Agency 1: Short-duration Assets

The first agency in the community, Short-duration Assets, governs the rules and processes through which stewards use and change the custody of short-duration assets. These rules and processes guide the acquisition, leasing, replenishment, and use of short-term assets. The agency also governs the rules that guide the use of working capital facilities and of community-linked credit lines by stewards and their dependents.

In a NewVistas community, all assets are owned by the community. Agencies 7 (Clearing), 8 (Property), and 9 (Capital) hold title on behalf of the community trust. Agencies in the village Bureau (agencies 1 – Short-duration assets, 2 – Long-duration assets, and 3 – Equipment provide the framework of rules that governs
how these assets are acquired, leased, used, and disposed. Each agency governs a specific class of assets.

Assets governance

While the community owns all assets and governs how they are acquired and utilized, it does not have custody. Instead, stewards have physical and operational custody, controlling how assets are utilized. Community agencies also do not engage in the daily utilization of assets, with their role strictly being restricted to governing the various processes through which assets are acquired, used, and disposed.

Acquisition

Every steward is required by the community to write a detailed business plan that covers every aspect of their enterprise, including raw material procurement, production, logistics, marketing, risk management, and accounting. This plan is submitted to the community through the Schema Agency (agency 19). The agency runs various checks on the business plan, using its data and AI, as well as other agencies’ capabilities for stress testing, viability assessment, and risk management, before approving it.

Once approved, the steward sources the inventory required. To do this, the steward uses their credit line, which is owned by agency 7 as a short-duration asset, and governed by agency 1.

While the Short-duration Assets agency governs the acquisition process, which is carried out by the teward, the acquired asset belongs to Agency 7 (clearing), which also owns all assets that Agency 1 controls.

The change in custody here is one of the special aspects of the community’s economic system. Since the inventory belongs to the community, the current custodian releases it to the buyer upon receipt of payment. The payment goes towards replenishing their credit line, while the surplus, after deducting what is sufficient for their business and personal expenses, goes to the community. The new custodian now has the inventory, as well as a negative balance in their credit line amounting to what they paid for the asset.

Through all this, the Short-duration Assets agency monitors the process and has established guidelines to guide the acquisition of any assets.

The acquisition of inventory and other short-duration assets does not always occur through this process. Sometimes, it is mined, in this case, its value being based on market value (based on actual value and availability, with value being mostly based on the prices of future products derived from raw material), fees for extracting rights, and the cost of extraction, including transport from mine to initial storage before further processing.

When selling, the steward who obtains the raw material will look to replenish their credit lines first, cover the cost of extraction, and thereafter make a profit based on the factors listed above. Every other step in the processing chain will use the first cost as a basis for its own costing.

Leasing and maintenance

Whenever a steward has custody of an asset – whether inventory or any other- they are in fact leasing it from the community, which maintains full ownership at all times. The Short-duration Assets agency governs the leasing process. Agreements are entered between it, on behalfof the community, and the relevant steward. The agency then issues biinding leases to the custodian of an asset. It describes the rights and obligations of both parties to the agreement.

When inventory and other short-duration assets are not used consumptively – meaning that the steward uses the item for a short time and returns it in the same conditions or close to it- the agency engages contractors who otherwise maintain custody when the asset is not in active use.

In either case, whoever has custody is also responsible for maintaining assets and keeping them in merchantable order. For instance, a business that buys flour from millers and processes it for use in restaurants for tacos, porridge, bread, and other products keeps the product in stock for a reasonable amount of time to ease operations. It is responsible for storage and logistics, which contribute to its production cost.

Stewards are responsible for maintaining the right stock levels for their business. The records that show stock movements are also viewed by the Short-duration Assets agency. Replenishment is a factor of both the prevailing stock conditions and the steward’s business plan, and, while it is initiated by the steward, the agency maintains control over the process to ensure proper business practices and prevent abuse of the system. In most cases, however, the agency discharges these functions through its automated system and contractors.

As mentioned earlier, the assets that Agency 1 deals with are mostly processed and consumed, and in such cases, depreciation and disposal as in the case of medium and long term assets is absent. However, in cases where short-term assets are to be disposed of, the agency maintains accounting and technical reports that clearly show the status of each asset, its maintenance schedules, depreciation, and the expected time of disposal. When this time arrives, the agency again engages contractors to dispose of the item.

sub-spend controls (credit lines and working capital)

Each steward is issued a credit line by the Short-duration Assets agency. The credit lines are owned by the Clearing Agency (Agency 7), which, in conjunction with other agencies in the Repository Bureau (agencies 8 and 9), secures the facility from an external bank.

Agency 1 governs how the credit line is used. While stewards are allowed to use it for all their personal and business expenses, there are guardrails in place to prevent abuse and waste. The agency implements guidelines to ensure responsible use, so participants can improve their financial status, make their businesses and lives more successful, and be more prosperous.

Training

As part of their business plan, a steward is expected to be competent in handling the assets in their custody. The Short-duration Assets Agency coordinates with the Schema Agency (agency 19) to ensure that sufficient training material is available in the community, offered independently by other stewards, so that stewards are not only competent but also in a position to thrive because they have the necessary skills.

How the agency works

As is the case with all 24 agencies, the Short-duration Assets Agency’s councils has three presidencies. Each presidency consists of four presidents, representing the four major demographic groups in the community (partnered males (A), partnered females (B), single males (C), and single females (D)).

Of the three presidencies, one is a trustee presidency, another, a governing presidency, and a third, a rule and verification presidency. The three presidencies form an agency council of 12 members, which serves as an additional check and balance, while ratifying important agency decisions that have a significant effect on participants, the community’s nature, and the institutional corpus.

Trustee presidency

The community’s institutional corpus, or the total of all its contributed and retained capital, is held in trust by a trust council. The trust council consists of 12 seats, each of which is a presidency of four. Therefore, the trustee council has 48 members.

Each trustee presidency is tasked with overseeing and guiding two agencies to ensure that the interests of the community are safeguarded, both in providing quality services to participants and in utilizing the institutional corpus effectively.

The trustee presidency, which serves agency 1, also serves agency 13 in the same capacity. Because the two agencies may have diametrically different roles, within a presidency, there may be diversity to ensure that both agencies are served well.

For instance, the trustee presidency of four that serves agency 1 and 13 would need individuals with knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAPs), as well as copyright and innovation laws. Since it is rare to have all four people with this knowledge, some of them could have expertise in accounting, and others, in the roles associated with agency 13. This way, the presidency and the trust council as a whole serve the community effectively.

Within the Short-duration Assets Agency, the trustee presidency originates strategies, which the other two presidencies in the agency council discuss and approve with whatever amendments they have agreed to. thereafter, the trustee presidency works with the governing presidency in the implementation of the strategies, offering guidance to ensure that the community’ isnterests are safeguarded.

Governing presidency

Each agency has one governing presidency of four presidents. The core role of the governing presidency is to implement the agency coouncil’s decisions on strategies. The govoerrning presidency does not engage in the daily running of the agency. Instead, their role is to coordinate various cogs in the agency system to perfform as expected and deliver on agency council resolutions.

Among the agency’s cogs, one of the most significant is the automated system. This system, which is powered by AI and which synthesizes large amounts of data collected by the community, is the primary point of interaction between agencies and their customers, the participants.

Another important element in the agency’s operations is contractors. Contractors are professionals who have a business in a field relevant to the agency. Contractors can have agencies, participants, or both as their clients. For instance, participants get training on stock-taking and basic bookkeeping from contractors who are certified by various agencies, including agency 1. Their services, however, are paid for by participants. From time to time, agencies may need automated training material or a human perspective on the workings of the agency, and hire a contractor for the task.

Rule and Verification presidency

The third agency presidency is a rule and verification presidency. Like trustees, rule and verification presidencies serve two agencies: one in the Human and Financial Capital Department (agencies 1 – 12), and another in the Systems Governance Depaertment (agencies 13 – 24). therefore the presidency serving agency 1 also serves agency 13.

The rule and verification presidencies’ core responsibility is to ensure compliance of an agency’s operations and decisions with the law, community bylaws, and best practices. They sit in the agency council to provide legal guidance during deliberations, ensuring that strategies and other policy decisions are lawful. Thereafter, they ensure that the implementation and monitoring of agencies’ operations are in line with laid down policies, engaging in regular dialogue with other presidencies towards this aim.

At the core of their responsibilities, the rule and verification presidency helps agency 1 to meet various operational guidelines and advice developed by agencies in the Rule and Verification Bureau. These agencies are Research and Verification (13), Legal (14), and Audit (15).

Village presidencies serving in agency 1

Each of the 96 villages in a NewVistas community has three village presidencies, which together form a village council. Each of the three village presidencies serves an agency in the Village Bureau – 1, 2, or 3.

Village presidencies have more interaction with participants than agency presidencies. However, their primary role is to observe how different aspects of the agency work, collecting data along the way and channeling it to the governance presidency. The governance presidency is then able to have a nuanced perspective of how the agency is performing, besides the hard data that the automated system generates. This helps them give the community more complete updates on their agency every quarter.

Role of captains in agency 1 operations

While the Short-duration Assets Agency discharges most of its duties through its automamted system and contractors, in some instances, there may be a need for human interaction to help participants navigate the system, get more training, and offer in-person suggestions and complaints. This correspondence is channeled through captains.

Captains are a service extension of the Village Bureau. However, they serve participants as an interface between them and the 24 agencies. Within their branch, captains form a branch presidency of four and are in this capacity referred to as “branch presidents,” or “captains of 100.”

Presidencies offices

Offices

A key aspect of plat-based communities’ governance is that each public officer has a distinct set of duties that they have an obligation to learn, an office, and a seat in the assembly hall, where all 480 presidencies meet every quarter for presentations on every agency, given by governance presidencies.

One of the ways through which the community ensures that those who are “called” to serve in public positions “stand in their position” is by assigning each one of them an office. The governance presidency has its offices in District Building 1, on the Western side (as illustrated below).

The trustee presidency shares offices with the rule and verification presidency. Their office is situated across from that of the governance presidency, therefore, on the Eastern side. Since they serve two agencies, they are in the offices for two alternate days a week: trustees on Mondays and Wednesdays, and rule and verification presidencies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Office hours

All agency presidencies serve on a full-time basis. They are in their offices for four hours a day, for four hours a week – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. While their work day begins at 10:00 AM, there is an exception on Thursday, when they arrive an hour early for the presidency meetings. Because of the nature of their service, agency presidencies are expected to have fully retired from their business and dedicate all their attentions to the community. Their obligations are such that an additional burden of running a stewardship would distract them and also introduce opportunities for conflict of interest and abuse of their position.

Village presidencies and captains serve on a part-time basis. They are in their offices for 45 minutes every Monday-Thursday. They are then free to proceed to their active businesses.

Quarterly conferences

Quarterly conferences are held on the last Sunday of each quarter, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with a lunch break in between. Quarterly conferences are held for governance presidents to give the community an update of their agencies’ performance.

Quarterly conferences are held in District Buildings 5 and 17. Each building has a lower and higher assembly court. The different demographic groups use the assembly courts as follows:

Each of the four assembly courts has seats for 480 presidents representing the respective demographic. The 480 seats are easily rotatable to enable presidents to face whoever is speaking. During quarterly conferences, each demographic presidency sits together in the same row.

Each of the four courts has an identical arrangement and number of seats.

Within an assembly court, the 480 presidents are arranged in terms of demographic presidencies of 3. The Village Bureau’s demographic presidency for partnered males (1A, 2A, and 3A) sits in the highlighted seats. Various villages’ demographic presidencies also sit on the same row.