Article I
General Provisions and Powers; Construction
Section 1.01 Association or Municipal Corporation; Purpose
A. Organization. The organization now existing and known as the City of Osmio intends to organize, when possible, as a municipality according to the laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva. As there is presently no known provision in the laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva nor in any other jurisdiction that provides for a municipal corporation without geographic definition, the City of Osmio exists until then as a non-municipal, non-stock, nonprofit corporation, The City of Osmio, Inc., according to the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA.
B. Purpose of this charter. The purpose of this Charter is to establish the terms of governance for the legal entity known as the City of Osmio. The basis for such terms of governance is the set of technologies, methods, procedures, and standards known as the Quiet Enjoyment Infrastructure. The definitions of the technologies, methods, procedures, and standards of the Quiet Enjoyment Infrastructure may be found at quietenjoyment.net.
C. Purpose of the city. The purpose of City of Osmio is to provide communities with a source of Authenticity in the form of a set of certification authorities based upon duly constituted public authority.
D. Format of government. The system of governance of the City of Osmio is Optimocracy.
Explanation
The City of Osmio, having an exclusively online jurisdiction where visual and aural cues to the identity of its visitors and residents are not commonly available, hereby adopts Optimocracy, as defined at optimocracy.org , as its form of government.
Optimocracy calls for Accountable Anonymity™, where each participating individual is identified by an x.509v3 identity certificate that is bound to a record ("IDQA™ record") defining the reliability of the claim of identity which it represents. Whereas in traditional PKI the CN (common name) in such identity certificates provides readily usable information that identifies the subject, the Identity Quality Component of QEI differentiates between the "utility certificate" which is used on a day-to-day basis for authentication, and the "foundational certificate" which serves the same purpose as an individual's paper birth certificate, that is, as a breeder document that is seldom used, existing only to provide identity evidence for the issuance of derivative identity documents such as drivers' licenses, passports, employee IDs, etc. The foundational certificate is established through specifically defined enrollment procedures, while a new utility certificate may be generated by the subject at any time, by signing a Utility Certificate Signing Request with the private key of the foundational certificate.
As called for in the Quiet Enjoyment Infrastructure, the municipality's jurisdiction includes spaces that are logically defined as "outdoors" and "InDoors." Outdoor spaces consist of common areas, public accommodations, visitor centers, and reception areas ("web sites") that are accessible via a browser. InDoor™ spaces consist of facilities that are bound to an occupancy permit that is digitally signed by an Osmio building inspector. Entry into InDoor spaces requires 1) Door client software and 2) an X.509v3 digital identity certificate whose certification authority is the Vital Records Department of the City of Osmio. Said identity certificate must be bound to an Identity Quality record with an Identity Quality score of at least eight (8).
In an optimocracy, after the Charter Commission releases control of the municipality to the Moderators, all voting is done by members of commissions, and most voting is done within the commissions themselves. In an optimocracy, suffrage is universal only in the sense that any individual may qualify to vote, but that qualification must be earned and sustained by objectively measurable participation in the commission or other governing body.
To become a commissioner, a resident of the City must
- Obtain a Digital Birth Certificate, credential from the Osmio Vital Records Department
- Learn the issues and positions that are being discussed in the particular commission by following the public debate, both synchronous and asynchronous, in such a manner that his or her signature appears on the logs of the commission. The moderator of the commission shall determine the level of participation required to sustain membership in the commission as a commissioner.
Section 1.02 Powers of the City
A. [Provisional] Acceptance of devolution of powers. Acceptance of Devolution of Powers. By enacting this Charter, pursuant to the Municipal Charter Act of the laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, the City of Osmio shall, if offered, accept the full and complete devolution of home rule powers granted in the Constitution and laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva to all municipalities which adopt a charter. Accordingly, the City shall have all powers possible for a home rule municipality to possess under the Constitution and laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, including but not limited to all implied powers and all powers necessary to implement all express powers of the City, as if each and every one of the City's implied powers were fully, completely, and expressly enumerated in this Charter.
B. Charter as Limitation on Powers. As the Republic and Canton of Geneva Constitution and Municipal Charter Act devolve full home rule powers directly on municipalities which enact a charter, this Charter shall be construed as a limitation on powers and not as a grant of powers. The fact that this Charter shall enumerate for convenience or reference some of the powers of the City shall not change the nature of the Charter from a limitation on powers to a grant of powers, or give rise to any inference that the City lacks any power which is not specifically enumerated. If a power of the City is not affirmatively stated herein, no presumption or inference shall be created that the City lacks such a power.
C. Liberal Construction. The powers of the City under this Charter shall be construed liberally in favor of the City, and shall be interpreted to favor maximum local self government.
D. Powers of General Law Municipal Corporations. The City shall be entitled to exercise any and all powers granted by international law or the the laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva to municipal corporations, except to the extent that there may be a conflict with this Charter; in which case the Charter shall operate to limit the City's ability to exercise such a power.
E. The Governing Body shall be empowered to enact ordinances establishing impact fees and which may, in addition, address such other land use matters as the Governing Body deems appropriate.
F. The Governing Body shall be empowered to adopt ordinances for the purpose of protecting the environment of the City of Osmio.
G. The Governing Body shall be empowered to adopt, by ordinance, policies of procurement for the City.
Section 1.03 Intergovernmental Relations
In addition to those powers granted pursuant to the the laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, the City may exercise any of its powers or perform any of its functions and may participate in the financing thereof, jointly or in cooperation, by contract or otherwise, with any one or more sovereign states, or any state civil division or agency, or any government or any of its agencies.
Section 1.04 Municipal Laws
A. All City ordinances, resolutions, orders and regulations which are in force when this Charter becomes fully effective are repealed only to the extent that they are inconsistent with or interfere with the effective operation of this Charter.
B. To the extent that the Constitution and laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva permit, all laws relating to or affecting the City or its agencies, officers or employees, which are in force when this Charter becomes fully effective, are superseded to the extent that they are inconsistent or interfere with the effective operation of this Charter.
C. In addition to the provisions of Subsections A and B of this section, and pursuant to the laws of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, any provision of the Municipal Code or any other law relating to municipalities shall apply to the City only to the extent that such a state statute is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter. To the extent that any statute relating to municipalities is consistent with this Charter, the City may avail itself of the rights, privileges and powers conferred by such a statute, regardless of whether such a statute vests powers in home rule municipalities, non-home rule municipalities, or both.
Section 1.05 Rights and Property
A. All rights and property which were vested in the City prior to the effective date of this Charter shall remain so vested under the Charter. No existing right or liability and no pending litigation shall be affected by adoption of this Charter. No action or proceeding, civil or criminal, pending at the time that this Charter takes effect, shall be affected or abated by operation of this Charter.
B. All contracts and franchises entered into by the City or for its benefit, prior to the effective date of this Charter, shall remain in full force and effect. Public improvements for which legislative action has been taken under laws, ordinances or resolutions existing at the time this Charter takes effect, may be carried to completion in a manner which is in as full compliance with this Charter as is possible in accordance with the provisions of existing laws, ordinances and resolutions.
Section 1.06 Construction
A. Headings. Section and subsection headings are included for convenience only. Such headings shall not be utilized for the purpose of determining the meaning of the Charter.
B. Terms. Unless the context otherwise requires: the singular shall include the plural; the plural shall include the singular; male shall include female; female shall include male; "may," "can," and "should" shall be permissive; "must," "shall," and "will" shall be mandatory; "or" shall be disjunctive; and "and" shall be conjunctive.
C. Severability. The provisions of this Charter are severable. If any provision of this Charter is held invalid, the other provisions of the Charter shall not be affected thereby. If the application of the Charter or any of its provisions to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the application of the Charter and its provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Section 1.07 Charter Review and Amendment
A. Charter Review. The Governing Body shall provide, by ordinance, for a process of periodic review of the Charter. The purpose of the review is to evaluate, propose or recommend amendments. Provisions shall be made for a review to occur within five years after the effective date of this Charter, and not less than once every ten years thereafter.
B. Charter Amendment. Amendments to this Charter must be submitted to the qualified electors by the Governing Body or by the following procedure:
- Notice of intent to circulate a petition proposing any amendments to this Charter must be signed by five qualified voters and filed with the city clerk.
- The proposed amendment to this Charter shall be filed with the city clerk concurrently with the filing of the Notice of Intent.
- The number of qualified voters required to sign the petition in order to have the proposed amendment placed on the ballot shall be 15 percent of the number of registered voters at the regular municipal election immediately preceding the filing of the Notice of Intent.
- The city clerk must approve the form of any petition submitted under this section prior to obtaining any signatures on the petition.
- No petition, or any part thereof, may be filed more than sixty days after the Notice of Intent is filed.
- Following certification of the petition by the city clerk, the Governing Body shall adopt an election resolution. The election shall be held not later than ninety days from the date of the adopted resolution.
- At such election, the ballot shall contain the text of the proposed amendment and below the same phrases: "FOR AMENDMENT" and "AGAINST AMENDMENT".
- If a majority of the votes cast are against the amendment, it shall be of no effect. If a majority of the votes cast are in favor of the amendment, it shall be adopted.
