your worth as an endotarter, so while I may normally be concerned about that, particularly with such a small amount of time left in the term, and in light of a state where our previous Vice Delegate didn't get to #2 and your opponent is already there, I find myself less worried about you pulling it off. As our previous Vice Delegate would happily tell you, though, there're other factors to consider in the job. I want to make sure that you have an eye toward those things as well.

Vice Delegate is a crucial role in this region. You are campaigning to hold the chief security office in this region, the chair of the Security Council. It is also the next in line to the Delegacy in the event the Delegate leaves the office for whatever reason. One of those reasons may be because you have to see to their ouster due to a security threat.

1)Can you picture that situation? Do you have what it takes to confront a rogue delegate, even if it's a friend, someone you respect, get along with?
2)Could you do the same with a potential citizen applicant who is likely to be a security threat, but is perhaps popular or someone you personally are fine with?

Continuing the thought about the Vice Delegate being next in line, when you assume the office, you assume the responsibility, and everything that comes with it, until another delegate is elected. For the time the office is yours, you have to be up to the challenge. Sure, most vice delegates never have to cross that bridge, but they have to have the right stuff in case they do.

3)If the challenge was thrust upon you, would you be up for it?
4)Do you have enough self-confidence and faith in yourself that you are prepared for that responsibility should the need arise? And if so, would you wish to run for the office in the subsequent special election?

The Vice Delegate has to be concerned with the security of this region first and foremost. As you know from your work with the NPA, many times you work with a team but in the end speak with one voice to implement the Delegate’s military policy. Regardless of your opinions, in the end your voice is not your own, but that of the elected government.

5)How would you manage a scenario where there is increased public attention upon a matter before the Security Council and there are lots of individuals asking you what is going on, what the SC is thinking, who is on their side and who is not?

You appear to have highlighted gameside activity as an engine for building up the numbers in the goals you are setting. This has been hit or miss for the SC for as long as I have been here.

6)What specific actions would you take gameside that you feel are not being utilized currently? How would you establish them as benchmarks for future vice delegates to follow (like how they all utilize the weekly reports now)?

More generally, I also have the following questions.

7)Aside from standing SC recommendations, what criteria would you consider for potentially rejecting citizen applications?
8)Do you have a higher standard for activity in the SC than what is currently being enforced? Can we expect support for legislative changes or even recalls of SC members who fall below certain metrics?
9)Is there any plan or consideration to picking up any of the initiatives or plans your predecessor had for the office that may remain unfinished right now?
10)Given the tricky question of gathering endorsements this past term, and the potential difficulty for the SC to continue endotarting in an environment where the Vice Delegate was not yet #2 for endorsements, do you feel there are any changes to the law that we should consider? What are your thoughts on how the SC should endotart if the vice delegate transition is dragging on longer than expected?
11)You're one of the cards guys. The SC utilizes cards in our WADP and endotarting initiatives. Do you have any ideas for this, or new spin on what we're currently doing?

Whatever happens, I am glad you decided to run and remain pleasantly surprised at what you're bringing to this campaign. Good luck, and in the event you don't win I hope you keep refining this campaign of yours so that this awkward moment in time isn't the last we see of you.

 

[9003]

These are wonderful questions and I have hopefully equally wonderful answers.

...only involved in a few specific areas far from the kind of work a Vice Delegate does.

I’m glad that you brought this up and I will address it further below with some answers to your questions but in the past I have served in a similar capacity back in my tenure in Mordor. While Mordor’s activity has fallen and ultimately rather quiet now, there was a day and age that the region held 100+ nations peaking at 218 nations. During this time above 100 I served in the Forces of Mordor and acted as Sauron’s (The founder) left hand with the Delegate at the time being his right.

1)Can you picture that situation? Do you have what it takes to confront a rogue delegate, even if it's a friend, someone you respect, get along with?

2)Could you do the same with a potential citizen applicant who is likely to be a security threat, but is perhaps popular or someone you personally are fine with?

1. I fully hope that this is a situation that never occurs but understanding fully that my responsibility should it occur is to confront the rouge delegate and handle the situation as quickly and efficiently to minimize long term damage to the region in both security and reputation. Those words are easy to say and I would hope anyone running would have a similar thought process but doing is another thing. Another thing that I have had to face, In mordor our very own founder ended up on trial only to point out a flaw in our legal system that was rectified with myself serving as judge over the case as the founder could not be both the defendant and the judge.
2. This one strongly depends on a case by case review as all security checks should. It is important that all things are considered when reviewing individuals and determining if they are and to what degree a security risk to the region. In my opinion even Max himself could ask for citizenship if I had good reason to suspect that he was a security threat I could not let him pass. That being said I do believe in second chances if a security threat can prove beyond a doubt that they are no longer a threat I believe that they should be welcomed. That being said I would keep my eye on them like a hawk to make sure that they have truly changed for the good.

3)If the challenge [of taking over delegacy] was thrust upon you, would you be up for it?

4)Do you have enough self-confidence and faith in yourself that you are prepared for that responsibility should the need arise? And if so, would you wish to run for the office in the subsequent special election?

1. I am absolutely up to the challenge should that challenge present itself.
2. I do have the self-confidence and faith in my abilities to manage and run the region should something happen to the acting delaget. I would like to run in subsequent special and regular elections. I want to become more active with The North Pacific government and this is one of the best ways to do so hands on. I already serve as a deputy guild master for the cards guild and I want to see more ministries and serve in several offices to help the region grow.

5)How would you manage a scenario where there is increased public attention upon a matter before the Security Council and there are lots of individuals asking you what is going on, what the SC is thinking, who is on their side and who is not?

1. The best way to handle things of any level of sensitive material is delicately. Everyone wants to know who was right who was wrong and the punishment right away. Often before the leadership has had time to assess the issue properly. For example most recently the cards guild ran into a small issue of one member breaking the no hiesting bank rule. While the leadership is still deliberating on a discussion I can not disclose any details further than how I handled it to the public below is my official statement made to the guild to make sure that they understood that the leadership team heard the issue and is not ignoring it.

We as a leadership team are discussing the issue at hand as we speak. An official statement will be out soon as we come to an agreement. It should be noted that normally the guildmaster has discretion at this time we as a leadership team are discussing.

What is important is that all parties know what's going on, that we as a leadership team are not ignoring them, and that we are working as quickly as possible. Providing a punishment too far out and it has no link to bad behavior. Rush to a decision or tell one side they are right before gathering all the facts and you have bigger issues.

6)What specific actions would you take gameside that you feel are not being utilized currently? How would you establish them as benchmarks for future vice delegates to follow (like how they all utilize the weekly reports now)?

1. I think that many of the tools are being utilized efficiently, I believe that making sure they are used daily is the key. I’ve heard tossed around that a new WA nation’s attention span is about 3 days meaning some are shorter than that. So it is important to reach out and not just thrust info packs and pages and pages of reading to them but also open a friendly dialogue with new nations and talk to them about hey what's stopping you from earning keeper status? Have you checked out our amazing discord yet? Getting to the why they aren’t is just as important to the hey here's the benefits of doing it. To mark the progress of any new program established or even tweaks in the old ones I would collect the data and compare. Things that are key to look at is how many nations did not respond to the “info packet” TG but did respond to a friendly welcoming personalized message. Beyond just collecting data I think it is important to act on the data as well. If something is not working or is inefficient just because we always have done it that way does not mean we always should do it that way.

7)Aside from standing SC recommendations, what criteria would you consider for potentially rejecting citizen applications?

8)Do you have a higher standard for activity in the SC than what is currently being enforced? Can we expect support for legislative changes or even recalls of SC members who fall below certain metrics?

9)Is there any plan or consideration to picking up any of the initiatives or plans your predecessor had for the office that may remain unfinished right now?

10)Given the tricky question of gathering endorsements this past term, and the potential difficulty for the SC to continue endotarting in an environment where the Vice Delegate was not yet #2 for endorsements, do you feel there are any changes to the law that we should consider? What are your thoughts on how the SC should endotart if the vice delegate transition is dragging on longer than expected?

11)You're one of the cards guys. The SC utilizes cards in our WADP and endotarting initiatives. Do you have any ideas for this, or new spin on what we're currently doing?

1. It is important that it is somewhat flexible. Meaning that 90% of the time I think the current standard is wonderful. Should there be a reason that I suspect the standard needs to be temporarily raised I would do so at that time. This would be a decision made based off of valid cause and would strongly depend on the current ever changing political climate in NationStates.
2. This was a big issue in with my predecessor never reaching the #2 spot this is unacceptable. The SC should always maintain the highest level of endorsements as it is their job. Without maintaining significant region influence they are ineffective. I do understand that sometimes extenuating circumstances that may arise that need to be addressed but they will be assessed case by case and temporary. Any long term inability to maintain proper endorsement counts will be met with first a warning but shortly after a motion for recall. If any of the cabinet receives a warning but promptly corrects the issue at hand no further action would be required.
3. Any and all goals set forth by my predecessor will be assessed and used as I look forward both to this month term but also as I plan for the May term as well. It is important that goals and projects be set both in the short term and long term. I would be a great fool to only plan for one month. As such all actions, goals, programs, and plans I make will be done with serving for a full term+.
4. Just like I mentioned in #8 everyone including myself should be held accountable. I have full faith that I can achieve the #2 spot quickly and efficiently by promoting endotarting and doing so on a daily basis as well as sending out telegrams, and pinging people with dispatch notices. If anyone regardless of popularity is not trying to meet the goals set forth they do not belong in the SC. Seeing as at the time of writing this I have 181 endorsements from endotarting once. 30 of these endorsements came while typing this very response. While I do understand that the first set is much easier to get then the later endorsement count I think a proactive endotarting SC can achieve an efficient and smooth VD transition from nothing to VD. As for solid firm time frames I would love to draft and talk with the regional assembly SC and the region as a whole on what should be acceptable. This again being powered by data obtained during my own transition from 0 endorsements after jumping with the NPA to #2 in the region.
5. I am extremely glad you asked about cards. This is the newest and greatest thing in nationstates at the moment, or so I like to think. The card’s guild is working on several projects to further integrate cards into every aspect of the game. For WADP in particular I think we do a wonderful job providing amazing incentives for various activities. Working side by side with r3n and the entire guild leadership team on providing cards as an incentive for any and all activities has always been on the forefront of my mind. I believe strongly in positive reinforcement to both keep a healthy and secure community. One idea that I have been thinking about doing is providing to the region a monthly calendar with daily endorsement goals. Endotarting all nearly 1500 nations is a big task for most nations, hence they don’t do it! But if we broke it down to say even just 10 a day that’s 300 extra endorsements per nation that we have. To add cards to the mix working with r3n and again looking at the numbers after running the calendar I would see how many nations reach the goal? How many go above and beyond? It would be extremely easy to find some kind of reward for every nation that meets a weekly or monthly endorsement goal.

 

[Dreadton]

The Vice Delegate is part of the team designated to look after the security of our region. You are currently the foreign envoy for another region. While you have said the other region activity has dropped, how can you ensure that any conflicts between the interest of TNP vs the other regions you are involved in.

Would you consider resigning your positions in other regions if you are elected Vice Delegate?

 

[9003]

The Vice Delegate is part of the team designated to look after the security of our region. You are currently the foreign envoy for another region. While you have said the other region activity has dropped, how can you ensure that any conflicts between the interest of TNP vs the other regions you are involved in.

Would you consider resigning your positions in other regions if you are elected Vice Delegate?

First and foremost if it was asked upon me to resigning by either the regional assemble, the current SC or the delegate I would. My current status as a foreign envoy from Mordor is merely ceremonial. In the event that during my term Mordor has a sudden spike in activity and brings it back to life and that my position of foreign envoy directly or indirectly impacts my ability to serve as Vice Delagate I will step down from the position of foreign envoy to commit fully to The North Pacific. I will do the best that I can to maintain a separate mentality and separate character for each. Again pointing out that currently my foreign envoy status is purely ceremonial and holds no power as Mordor has ceased all other official goverment operations.

 

[mcmasterdonia]

Hello 9003! I think it is really great you are running for this office. It has been really great getting to know you a lot more and seeing you get involved in TNP, in the NPA and with Cards. Unlike Lore, I am not concerned about your endorsement count. This is a special election and so was unexpected for the most part. I'm not keen on punishing NPAers or limiting the pool of viable candidates only to those who have the highest endorsements. Secondly, I have also seen how active you are at endorsing when you return from deployment and how active you were during our "endorse your heart out" event. I am confident that if you were to emerge from this contest victorious that you would work incredibly hard to get to #2.

I asked the below questions of Artemis as well. I have however adapted them to your circumstances:

What do you believe is your greatest strength?

What about your greatest flaw? How do you manage this?

Do you believe that members of the Security Council should cease endorsing during a transition if requested by the Vice Delegate? For the purpose of this scenario, let's assume that the Vice Delegate is already above the legal minimum for endorsing.

What role do you think the Vice Delegate should have in the Executive (if any)? Do you think the Vice Delegate needs to be across the work of the various executive offices in case they have to "step up" into the role?

What strategies would you implement to encourage members of the Security Council to be more active or contribute to discussions/initiatives you may be presenting to the Security Council?

Under what circumstances would you ask a member of the Security Council to consider resigning? Under what circumstances would you initiate a recall against a member of the Security Council?

Do you believe the Security Council is a trusted and strong institution right now? What would make it stronger?

 

[9003]

What do you believe is your greatest strength?

My greatest strength is in my leadership and friendly demeanor. I am a very charismatic person, as I am sure that have seen in both the Cards Market server as well as our very own discord.

What about your greatest flaw? How do you manage this?

Honestly I'm not that strong of a speller. While spell check does a wonderful job catching most things every once in a while something slips through. The biggest way I want to work through this by double checking and rereading anything I post. In regards directly to the office of VD the weekly report. I will proof read this document multiple times over to make sure that it looks prim proper and professional.

Do you believe that members of the Security Council should cease endorsing during a transition if requested by the Vice Delegate? For the purpose of this scenario, let's assume that the Vice Delegate is already above the legal minimum for endorsing.

This is a very interesting question with many layers. How I see it IF the Vice Delegate deemed it important for the Security Council to stop endorsing during a transition then yes they should follow the order. That being said I do not believe that under normal circumstances the SC should stop endorsing. Rather I think that if the Vice Delegate is struggling to reach the #2 position AND they are truly trying as much as they can I believe that it would be more beneficial for the SC to perusing activates that promote endorsing the VD and getting them to the #2 spot. IF the VD is not doing as much as they can to achieve the correct number of endorsements then this is grounds for recall,as it is unacceptable for the VD to not have the regions security in their best interest.

What role do you think the Vice Delegate should have in the Executive (if any)? Do you think the Vice Delegate needs to be across the work of the various executive offices in case they have to "step up" into the role?

I think it is important that the Vice Delegate is comfortable taking over any role that the Delegate does. The best way for this to happen is having the two work in tandem. While the Vice Delegate should prioritize regional security they need to know what is going on to insure a seamless transition should something happen to the Delegate. The Delegate has the final say in the Executive matters but should actively use the Vice Delegate as a sounding board. The Vice Delegate acts as the Delegates right hand.

What strategies would you implement to encourage members of the Security Council to be more active or contribute to discussions/initiatives you may be presenting to the Security Council?

It is critical that any decision made by the Vice Delegate or the SC is agreed upon. Beyond that having an open lines of communication in both directions is critical. The Security Council can't be engaged and active in discussions if they aren't told about them.

Under what circumstances would you ask a member of the Security Council to consider resigning? Under what circumstances would you initiate a recall against a member of the Security Council?

I would ask a Security Council member to resigning if they where in a situation that they could no longer perform their job in a reasonable time frame. I'm not going to ask for resignation of a member because they miss endotarting one day, now if that same member had a history of not endotarting I would open a dialogue with them to find out why they haven't meet their goals and what the plan is to first and foremost get back on track. I would initiate a recall motion if they have failed to perform their standard duties and are not working with me to correct the error. Further I would challenge that my fellow SC hold me to the same standard of accomplishing what needs to get done.

Do you believe the Security Council is a trusted and strong institution right now? What would make it stronger?

I believe that we have a very strong and cohesive SC now, the only thing that could make it stronger is me getting elected to Vice Delegate AND reaching the #2 spot.







A Important question someone asked me on discord that I think is important to answer here was "If you make a mistake in office, will you own up to said mistake and try to make sensible remedies?"

I am only human as much as I wish I was a robot , and this means that I do sometimes make mistakes. Should this ever happen I think it is extremely important that we learn from the mistakes and remedy the situation as quickly as possabile.


Edit noticed a small spelling error oops!

 

[Fregerson]

I have always looked forward to seeing a fresh face step up to run for the VD, and based on your answers for the previous questions I must say those answers are quite fantastic.
I note that you talked about how the VD could act as a right-hand man to the Delegate, knowing what goes on in the Executive. Noting that your presence in the Executive side of things is limited to a few areas, what are some measures you would take to ensure that you are able to keep up with what goes on in the Executive and even get involved in this area, while ensuring that your main duties as a VD are achieved?

 

[9003]

I have always looked forward to seeing a fresh face step up to run for the VD, and based on your answers for the previous questions I must say those answers are quite fantastic.
I note that you talked about how the VD could act as a right-hand man to the Delegate, knowing what goes on in the Executive. Noting that your presence in the Executive side of things is limited to a few areas, what are some measures you would take to ensure that you are able to keep up with what goes on in the Executive and even get involved in this area, while ensuring that your main duties as a VD are achieved?

I think a huge part of these is time management, I believe that the vice delegate should have some level of presence in all of the Executive areas. Of course all that being said regional security is the VDs number 1 job. Second to that the VD should be known by the community. A big way that I am trying to do this already is to become more active in many areas. I joined on with HA most recently and have partaken in the cultural ministries serving as part of the card guild leadership team. As well as helping planing the large scale GCR Con that is upcoming April. I also lurk quite a bit in our WA programs providing. I believe that the Delegate is the head and the ultimate authority and the VD provides an advisory role to the Delegate. Being in and accessing most of the forum space and discords that all of the Executive ministries operate in. The VD should know how things work in the various aspects of the region in the event that the something does happen to the delegate so that the region can smoothly transition and the rocking of the boat is minimized in light of the large scale event.