Previous document: Aurora Officers

 

 

This document is now superseded

Aurora has two sets of officers representing the LGBT people of Croydon, and the Croydon Division of the Metropolitan Police Force. It also has a Treasurer who is not associated with either:

Community:

  • Community Representative
  • Deputy Community Representative
  • Community Administrator

Police:

  • Police Representative
  • Deputy Police Representative
  • Police Administrator

Neither:

  • Treasurer

The Treasurer is responsible to both police and community.

Here's what the officers do - shortest first:

The Treasurer

The Treasurer administers the funds and reports to the main meeting as required. This is unlikely to be more than two cheques a month.

The Deputy Community Representative

The Deputy Community Representative has no role unless the Community Representative is unavailable. Then he or she takes the role of the Community Representative in every respect.

The Community Representative to Aurora

The Community Representative chairs the main Aurora meeting, sharing the job with the Police Representative. (See Chairing the Main Aurora Meeting, below.)

(It’s a small meeting. Generally the Community and Police Representatives chair alternate meetings, but, to make things easier and a bit less formal, if the current chair speaks in his or her own name, the other Representative is automatically in the chair.)

If something unforeseen comes up between meetings, and if Aurora has to make a decision on it, then it is the two Representatives’ job to consult with members and establish what their decision is and then agree whatever needs to be done with the Police Representative. They must report the development promptly to members.

There are also a few minor jobs:

  • appointing the community administrator
  • approving agendas
  • removing someone’s membership
  • exercising a casting vote
  • deciding how to deal with a post vacated by an officer
  • reporting on his or her work if appropriate at a main meeting
  • deciding with the Police Rep if an Aurora matter should be dealt with in exceptional confidentiality

The Deputy Police Representative

The Deputy Police Representative stands in for the Police Representative when the Police Representative is not available.

The Police Representative to Aurora

Occasionally an unforeseen circumstance may require Aurora to make a decision, and it happens between meetings. If no Member or Working Party has been empowered to make that decision, then the two Representatives are authorised to do so. (The Community Representative must do so in consultation with Community Members as far as possible.)

The Representatives have discretion to make any decision that needs to be made urgently between meetings, on Aurora’s behalf. The Community Representative (or Deputy if the Community Representative is not available) consults with Members as far as practicable.

See notes on Chairing the Main Aurora Meeting, below.

Administration

The Police Representative is responsible for the police administration of Aurora. He or she delegates these responsibilities. If the Police Administrator (if appointed) is absent from a main meeting, the Police Representative decides how to proceed.

Those responsible for police Administration and community Administration will prepare agendas, minutes and documents relevant to the main meetings (the Representatives approve or modify them) and return them to the respective Administrator to publish them. The Administrators perform other duties according to the Standing Orders.

Exceptional measures to maintain confidentiality may be required at certain times. The Representatives have discretion to override other provisions in the Procedures to introduce these measures.

Either Representative may remove membership from someone who is not following Aurora’s Aims and Values. This may be indefinite or temporary e.g. for the duration of a meeting. Their membership is withdrawn subject to the approval of a main Aurora meeting at the earliest opportunity. Removing membership does not necessarily deny use of e-mail lists.

Chairing the Main Aurora meeting

Both the Police Represenative and the Community Representatives together are responsible for modifying and approving the Administrator’s agenda for the next main meeting and for chairing meetings as described above.

Each alternate meeting is chaired by the Community Representative and the Police Representative. (The Police Representative chairs the March and July meetings and the AGM in November.)

The Police Representative may need to speak on behalf of the police or on his or her own behalf. In this case, if the Police Representative has been in the Chair, the other Representative automatically takes the Chair while the Police Representative is speaking. Similarly if the Community Representative has been in the chair but speaks on behalf of him or her self or others, the Police Representative is automatically in the chair.

At the end of an item on the agenda, the Police Representative, at the discretion of the Chair, may sum up the resolutions and actions that have been agreed.

(So far issues have been resolved by consensus. We have never voted.) When it is necessary to put a motion to a vote, the Representative who is in the chair will not vote. If a casting vote is needed, the Representative who is in the Chair will have the casting vote, except in elections.

The Police Representative chairs the AGM, and decides, in consultation with members, which Officers and Working Parties submit reports and answer questions. (It is unlikely that this would ever be disputed.)

Each meeting will decide the date and place of the next meeting and will propose the date of the following meeting.

If the Police Representative (or Deputy) cannot chair the meeting, then the Community Representative (or Deputy) takes the chair. If no Representative is available then the meeting will elect a chair.


* a community member is a Croydon person who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and who is taking part in Aurora. For details, see our 'Procedures'.

 

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