The Community Public Service
The community public service is a body of 5,760 public servants who together help the community achieve its objectives and promises to the participants. Service to the community is voluntary, and involves largely consultancy work, as opposed to actual operations. Public servants are at their offices for 45 minutes from Monday to Thursday.
Every member of the public service belongs to a presidency of 4 meaning that in total, there are 1440 presidencies, including 960 branch presidencies. Considering that the community has around 100,000 people when fully formed, the public service accounts for 6% of all participants, and 14% of limited partners. 1 This means that there is a fairly good chance that a limited partner will serve in any of the offices depending on their skills, over the length of their stay in the community.
Calling presidency
Every presidency is called to its role by another presidency. The calling presidency shares some functional similarities with the presidency whose one president is being replaced. For instance, village presidencies are called to their roles by the executive presidencies in the Village Bureau. This provides another check in the recruitment process to ensure high-quality selection.
Key attributes for service
Every community servant goes through a process prior to their service during which they prepare, indicate a willingness to serve, and are recruited. The process also includes calling and selection by limited partners that the presidency intends to serve. Since the positions do not come with any remuneration, and the terms of service are long, ranging from 4 to 12 years, it is imperative that the community secure the services of people who desire to work, is well trained, and prepared for the role.
Desire
The enthusiasm and drive to ensure that the community does achieve what it was set up to do are important for every limited partner. For most, this is achieved through the businesses that they set up (stewardships), and their commitment to the dependents under their care. However, this desire to get the community to perform optimally can be expressed by serving in the community public service.
The desire to serve is first expressed when a limited partner is applying to join the community. The system through which they apply collects this information and uses it as the basis for preparing them further. Once a limited partner and their dependents, if any, have joined the community, they undergo basic training on serving, as part of their induction. Those who express an interest are then encouraged to take deeper training in the areas in which they potentially have proficiency.
It is essential for the community that people who are eventually selected to serve it have a strong desire to do so. The willingness to serve means that public servants are more productive in their service, are more willing to engage people and solve their problems, and are more inclined to encourage and introduce innovative responses to issues.
The desire to serve stems from the understanding that a person’s contribution can make the community better. It, therefore, makes them likelier to understand challenges, diagnose issues that inhibit the community from reaching its potential, and actively prescribe solutions to optimize its performance.
The community can cultivate the desire to serve by highlighting the absence of hierarchy in public service, such that a person intending to serve will not be answerable to a boss, but to the community as a whole. Additionally, serving the community generates a strong feeling of self-confidence and satisfaction from having used one’s skills to serve others with whom they share a common goal.
Preparation and readiness
For a president to satisfactorily carry out their duty, they must be well prepared for it at the start, instead of hoping to learn on the job. They must also be ready for it so that they can hit the ground running. To ensure that limited partners can discharge their mandate properly if they are called to serve, they undergo training as part of their induction process, so that they can be able to serve in a particular office with ease if and when their time comes.
The preparation process takes place before a limited partner even joins the community. As they learn about the community and the responsibility of different officials, they already have an idea of what is expected of them should they be called to such a position. The profession of a limited partner may be such that they are well-placed to perform a certain function. For instance, a financial expert can perform well at the Community Economic Bureau, while a lawyer would be at home in the Regulatory Bureau. However, this is not a requirement.
A member of the community public service will need to have a solid understanding of how the community works, and why it is designed as it is. It is difficult to gain such experience without living with the system and understanding it intimately as only a participant can. For people to be considered for a calling, therefore, it is necessary that they have lived in the community for a period of time to be well prepared.
Besides being a limited partner, a potential servant should be a model participant, by being able to use the social and economic opportunities offered. They should show the way to other participants by living the NewVistas way.
The community’s public service is structured in such a way that every office has a unique set of responsibilities, without any overlap between different functions or mandates. As a limited partner prepares to serve, they must have a specific office that they would want to serve in. Having identified the office, they should know the duties that they will perform in the office. As circumstances may allow, they can seek mentorship from the current holders so that they can be better prepared and learn their duty properly.
Recruitment, calling and choosing public servants
Whenever a community public servant’s term is nearing its end, the presidency within which they serve sets in motion the process to replace them. Different presidencies serve different terms, as determined by the nature of their service.
Table 1: Terms of service for community public servants. This spreadsheet details the replacement process further (link).
| Presidency | Term (years) | Frequency of replacement |
| Trustees | 12 | 1 of 48 trustees replaced quarterly |
| Executive presidencies | 12 | One president in each of the 8 boards is replaced annually |
| District presidencies | 8 | 1 of 4 district presidents is replaced every 2 years |
| Village presidencies | 8 | 1 of 4 village presidents is replaced every 2 years |
| Regulatory agent presidencies | 12 | 1 of 48 regulatory agents replaced quarterly |
| Data agent presidencies | 12 | 2 of the 96 Data agents were replaced quarterly |
| Business Development agent presidencies | 12 | 4 of 192 business development agents replaced quarterly |
| Branch presidencies | 4 | 1 of the 4 captains is replaced annually |
Recruitment
As a limited partner joins the community, they indicate their willingness to serve in the public service in the future. The community keeps this information, and over time, helps them get better training in the duties that they would like to perform. Once a position arises, the calling agency will run adverts as the members of the presidency whose member is to be replaced ponder over the likely names and select a candidate. As indicated above, the presidency considers potential candidates’ readiness to serve, willingness and desire, and whether they are up to the task.
While nominating someone, a president is allowed to cast their net beyond the community. They can nominate people in other communities as well, as long as such people are limited partners, fit other criteria such as experience and conduct, and would reasonably be considered willing to relocate should they be selected.
Once each of the presidents in a presidency has picked their desired replacement for the vacancy in their presidency, they deliberate on the names to ensure that there is no duplication and that the names do not reflect any sort of bias. They also vet the candidates to establish their competence and worthiness. Individual presidents can be advised to modify their choices at this stage. The approved list is then sent to the calling presidency.
Once the presidency has approved the four names, the four candidates are informed by the outgoing president, online. Here, the nominees can indicate their willingness to serve if selected. The president whose candidate has declined the nomination is given the chance to replace them with another person. The new name is then vetted and approved by the presidency.
Calling
The calling presidency vets the names afresh, considering the reports of the presidency they received the list from. They also consider the limited partners’ ability to discharge their duties should they be selected. From the list, they use this criterion to select two of the names for selection. Up to this point, the selection process is confidential, with each of the four original nominations knowing that they are still in the running.
Choosing
The president in the calling presidency from the same division as the president being replaced facilitates the selection. Here, a coin is flipped to decide between the two. This way of selecting has some functional and symbolic implications. By flipping a coin, instead of subjectively picking one candidate over the other, the incoming president owes their position to providence, meaning that they are immune from the horse-trading prevalent in modern politics. They are also not beholden to any individuals, but to the community that they serve. Flipping the coin means that the person has been selected by providence, rather than man. This gives them additional confidence to work as per the requirements of their office, without undue reference to the persons who may have used bias to select them. 2
On flipping the coin, all the four candidates are informed of the outcome of the process. The unsuccessful candidates are encouraged to apply in future for new opportunities that may arise from time to time.
Sustaining
Before they take their positions, the incoming president has to go through one final stage – approval by limited partners. Limited partners whom the president is going to serve also have a say through a vote. This process does not involve deciding between two persons. It rather intends to establish whether the incoming president, despite having passed all the other measures, enjoys the support of the people. Without this support, it might be impossible to deliver on their mandate, which is why this is necessary. The candidate must secure at least 60% support from the limited partners. After securing this support, they are then confirmed in their office.
Confirming
Upon receiving the approval of the limited partners that they will serve, the incoming president receives a refresh course in their new calling. This is done with the realization that, though they have the requisite knowledge, it must have ben some time since they closely interacted with the requirements of their role.
As they undergo the refresher course, the president is also acquainted with the office where they will serve, and their seat in rhe assembly hall. Additionally, they get to understand the limited partners they will serve. Al lthis happens before the president assumes their role formally.
Once the president is ready to discharge their duty, they occupy their office after the necessary handover details have been completed with the outgoing president. Over the course of their service, a president may leave office for a number of reasons, including being incapacitated, resigning, or removal.
If a president intends to resign, they give ample notice to the community, through the presidency they serve in as well as the calling presidency. The notice is meant to give the community public service sufficient time to replace the exiting president. Before the replacement process commences, the the president’s peers in the community public service will attempt to seek valid reasons why the president is leaving, and where possible, see whether any issues can be resolved to have them continue for the remainder of their term. Where this is not effective, the replacement process is kickstarted.
In other cases, the limited partners may be strongly dissatisfied with the performance of a president, they can petition for their removal from office. The petition can be lodged by any limited partner whom the president serves, with the calling presidency. The presidency examine the petition and establish whether it is merited – a petition with merit needs to show that the president grossly contravened the law, bylaws, or important community regulations. The petition also needs to show the actual or potential negative outcomes of their actions.
Once the calling presidency has approved the petition, it is put to a vote. The limited partners that the president serves must support the petition for removal by at least 67%. Once the petition gets achieves the required support, the president ceases holding office, and the replacement process is triggered by the president which they have been serving.
Vacancy in a presidency
Over the course of their service, a president may vacate their office, either as a result of a vote of no confidence in their service, or due to other reasons that preent them from working – such as a resignation, and physical/ mental incapacitation. When this happens, they are replaced. In instances where the individual exiting is resigning, they can be asked to continue acting on a caretaker basis as their replacement is selected. They then play an active role in the replacement process. Where this is not possible, the remaining members of the presidency, plus the member of the calling presidency from which the outgoing president, each select a potential replacement, before the process moves through the gears discussed above.
In the event that a president has left office before their term of office has reached the halfway point, their replacement serves the remainder of this term, after which the replacement process is done again. In instances where they have already gone past the halfway point, the incoming president will serve the remainder of therm, plus the term for the office remaining. This means that if a captain were to exit office after 3 years, the incoming president will serve the remaining 1 year, plus 4 years that a captain normally serves.
Conclusion
Limited partners join the community with the promise of sustainable prosperity, where they will be able to enjoy a high standard of living, and equal access to social and economic opportunities. When they join, they can serve in the community public service, which gives them not only the opportunity to further support the community’s ideals and principles but also enhance their personal and professional growth.
References and further reading
Baker DE. Volunteerism and Professional Development. Hosp Pharm (2015), Sep;50(8):655-6.
Rasmusen, E. “Should candidates flip a coin if the difference is small?” The Center for Law, Economics, and Business (2001).
Redecker, Christine, Alexandra Haché, and Clara Centeno. “Using information and communication technologies to promote education and employment opportunities for immigrants and ethnic minorities.” Joint Research Centre, European Commission (2010).
- Volunteer public service provides opportunities for personal and professional growth. It also enables limited partners to walk the talk on various bylaws and rules, making them more conversant with the the way the community works, and determined to improve it. [↩]
- For instance, in political competition, the gap may be so small as to be insignificant, such as the 2000 US presidential election that eventually saw Bush take Florida by slightly more than 500 votes. Eric Rasmusen has argued that in such instances, a coin-flip might be more appropriate. In the community, the coin-flip is not a tie-breaker, but a resort to providence to give the selected candidate a true mandate. [↩]