Councils of 50
In full operation, a NewVistas community consists of 75,000 – 100,000 participants, organized into 24 districts, each with 4 villages. In turn, a village has 10 branches, each of which has 4 units of around 25 participants each.
Communities form organically. Over time, they spin off to form new communities, many of which may be closely located to each other. While communities are autonomous in their operations, and are up to 90% self-sufficient, it is nonetheless important for them to collaborate on a range of issues. Such collaboration is structured, designed to generate positive incomes without the possibility of domination of one community by another, or an overlapping of responsibilities, a factor that breeds confusion and affects productivity.
A community will closely collaborate with 49 other communities, physically located nearby. The 50 communities will form a NewVista, a coalition of communities linked by geography but also by common interests. These communities coordinate on all aspects of their cooperation, making a NewVista a strong, cohesive entity that can more meaningfully advance communities’ agenda as opposed to individual communities.
The 50 communities coordinate through the presidencies of their respective 24 agencies. Agency presidencies form councils of 50. Each agency has three agency presidencies of four – a trustee presidency, an operational presidency, and a regulatory presidency. Therefore, across the NewVista, there are three councils of 50 for every agency – a total of 72 councils of 50. Each council focuses on duties that are relevant to the functions of the agencies the presidencies serve.
Historical background
In the early LDS Church, Joseph Smith established a council in 1844, shortly before his death, to govern LDS saints’ civil matters. The council, though consisting of many senior members of the church, also included other people who were not members. It was a separate entity from the general church’s organizational structure.
The early church operated in a challenging political and social environment. For instance, the saints were on the receiving end of brutal persecution in many of the areas where they had established communities – in fact, Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob 4 months after establishing the council.
Early church leadership led by Smith sought to engage more positively with political and local leadership in the areas where they lived. The council of 50 would be a valuable tool for this. LDS communities had been established in geographically diverse locations in the United States. There needed to be a mechanism through which these communities could collaborate on social matters, outside the formal administrative structures of the church, which would be provided by the Council of 50.
While early LDS communities were established in areas that already had inhabitants from other faiths, saints felt that there needed to be a civil system that, while complimenting exciting laws and regulations, would assist saints to live more harmoniously with fellow saints and to more fully live the word of the Lord.
The council of 50 would set up the systems through which saints would resolve civil issues without the need to resort to legal suits. Early leaders, notably Sidney Rigdon, taught that there should be no division between church and state, in effect advocating for a theocratic government. This was deeply unpopular in the country and led to many problems that the early Saints encountered.
The early church also needed to have a mechanism through which it could address its issues with the authorities, which had led to widespread persecution and expulsions. The Council of 50 would have helped with this. Purposefully, it included people who were not members of the LDS, as Joseph Smith taught that all people of all religions and denominations would form part of the Kingdom, though Jesus himself would be king.
General duties of Councils of 50
Councils of 50 coordinate issues that, due to geographic, climatic, political, or legal circumstances, prevent the optimal operation of an individual agency. It may also be done to reap from the economies of scale, creating the sort of operational and financial muscle that can push through major infrastructural developments, form powerful lobby groups to pursue the interests of the NewVista, among other things.
Councils of 50 also tap into extensive regulatory and oversight practices to improve individual agencies’ capabilities. For instance, regulatory councils of 50 will focus on how they can help agencies become more efficient in their operations, while trustee councils can focus both on how their strategy-formulation is better, and how to incorporate the viewpoints of other presidencies in the process.
The first Council of 50 to form is the Capital Bank Trustee Council. This is merely because the Capital Bank is the first agency to form, and when there are only two communities, the council will only have two members. Now, the council’s efforts will be focused on much more than the traditional duties of the agencies – the council will have an important duty in facilitating the growth of the two communities and others that may be in the planning stages.
In instances where there are two communities, but they do not share similar geographical areas, in addition to cultural or economic ties, they will not form a Council of 50, because their areas of cooperation may be too minimal to warrant the effort. For instance, a community in Ecuador may find little or nothing in common with another in Iraq. In such instances, cooperation is facilitated through Area and World Area presidencies.
Each community in a NewVista is surrounded by farmland, pastures, wilderness, and areas for raw material extraction. Different communities’ farmland and wilderness areas are next to each other, even though their physical campuses are wider apart, sometimes several miles. With the communities being geographically close to each other, there is a high exchange of trade and culture, as well as a need to collaborate on a few infrastructural undertakings.
Some NewVistas may encompass a whole country, in other cases a state or province, or other legal entities. It is important, for the sake of streamlined interactions with legal authorities, for such NewVistas to have a unified approach. A NewVista’s regulatory council of 50 is likely to take the lead in such matters, coordinating with presidencies in the council and offices of concern.
While each community’s trustee agency presidencies will autonomously originate strategy, which will then be discussed within their agency councils and approved or amended, there may be need to align strategy with other communities in a community. For instance, the Transport Agency’s trustee presidency may identify based on data, the need to significantly upgrade the air transport within the community’s crop and pastureland, providing new airstrips and helipads. Some of these lands may be near other communities, necessitating a collaboration to minimize costs and optimize benefits. The agency’s trustee council of 50 will play an important role in guiding this collaboration.
With each presidency being formed by 4 presidents, each council of 50 has 200 members. The bulk of a council’s work is performed through committees that are formed based on expertise, terms of reference, and the relevant communities. For instance, a project to upgrade the fiber network that serves 10 communities will be discussed and approved by the Governance, IT, & Security Council after individual communities’ agency councils for agency 11 approve the proposal.
Thereafter, the council will form a steering committee which will oversee the project and regularly report to the whole council. The committee will coordinate the selection of contractors and tendering processes, inspections, government approvals, and partnership with non-NewVista players.
Councils of 50 offer a powerful avenue for cultural transfer. The community, when viewed as a densely populated town of 100,000 people, may betray some small-town characteristics, where people are known or familiar with each other, have a high degree of cultural homogeneity, and have over time developed a community dynamic unique to them. Matters are not helped by geographical isolation, though small, between different communities.
These characteristics, while in some cases adorable, can also have negative consequences, such as when people do not want to embrace newcomers, or are too set in their ways to accept changes to their way of life. Councils of 50 offer a system of 24 arteries through which ideas, information, and changes are communicated across 50 communities – the size of Houston or Philadelphia. Each community, though independent, is simultaneously part of a larger community, maximizing the NewVistas system’s economic and social opportunities.
Leadership
For the purposes of coordination and facilitating the workings of a council, a presiding presidency is chosen to preside over meetings and coordinate committees’ operations. The selection is done through a lottery.
All presidencies are eligible for selection. However, if a serving presidency is chosen, the selection is immediately voided and a new lottery initiated. Once selected, and accepted to serve, the presiding presidency serves for a quarter – 3 months.
Roles of the presiding presidency and council meetings
The presiding presidency is responsible for facilitating quarterly meetings, which are held in their community, in the building of the agency the presidency serves.
During these meetings, the agency rents the required space, and any equipment that the meeting’s needs. The agency will also foot any associated costs, apart from accommodation costs, hospitality, and transport to the venue, which each president foots out of their own pocket.
| Council of 50 meetings | |||
| Operational councils | 8:00AM – 1 PM with breaks | First week of a quarter, Tuesday – Friday | presiding presidency’s building, conference hall |
| trustee councils | 8:00AM – 1 PM with breaks | First week of a quarter, Tuesday – Friday | presiding presidency’s building, conference hall |
| regulatory councils | 8:00AM – 1 PM with breaks | First week of a quarter, Tuesday – Friday | presiding presidency’s building, conference hall |
During the meetings, the presidency presides over the opening sessions, which usually entail a brief recap of previous meetings, and an outline of the day’s agenda. Thereafter, the meeting breaks into committee meetings, which take place until 12:30, with a few breaks every 45 minutes. Between 12:30 and 1:00 PM, the council reconvenes to be briefed on committees’ business.
During a quarter, the presiding presidency facilitates the formation of committees. Once formed, these committees submit regular reports on their operations to the presidency. The presidency then apprises other members of the council.
When a community wants the involvement of the council in a project, it approaches the presiding presidency. The community, through the relevant presidency, submits a proposal to the presiding presidency. The presiding presidency does not have a role in appraising the appropriateness of the proposal. Its duty is to prepare a memorandum, attach the proposal, and communicate it to the other members of the council.
Members are expected to provide their feedback within the requested timeframe. When the presiding presidency receives the responses, they collate them, and they are part of the agenda for discussion during quarterly council meetings. If the project is approved to proceed, the presiding presidency will then get in touch with relevant presidencies to form a committee to steer the process.
A committee produces its own terms of reference, probably assisted by expert contractors in some cases. The presiding presidency is furnished with the terms, which they use to appraise the committee. Based on its performance, a committee can be disbanded or reconstituted. The decision is however made by the full council, with the presiding presidency only recommending action.
Since they are agency presidents, members of the council are mature limited partners who are no longer actively running businesses. They are therefore able to dedicate their full-time to the community, and in this case, NewVista affairs. To be better equipped, presidents may hire consultants to help them in making good decisions.
The presiding presidency is chosen in the current presidency’s final meeting while the previous Presidency is still in office so that the new presidency can shadow the outgoing presidency during that meeting and take over responsibilities once the quarter is over. The incoming presidency then presides over for the next quarter.
Conducting meetings
As indicatted, every Council of 50 meets each quarter. The meetings are held in person. The meetings are held in the council presiding presidency’s building. The meetings happen in the week after the Quarterly Conference, during which agency presidencies present their performance and plan for the future of their agencies. The meeting runs for four days from Tuesday to Friday.
The main agendas in Council of 50 meetings are to deliberate on proposals, track the performance of ongoing projects, and make relevant decisions on whether to continue funding or pull the plug. The meetings are timed to begin at the beginning of the quarter.
Since the meetings will take place from Tuesday to Friday, each of the four presidents in a presiding presidency has a day to preside, and another day to clerk (take minutes).
The presiding presidency’s partnered male president presides on Tuesday, and clerks on Wednesday. The partnered female president presides on Wednesday, and clerks on Thursday, and so on. The presiding and clerking schedule is as follows:
| Meeting | Presiding | Clerking |
| Tuesday | Partnered male | Single female |
| Wednesday | Partnered female | Partnered male |
| Thursday | Single male | Partnered female |
| Friday | Single female | Single male |
Meetings commence with a short session to introduce the agenda, the selection of a new presidency, and sharing information on any changes in the composition and terms of reference of committees.
The focus of the meetings is on committees. Each committee makes a presentation, led by their chairperson, who is elected by members of that committee. A committee sends its report in advance so that even during the presentation, council members have an idea of what is going on.
Specific duties
Councils work independently. Often, however, their work will complement each other’s. Beow is an imagined scenario of the workings of the three councils drawn from different agency presidencies in a NewVista:
| Agency | Trustee council | operational presidency | regulatory presidency |
| Governance, IT, & Security | Initiates a strategy to connect several coastal communities with a newer undersea cable; concerned communities introduce this for further deliberations in agency council meetings. | After any of the agency councils approve the move, the affected communities’ agency operational presidencies approach their council. After the operational council approves, with a few changes, it forms a committee to facilitate the process | With its presidencies having been part of the approval process at agency level, the regulatory council has sufficient information to enable oversight, forming committees, which work to strengthen controls associated with the project and develop audit strategies that cover various considerations and legal jurisdictions. |