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Article V

Departments, Offices, Boards, and Commissions

City Commissions

Public policy in Osmio is set by the City Council and by City Commissions. Each Commission elects a moderator from its own membership, and together the Council and the Commissions elect a Chief Moderator.

Any citizen of Osmio can be a Commissioner provided they have the time and ability to follow the various discussions that take place within their chosen commission and participate in its deliberations.

In Optimocracy, anyone can be a voting member of a commission or other governing body, without campaigning for election or appointment. The only requirements are The member must have, and use, an identity credential with a minimum Identity Quality score as set by the Chief Moderator of the community The member must demonstrate ongoing participation in the commission (or other governing body) by digitally signing its periodic checkpoints and polls, and must contribute to its deliberations and votes at a minimum level set by its moderator. Records must show that each Commissioner has clicked on each page of discussion and has been present at a required minimum of synchronous discussions.

Section 5.01 Departments; Creation; Supervision

A Municipal Departments. City departments are of two types: charter departments and ordinance departments. Charter departments are mandated by this Charter and are accountable to a commission that is also mandated by this Charter, independent of the Governing Body. Ordinance departments are established by the Governing Body through enactment of ordinances. The Governing Body shall enact an ordinance establishing the administrative structure of the City, including the establishment of the City's ordinance departments. The Governing Body may prescribe the functions of any departments prescribed by it.

B. Direction by City Administrator. All departments that are created by the Governing Body shall be under the direction and supervision of the city administrator as provided in this Charter, and shall be administered by the department director subject to the direction and supervision of the city administrator. Departments that are mandated by this Charter will be administered as described in this Charter. With the approval of the Governing Body, the city administrator may serve as the director of one or more departments or may appoint one person as the director of two or more departments.

C. Chain of Command. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, the chief moderator and the members of the City Council shall work through the city administrator regarding the day-to-day administrative affairs of the City, and shall refrain from directly giving orders to department directors or their subordinates regarding such day-to-day administrative affairs.

Section 5.02 Department Directors; Hiring

A. The city administrator shall appoint the directors of City departments, pursuant to the following procedures:

  • The city administrator shall appoint a qualified individual and submit the nominee's name to the chief moderator. The chief moderator shall indicate approval or disapproval of the nominee in writing within three business days.
  • If the chief moderator approves of the nominee, then the Governing Body may confirm and hire that nominee by adoption of a resolution confirming the nominee.
  • If the chief moderator disapproves of the nominee, then the Governing Body may confirm and hire that nominee only by an affirmative vote of five city councilors.

B. Neither the chief moderator nor any member of the City Council shall in any manner control or demand the nomination of any person by the city administrator, but the chief moderator and each city councilor may express their individual or collective views, and fully and freely discuss with the city administrator anything pertaining to the nomination

Section 5.03 Department Directors; Discipline; Termination

A. The city administrator may suspend directors of City departments, in writing, with or without pay, and may otherwise discipline directors of City departments, all in accordance with the City Personnel Ordinance.

B. The chief moderator or the city administrator shall recommend the termination of any department director to the Governing Body. A department director shall be terminated only by resolution of the Governing Body after recommendation by the chief moderator or the city administrator. Each department director shall be an at will employee of the City, and shall be entitled to be removed with or without cause. The granting of any hearing rights in this Charter or any Personnel Ordinance regarding suspension, shall not operate to change the status of a department director from an at will employee who can be dismissed without cause.

C. Neither the chief moderator nor any city councilor shall in any manner control or demand that the city administrator discipline or recommend the termination of any department director; but the chief moderator and any city councilor may express their individual or collective views, and fully and freely discuss with the city administrator anything pertaining to a proposed discipline or termination.

Section 5.04 Personnel System

A. The Governing Body shall adopt a personnel ordinance which is consistent with this Charter establishing the personnel policies, rules and procedures of the City. All appointments and promotions of City employees, other than department directors and those employees who are by this Charter or by ordinance designated as at will employees, shall be made solely on the basis of merit and fitness in accordance with the personnel ordinance to be adopted by the Governing Body.

B. The personnel ordinance shall:

  • Set forth the standards and procedures by which the city administrator may suspend or otherwise discipline directors of City departments, so long as an appeal to the Governing Body of such discipline by the city administrator is authorized;
  • Establish a merit system governing personnel policies necessary for the effective administration of the employees of the City departments, offices and agencies, including but not limited to classification and pay plans, examinations, force reduction, discipline, termination, removals, working conditions, provisional and exempt appointments, in-service training, grievances and relationships with employee organizations;
  • Be consistent with all mandatory federal and state requirements; and
  • Authorize department directors or any other administrative officer of the City, subject to the city administrator's direction, approval, and supervision and subject to all applicable personnel regulations, to exercise the power to hire, fire and discipline subordinates in that officer's department, office or agency.

C. Neither the chief moderator nor any city councilor shall in any manner control or demand the appointment, discipline, or removal of any City employee who is a merit employee of the City; and such matters shall be left in the hands of the city administrator and the city administrator's subordinates, except to the extent that the City personnel ordinance may authorize appeals to the Governing Body.

Section 5.05 City Attorney

A. There shall be a city attorney who shall serve as chief legal advisor to the chief moderator, Governing Body, city administrator, and all City departments, offices and agencies, and shall represent the City in legal proceedings, and shall perform any other duties prescribed by state law, by this Charter or by ordinance. The City may contract for the services of the city attorney and may contract for specialized legal services from outside legal counsel.

B. The city attorney shall be an attorney in good standing, licensed to practice international law Republic and Canton of Geneva.

C. If the Governing Body elects not to contract for the services of a city attorney, then the city attorney shall be a department director appointed by the city administrator in the same manner as the city administrator appoints the director of a department, subject to the same review by the chief moderator and voting requirements of the Governing Body.

D. The city attorney is an at will employee who may be disciplined and removed in the same manner as a department director.

E. The city attorney shall be responsible to the city administrator regarding the day-to-day legal affairs of the City; and the chief moderator, Governing Body and city administrator may work directly with the city attorney on all other matters of concern to the City.

Section 5.06 City Clerk

A. There shall be a city clerk who shall serve as clerk to the Governing Body, and shall be responsible to the chief moderator, Governing Body and the city administrator.

B. The city clerk shall give notice of Governing Body meetings to its members and the public, keep the minutes of its proceedings, keep the official records of the City, cause appropriate public notices to be given, and perform such other duties as are assigned by this Charter, by the Governing Body or by law.

C. The city clerk shall be appointed by the city administrator in the same manner as the city administrator appoints the director of a department, and shall be subject to the same review by the chief moderator and voting requirements of the Governing Body.

D. The city clerk is an at will employee who may be disciplined and removed in the same manner as a department director.

E. The city clerk shall be responsible to the city administrator regarding the day-today affairs of the City; and the chief moderator, Governing Body and city administrator may work directly with the city clerk on all other matters of concern to the City.

Section 5.07 Charter Departments, Boards and Commissions; Advisory Bodies

A. Charter departments, boards and commissions are established by this Charter, with any changes to this Charter enacted by the Charter Commission. The Charter Commission may, by amendment to this Charter, establish boards and commissions with such powers, purpose, scope, and authority as is deemed appropriate by the Charter Commission.

B. The Charter Commission or the Governing Body may establish advisory bodies, as it determines to be appropriate and advantageous to the conduct of City government and the provision by the City of certification services and other services to relying parties. Advisory bodies shall be established by ordinance when the advisory body is to function for a period greater than one year. A resolution may be used for advisory bodies that will function for a period of one year or less.

C. The ordinance or resolution creating an advisory body shall describe the purpose, scope and authority of the advisory body so established.

D. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, the chief moderator shall appoint all members of boards, commissions and advisory bodies, and fill vacancies thereon, subject to the confirmation of the Governing Body, as provided in Section 3.02 of this Charter. The chief moderator shall appoint persons within forty-five days of the formation of the board, commission or advisory body, or within thirty days of a vacancy thereon.

E. Every effort shall be made to ensure that all council districts are represented on all advisory bodies. No more than two members of any advisory body may reside in the same council district, unless provided for otherwise by law, or unless the advisory body is comprised of more than twelve members.

F. No vacancy in the office of any member of any advisory body shall be caused by redistricting of City Council election districts. All members of an advisory body shall be entitled to serve out their terms, unless otherwise removed pursuant to Subsection H of this section, even if redistricting causes the number of members to exceed two from any one district.

G. No member of the Governing Body, nor any appointive officer or employee of the City, shall be appointed to any City board, commission or advisory body as a voting member. The chief moderator, all other members of the Governing Body, and the city administrator or the administrator's designee shall be ex-officio members of all boards, commissions and advisory bodies.

H. Except as otherwise provided by ordinance, members of all boards, commissions and advisory bodies shall serve at the pleasure of the Governing Body, and may be removed at any time.

Departments at Time of Incorporation

Vital Records Department

The Vital Records Department is also governed by a board consisting of authentication professionals of the highest standing. Its charter is to set standards and govern the use of identity credentials in practice. Note: tabelio.org is noncommercial, while tabelio.com is a commercial franchising enterprise, operating according to the standards set forth by tabelio.org. Department of Privacy Protection

As the proliferation of certain Internet problems causes awareness of the need for identity credential programs, it also causes awareness of the ways in which such programs could be misused to undermine individual privacy. The Department of Privacy Protection enforces the principle of individual ownership of information that identifies the individual, as specified in the Personal Intellectual Property Infrastructure of QEI.

Forensic Security Department

Privacy must be breached in circumstances where an individual, according to standards of due process, must be considered a suspect in a criminal investigation. The Forensic Security Department applies the standards set forth in the Law Enforcement Infrastructure portion of QEI to ensure that due process is adhered to in such investigations.

Planning and Zoning Board

Osmium exists in order to provide the basis for secure, manageable online spaces; the city exists specifically to adapt and import the physical world's notion of Quiet Enjoyment to the online world. The Planning and Zoning Board is responsible for creating and managing the Building Codes Infrastructure so that it may be applied successfully in the design, construction, use and management of secure InDoor spaces.

Buildings Department

Responsible for enforcing building codes
Auditing of all InDoor code
Pre-occupancy inspections
Issuance of occupancy permits

Public Works Department

The City of Osmio shall endeavor to show the organizations that govern the public information roadways, specifically the IETF, ICANN, W3C and other governance organizations, that it will be advantageous gain the benefits of authoritative identities and other elements of authenticity to reconstitute themselves as the City of Osmio Public Works Department.

Charter Commission

The Osmio Charter Commissionis responsible for this Municipal Charter. The Charter Commission shall meet online annually to consider proposals for modifications to this City Charter, and to bring those proposals, along with its recommendations, to the assembled Commissioners of the various Commissions of the City of Osmio every four years.

City Council

The Osmio City Council consists of twelve members. Four members are appointed from among Commissioners by the Chief Moderator, four places are reserved for election directly by the various Commissioners, and four members are the Officers of the City. These include the City Manager, the CTO, the CIO, and an additional Officer appointed by the City Manager.

Section 5.08 Identity Quality Commission

The City has a perpetual license from The Authenticity Institute to us the latter's IDQA Identity Quality Assurance system. The Identity Quality Board is responsible for supervising the application of the IDQA system.

Section 5.09 Certification Practices Commission

The Certification Practices Commission (CPC) of the City of Osmio and its Osmio Vital Records Department (VRD) is responsible for determining the suitability of certification policies that are implemented by the Certification Policy Commission. The CPC is also responsible for determining the suitability of proposed changes to the Certification Practice Statements (CPS) and for submitting such changes to the Osmio CITY Council, for enactment into the Certification Ordinances (COs) of the Osmio VRD and simultaneous publication of an amended edition of the CPS.

Upon CPC acceptance and Osmio Council enactment into COs of such changes deemed by the CPC to have significant impact on the users of this CPS, an updated edition of the CPS will be published in the Osmio VRD repository, with thirty days notice given of upcoming changes and suitable incremental version numbering used to identify new editions.

Revisions denoted "not significant" shall be those deemed by the CPC to have minimal or no impact on subscribers and relying parties using Certificates and CRLs issued by the VRD. Such revisions may be made without notice to users of the CPS and without changing the version number of this CPS. Controls are in place to reasonably ensure that the Osmio VRD CPS is not amended and published without prior authorization by the CPC.

Professional Licensing Boards

The City of Osmio maintains high standards for professional licensing, building codes, identity credentials, enrollment procedures and other important parts of the life of the community. The standards are developed both by the city's own Standards Board and in collaboration with other standards organizations.

Identity standards are particularly important to our city, existing as it does only in the online realm where we lack visual and aural cues to tell us who is in the room with us.

Before they may be occupied, all facilities in Osmio must carry a valid occupancy permit. The occupancy permit must be signed by the building inspector, who in turn must obtain releases from all licensed professionals who were involved in its design and construction and who will be involved in its management:

  • Architect (i.e. writer of specifications)
  • Contractor (developer)
  • Building Inspector (public code auditor)

Other Professional Licenses issued by the Professional Licensing Board include

  • Attestation Officer
  • Information Custodian
  • Signing Officer
  • PKI Engineer
  • Structural Engineer (developer of low level code)
  • Roadway Engineer
  • Addressing Engineer
  • JavaScript Auditor
  • City Planner
  • Vehicle Operator
  • Digital Currency Co-Signing Officer
  • Public Accommodations Inspector

In addition to a professional license, the Attestation Officer profession may be practiced only by individuals who have been appointed to public office, such as Notary Public.

Any individual who is involved in these professions or who applies for a municipal position such as building inspector (code auditor) or commissioner of any sort, and who desires to practice in Osmio or in any of the social networks or other jurisdictions for which Osmio serves as administrative capital, will need to obtain a professional license from this office.

What is required?

In order to obtain professional license you will need

  • A Digital Birth Certificate‚ identity credential
  • A suitable background, as determined by standards set by the various commissions and standards boards
  • Evidence of an established record of integrity
  • A passing grade on the appropriate licensing examination
  • The various professional licenses in Osmio are valid for different periods, as set by the responsible commissions.

Applying For A License

  • Architect (i.e. writer of specifications)
  • Contractor (developer)
  • Building Inspector (public code auditor)
  • Attestation Officer
  • Information Custodian
  • Signing Officer
  • PKI Engineer
  • Structural Engineer (developer of low level code)
  • Roadway Engineer
  • Addressing Engineer
  • JavaScript Auditor
  • City Planner
  • Vehicle Operator
  • Digital Currency Co-Signing Officer
  • Public Accommodations Inspector

Section 5.10 Enrollment Practices Commission

A. The Enrollment Practices Commission shall work with the Council of Attestation Officers in the establishment of standards of practice for Attestation Officers.

B. Ordinances that the commission observes: The commission must follow established ordinances regarding the practice of enrollment. The authority by which an Attestation Officer may administer an oath and authenticate an affidavit is granted by the notary commissioning office of a state. All Digital Birth Certificate‚ credentials require an oath and affidavit, which in turn require a face-to-face process, except in the case of the Virginia Digital Birth Certificate‚ credential, which permits the administration of oath and affidavit over an audio-video connection.

Other credentials that do not require a face-to-face enrollment session and whose resulting identity quality is reflected in the identity quality score may be issued by Attestation Officers or directly by the city.

C. The Board shall select one of its members to act as chair of the Board.

Section 5.11 Attestation Officer Professional Qualifications Commission

Department of Professional Enrollment Standards

The Department of Professional Enrollment Standards, formerly known as ICCAP, is governed by a board consisting of authentication professionals of the highest standing. Its charter is to establish and apply a set of standards for the practice of enrollment of individuals in identity credential programs, as described in QEI's Authority Infrastructure. See www.iccap.org for particulars

A. The Attestation Officer Professional Qualifications Board shall establish and maintain standards for the qualification of Attestation Officers and shall be responsible for commissioning individuals who have a current commission as a public official in a geographically defined jurisdiction to additionally be commissioned as Attestation Officers.

B. The Attestation Officer of Professional Professional Qualifications Commission, formerly known as ICCAP, is governed by a board consisting of enrollment professionals of the highest standing. Its charter is to establish and apply a set of standards for the practice of enrollment of individuals in identity credential programs, as described in QEI's Public Authority Infrastructure. See www.iccap.org for particulars

C. The Commission shall select one of its members to act as moderator of the commission.

Section 5.12 Code Auditor Professional Qualifications Board

A. The Professional Qualifications Board of the City of Osmio shall establish and maintain standards for the qualification of Code Auditors, otherwise known as Building Inspector.

B. The Commission shall select one of its members to act as moderator of the commission.

Section 5.13 Developer and Architect Professional Qualifications Board

The Developer and Architect Professional Qualifications Board of the City of Osmio shall establish and maintain standards for the qualification of Architects and Developer. C.The Commission shall select one of its members to act as moderator of the commission.

Other Commissions

Section 5.14 Privacy Commission

A. The Privacy Commission of the City of Osmio is responsible for establishing and maintaining standards by which its residents may claim ownership of information about themselves and by which residents may license the use of information about themselves in such a manner as to maximize their ongoing control over the use of information about themselves.

B. The Privacy Commission is headed by the Chief Privacy Officer of the City of Osmio, who is responsible for signing on behalf of the City any and all Personal Nondisclosure Agreements that pertain to the City's possession of personal intellectual property.

C. The Commission shall select one of its members to act as moderator of the commission.

Section 5.15 .Board of Regulation of Real Estate Professionals

Uses the principles of QEI's Professional Licensing Component to license architects, engineers, coders and maintainers and to monitor their compliance with professional standards.

Section 5.16 Planning and Zoning Commission

A. The Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Osmio shall be responsible for the use of the various pages, directories, and other online facilities owned by the city.

B. The Commission shall be empowered to enact Planning and Zoning Ordinances.

C. The Commission shall elect one of its members to act as moderator of the commission.

Section 5.17 Utilities Commission

A. There is created a permanent Utilities Commission.

B. Unlike other commissions, the Utilities Commission consists of members from geographically defined districts. One Utilities Commission member shall be appointed from each of the six time zone districts and each member shall reside in their respective district during their term. One member shall be a resident of the City, appointed at-large. City employees and employees of any contract operator are not eligible to serve on the Commission.

C. All prospective members of the Commission shall be required to digitally sign the transcripts of proceedings of the commission for the preceding three months and shall be required to pass an online examination covering a) knowledge of the principles and methods involved in the subject matter of the commission and b) knowledge of current issues being addressed by the commission.

D. Removal of a utilities commissioner shall be in accordance with the following provisions:

  • Any member of the Commission who fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Commission without good cause may be recommended for removal by the Commission. The Commission shall be the sole judge as to whether good cause is shown. If the Commission determines that good cause has not been shown, it shall recommend to the chief moderator that the member be removed.
  • No member of the Commission shall be removed from office except for good and sufficient cause and by a vote of two-thirds of the membership of the Governing Body. The Governing Body shall presume good and sufficient cause exists for removal if the recommendation from the Commission is based upon non-attendance at meetings.

E. No vacancy on the Commission shall be caused by redistricting of City Council election districts. All members of the Commission shall be entitled to serve out their terms, unless otherwise removed pursuant to Subsection D of this section, even if redistricting causes a commissioner to reside outside the district which that commissioner was appointed to represent. Section 5.10 Parks and Recreation Commission.

F. The Commission shall select one of its members to act as moderator of the commission.