The Constitution of Florencia

I - Preamble

We are pioneers.

At no previous time in the existence of Talossa, had a province been formed out of the belly of another until Florencia was born. While other Talossans co-opted and developed tracts of land set aside for them by the government, turning them into fantasy fiefdoms, only one province was founded on the same principles of democracy and freedom that the Republic itself was found upon.

We are Florencia.

Taking the name of a benevolent former Talossan ruler, King Florence, Florencia is one of the few provinces that after being settled, was actually developed by the native population. We took great pride is this and fought to keep our sovereignty even when greater powers looked to take it away from us. When the great revolution of 2004 took place, Florencia followed the newly formed Republic away from the darkness of tyranny and into the light of a true democratic state.

The rewrite I have on this last paragraph was :
On this xx day of February 2008, Florencia declares its beliefs and adopts this provincial Constitution which affirms the preservation of life, liberty and safeguard the law. The articles contained herein prevail over provincial laws preceding them. As Talossa is more than just the sum of its parts, so too is this province.

Viva la Florencia!

II - The Geography

1. We proudly name our province “Florencia” or in proper Talossan “La Provincu Florencia”.
2. The province lies within the following confines: From North Avenue running east to Prospect Avenue, from Prospect Avenue southwest to Kane Street. Kane Street northwest to Farwell Avenue, Farwell Avenue southwest to Brady Street, Brady Street west to Warren Avenue, Warren Avenue north to the Boyleston Street. From Boyleston Street west to the Milwaukee River, and the Milwaukee River north to North Avenue.
3. All lands and islands man made or naturally forming in Florencian territorial waters are irrevocably part of the provincial territory.
4. The Provinical Capital will be the “Landmark Building” located on the corner of East Kenilworth and North Farwell Avenue, home of the Landmark Theatre. Should a standing Governor move within the borders of the Province, their residence would be considered the focal point of the province and reassume the honor of being the provincial capital. The domicile would then adopt the name “manor” prefaced with the Street name (i.e. Irving Manor)
5. The official languages of Florencia are English and Talossan.

II - The Citizenry

1. All Florenicans must be citizens of the Republic of Talossa and be assigned to this province. Upon assignment, the citizen is not allowed to participate in voting for the first 3 months which are deemed a "settling period".

IV - Flags and Coats of Arms

1. Florencia will have flags, which will have further definition pending the “Governor’s Commission on Flag Creation”. When the flags are created they will appear as “Schedule 1” in this Constitution.
2. Florencia will have a coat of arms, which will have further definition pending the “Governor’s Commission Coat of Arms Creation.” When this coat of arms is created, it will appear as “Schedule 2” in this Constitution.




Let's lose the governors commission already. We have the goods. Let it read:

X. Florencia has adopted a flag which appears in “Schedule 1” of this Constitution. (This can even include a brief description of the symbolism on the flag.)

X. Florencia has adopted a coat of arms which appears in “Schedule 2” of this Constitution. (This can even include a brief description of the symbolism on the COA. I believe Dave has some things to say about the choice of lion)




3. The provincial anthem shall be “Built A Little Empire” by “They Might Be Giants.” It is a reminder of where we came from.
   

V - Florencian Provincial Government

1. Governmental Organization: Florencian Government consists of a parliamentary democracy within the federal structure of the Talossan Republic. The sole legislative body will be a single house known as 'The Rave'. The provincial Governor will oversee this body as well as advise on all internal affairs.
2. Governor of Florencia (GoF)  - is the proprietor of the Province and it is his responsibility to maintain its livelihood. Because of this he must have been a Talossan citizen for at least 1 year and have held a government post (such as member of a cabinet, or a justice of the court) or been an active member in the legislative chamber for at least one session.Because of this he must have been a Talossan citizen for at least 3 months.
   
   

   We can permanently delete the 1 yr., must have held post clause from further versions of this document. The underlined text "3 month" clause can be made permanent without any dissentions that is. :-)

   
   
   The Governor has the following duties and powers: The Governor...
   1. is held accountable for promoting the interests and heritage of Florencia.
   2. is required to sing our sacred anthem, “Built A Little Empire”, as his solemn oath of office.
   3. may legislate on behalf of the province.
   4. may amend the Constitution only with majority approval of The Rave or by the recommendation of an appointed committee of his choosing consisting of two or more independent members of the Rave.
   5. has the power to veto legislation passed by The Rave if he feels that it is unconstitutional or in some way detrimental the health and prosperity of the province. His veto may be over-ridden by a 2/3 rds majority vote of the Rave.
   6. shall maintain one seat in The Rave, but may only use that vote to resolve “legislative gridlock”.
   7. signature is required on all bills passed by The Rave before they become law.
   8. will also have duties pertaining to provincial elections that are specified later in this document.
   9. If the Governor doesn't fulfill his duties for more than three months without just cause, the Rave may call to impeach him.



Let's not "impeach", let's just "remove" them. Impeachment is a process you have to define legislatively. It can include removal or sanctioning depending on how pissed off everyone is. Removing a deadbeat official with a 2/3 majority of the legislature is so much more simple, and you can still always tell people that you "impeached" them. :-)




3. Electoral Commissioner (EC)
   1. is appointed by the Governor and is approved by the Office of the Secretary of State and may be a standing office.
   2. may not be the acting or current Governor, is in charge of overseeing and maintaining the voting process within the province..
   3. will be advised and assisted by the Office of the Secretary of State as needed or requested.



This addition looks fine, but the order of things is really weird. The second clause is really two distinct definitions of the office with second part being the actual job description. At the very least it should read:
-May not be the acting or current Governor
-Is in charge of overseeing and maintaining the voting process within the province.
I would tend to put the job description as close to the top as possible.



4. The Legislature (The Rave)

   The Rave shall be composed of all people who have full Talossan citizenship that are assigned to Florencia Province in accordance with the immigration laws of the Republic of Talossa. Each citizen of Florencia shall have a voice in this body. Florencians and will only have voting priveleges once they are "settled citizens" of the province, unless:

   • they are otherwise reprimanded by some official court of the Republic,
   • they have been reprimanded by some established provincial court granted that power.
   • they decide, by their own resolve, not to be involved

   A citizen who chooses not to vote on legislation presented to the Rave may do so on three consecutive occasions after which he forfeits this right. To regain the voting privilege, he must petition the Rave to have his legislative voting rights restored or ask for a pardon from the provincial governor. This “non
   > participation forfeiture” clause does not apply to general elections.

We can kill this clause as well. I would like to replace it with the following one. It is unoffically titled the "Leave me alone for now" option.

"A citizen who chooses not to vote on legislation presented to the Rave may do so on three consecutive occasions after which their name will be ignored on the roll until they request it be placed back onto it. There is no forfeiture of voting rights, however the legislature respects a persons right to not participate and three consecutive misses is the traditional Talossan signal of non-participation." Let me know what you think.

VII - Elections and Voting

All Florencian elections and voting will be held under the recognized Talossan principles of the times. All eligible citizens will be contacted and the province as a whole will be responsible for contacting inactive citizens to inform them of their necessity to vote.

I cannot let you delete this without some counter-offer to supply the governor, people running the elections, and candidates a means to contact the voters directly. Banner ads should never be the rule of the day. This also mandates that folks update their contact info.

Gubernatorial Elections:

1. Elections for Governor will be run once every 6 months in may, making adjustments so as not to be in conflict with the Talossan general elections. A majority vote of the voting citizens is needed to win this election.




I think we agreed that this time frame needed to be extended to either 2 or 4 years. Every 6 months is sort of ridiculous for the three of us. I like the 2 year package. Allows for some continuity, the ability to get on a roll, and with 3 people if things are bad the Rave, on a whim, can always gang up and remove the poor bastard, who at this moment is me. Aside from this, the phrase "Every 6 months, in May", doesn't make any sense.



2. A governor is responsible for calling timely elections and making timely appointments of the Electoral Commissioner. It is the citizens' duty to remind the Governor when he is negligent in calling elections
3. Gubernatorial elections will be run by the Electoral Commissioner.
4. The length of the Gubernatorial elections will be 2 weeks or until all eligible voters have cast their ballots.
5. Voters will cast a single vote for a single candidate on their ballots and will be allowed a 24 grace period in which they may change their vote to another candidate or retract their vote altogether. Each voter may change their vote only once per election cycle.
6. There will be no time deduction from a Governors term due to stalemates in the voting system The acting Governor will maintain his position until the new governor is sworn in and from that time the new governor will begin his designated service.
7. The final judgments regarding elections shall come from the Electoral Commissioner.

VIII - All civil rights guaranteed by Talossan law shall be upheld by Florencia.

This constitution supercedes all previous constitutions put forth by this province and was officially commuted to law by an official declaration from the Provincial Governor and founder John Eiffler, with consensus approval from her citizens on February XX, 2008.

Long Live Talossa

> Viva La Florencia

John Eiffler-Art Verbotten: Founder & Governor