The Federation/Governorate Council

The Federation of City-States (Abbreviated as “The Federation” hereafter) has the stated purpose to expand cities in the MRT Gamma Server by connecting the cities via constructing links, encourage economic and industrial growth, provide a peer-led court system, and ensure transportation are handled in a manner that is both realistic and makes sense. In order to meet the goals, we have to PLAN for transportation, help BUILD each other’s cities, provide JUSTICE to all, and CONSTRUCT transportation links to easily move people around. It is important to note that The Federation is not considered an official MPO by the staff.

The Federation is structured as the overall MPO with several MPOs under its control. Rather than an unwieldy umbrella organization with its power focused into specific individuals, FCS has balanced itself with the 4 main MPO that has nominal jurisdiction over the majority of the Gamma World. The Federation itself has three relevant groups-- the Mayor’s Council, The Civil Courts, and the Governorate Council. The Federation will have its Headquarters located inside Central City to remove any favoritism towards a specific town.

This specific section will focus on explaining the Governorate Council at-depth.

The Governorate Council is responsible for the exact details of how to proceed with the directives given by the Mayor’s Council. It is the Governorate Council that determines how to best connect towns, be it via rail, bus, road, highways, or ferries. They will then submit a proposal to the GSM (and the Google Docs for public consumption) for construction, then oversees the construction of such necessary roads. The council is also responsible in ensuring that the justice system is based on fair and unbiased decisions, and oversees any decision made by the justices. Only the Governorate Council can determine if a case deserves an appeal and/or rehearing before the entire Justice Council of the Civil Court, where any and all decisions are final. The Governorate Council also determines the 5 seats of the Justice Council.

The Council is made of 2 permanent seats appointed by the Admods; 4 seats given to a MPO Representative elected from each of the 4 largest MPO; and the Mayor at Large elected by the entire Mayor’s Council. The 4 largest MPO will determine who they elect to the Council for a minimum term of a month and a maximum term of 5 months, to be determined by the individual MPOs.

In summary, the Governorate Council does the following:

• Planning for Highways, including identifying best corridors to be built
• Contacts any town mayors in its path to ensure approval is gained
• Planning for Commuter Rail corridors, including identifying best way to link towns to each other
• Planning for Ferries Connections, including identifying which towns should have ferries and which shouldn’t on the Lakes.
• Oversees the Finance Office to help raise/gather money with right-of-way purchases, paying contractors, and any other finance issues.
• Can only request money from regional MPOs, not individuals
• Can replenish money from completing contracts with the Server (highway construction fees, etc.) or by donations.
• Submits plans to GSM for approval
• Supervises the Construction of Projects
• Selects major transportation hubs
• Selects cases to be heard before the Justice Council
• Selects the members to serve the Justice Council

Governorate Council Seats

The Governorate Council requires that we set a specific set of regulations for any Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) before we can expand on the Governorate Council specifications. The_Federation/Metropolitian_Planning_Organizations has all the minimum qualifications for a MPO.

The Governorate Council will have a total of 7 seats. They are:

• 2 Permanent Seats to be originally assigned/selected by the Admods. They are people who are not up for any election, but rather expected to act as the shepherds of the Federation, ensuring that there will always be stability at the Council. The assigned people can be anyone the Admods feels worthy enough to serve. If one or both of the Permanent Council Members resigns for any reason at any time, the Admods will decide to either select another person to fill the Permanent Council Member seat or open the vacant seats to either another Mayor-at-Large for a term of 2 months, or the 5th/6th ranked MPO. The admods reserves the right to re-designate the seat to a permanent member only on the first day of each month, and with advance 15-day notice to the public to be done via The Federation wiki page.

• 4 Seats to be assigned individually to the representatives of the 4 largest MPO on the servers.

To determine the largest MPO, a points system is used to determine the size of an MPO: The MPO shall list, on their wiki page, all their cities and its rank. Each city must also declare their primary MPO for this purpose. The MPO will then get points for the following:

Premier City	5 Points
Governor City	4 Points
Senator City	3 Points
Mayor City	2 Points
Councillor City	1 Points
Each Town involved in an SMP	2 points per City

(SMP encourages inter-city planning and development, so it should be rewarded.)

The 4 MPO with the highest points will then have their seats assigned to the Governorate Council. The MPO will retain the seat until the next Mayors Council at least. At each Mayor’s Council meeting, the Council will recount the MPO rankings. If there is a change in the MPO rankings that causes a MPO drop its rank to 5th or lower, the MPO loses the representative seat and the new MPO will have its representative assigned to the Governorate Council. This can be done only once every month to prevent confusion.

• One seat to be assigned by a general bimonthly election of the Mayor’s Council of any Mayor who has not been elected Leader of any MPOs.

Governorate Council Expectations and Roles

The council is expected to do the following:

• Upon receiving the Monthly Campaign from the Mayor’s Council, to focus all their planning on achieving the Campaign within the month.
  • It does not mean all construction must be complete within a month; it means all the necessary planning, set-up, and proposals are made within the month.
  • If the result at GSM is that the Campaign is not approved, the Campaign is discarded and the Governorate Council continues with the next Monthly Campaign project.

The Monthly Campaign expects you to finish the planning within the month; all construction should be complete within 4 months after GSM approval; earlier is always preferred.

• Planning for Server-wide Highways, including identifying best corridors to be built, including ensuring all towns affected by bypasses or a route through their towns are contacted and approve of the plans. They are expected to draw up a map, with the route clearly marked, for GSM approval.
  • Ensuring the route makes sense (it does not follow an existing MRT or Highway along its entirety) and does not have random changes in directions-- any random changes should be done as a spur to the highway.
  • Ensuring the route is not too long-- the longer it is, the less likely it will be approved at the GSM.
  • When the route is decided, submit a map to the GSM with a reasonable cost estimate. Remember that the money is being used to pay for right-of-way, construction contractors, and other miscellaneous stuff, so price it a bit higher.

• Planning for Commuter Rail corridors, including identifying best way to link towns to each other
  • Determine the right rail tech vendor for each case by case. Some tech vendors are better at mainlining corridors, and some tech vendors are better at individual lines. Not all towns must be on a main line. Some are better suited for an spur.
  • Obtain permissions from all involved, and ensure they have the proper rank for rail connections.
  • Publish a map on the Federation wiki of the current rail project so all knows what’s going on.

• Planning Ferries Connection
  • Remember, ferries can be connected to another ferries port ONLY if there is an linking water connections between the two towns.
  • If an major canal is needed, you must provide valid reason in how it will provide for many people, rather than a single city. Assume any further major canals will not be needed due to existing canals.
  • Select an ferry company to provide connections. Make use of a port by offering more companies per port connections-- encourage competition! Don’t encourage a monopoly at any port.

• Oversees the Capital Finance Office to help raise/gather money with right-of-way purchases, paying contractors, and any other finance issues that may arises.
  • In a google document, treat it as a check-- put in any deposit and take out any withdrawal.
  • The General Fund will be public to allow for full transparency
  • The Council can only request money from the regional MPO, not from direct individuals. This prevents the council from extorting individuals into paying money to obtain transit/planning perks that should otherwise be offered by the council freely.
  • However, donations are accepted with the implicit understanding that any money are not designated for specific projects, but for the general funds.
  • It is expected that the General Fund replenishes itself through successful completion of highway projects submitted to the GSM.

• Submits any and all required plans to the GSM for approval
  • Any plans must be done in a professional and concise manner
  • Any plans submitted must have 100% approval of all affected before proceeding
  • Any plans submitted must have all of its requirements met (proper rank clearance, approvals from the mayors, and all information are included).

• Supervises the Construction of Projects
  • Ensure all involved in the construction are either paid accordingly at a fair rate, or has freely volunteered their time
  • Ensure the construction is done according to server rules and guidelines
  • Ensure the construction is on-track, and does not deviate from the plan submitted to the GSM
  • Makes sure all employees involved are on the same page

• Selects Major Transportation Hubs
  • Select few cities (preferably 2-3 per quadrant) to encourage MPOs to converge their projects on for maximum ease in transit/highway access
  • Focus highway and rail construction to those selected towns
  • Obtain an parcel of land for a major transit hub, or ask to use their hub
  • Design and execute transit/highway connections to those selected hubs

• Selects the Justice Council
  • Must select 5 neutral individuals with an reasonable expectation of moderation in court cases.
  • Must select Justices that has the ability to run the court case and mediate conflict between individuals
  • Must select Justices that will be able to assess cases and treat it fairly in cases where there are no previous precedent, and apply proper decision-making in cases where there are precedent
  • Replaces Justices only if 1) a majority agreement within the Governorate Council is reached; 2) an vote by the Mayor’s Council makes it mandatory; and/or 3) a vacancy is created by an resigned justice.
  • Recommend specific cases to be heard by the Justice Council
  • Only done if individual appeals the decision made by the Court
  • If the case merits a serious, closer look at either the decision and/or the case, refer to the Justice Council. If it does not merit a closer look, stand with the first court decision
  • Justice Council decisions are final.
  • Reference Decisions are final.
  • Law of Supremacy rests with the Governorate Council

• Any decision made by the Council acts as the primary rules as long as it does not interfere with the server rules and guidelines.
  • If there are an rule/guideline that needs to be created, it requires the majority (4 votes) of the Governorate Council to be passed and made law. The Mayor’s Council has the veto override power, but requires a supermajority (66%+1 of the votes) to override. Any law/rules/guideline must be written into the wiki to become active. (No unwritten rules).
  • If there is a loophole, the Governorate Council’s decision will be the final decision and an rule will be added to the Law documents (Law Documentation will be covered in-depth at the Justice Council section). **It will also be applied retroactively to prevent loophole abuses.
  • Any precedents set forth by the Justice must first take the Server Rules and Guidelines first, and the law set by the Governorate only afterwards.