Curtis walked out into the streets once more. Recent events had taken a savage toll and set business back considerably. He had taken his time to mourn the dead as anyone would but now it was time to pick up the work and continue. The Godfathers and members of influence from around the country had been holding a discussion for some time and now it was time to bring the conclusions to the public.

"Hello everyone. I come here today on behalf of all the Godfathers, with the results of some lengthy discussions. Each Godfather or acting district leader was invited to put forward their ideas and comment on ones already suggested. As the discussion went round all the participants, the contributions and opinions of all were gathered and their opinions counted. The results of all of those opinions, ideas and votes are here for you today. There may well be further regulations and systems put in place as time goes on, but for now these are the initial rulings made by the collective group."

Holding a large sign up against the wall of the local square, Curtis hammers it into place and stands aside to allow people to read.

.

District Crew Limits

Due to the size of our community and the scale of our country, we feel it is in the community's best interests to structure our organizations in such a way as to encourage an even spread of mafiosi around the country. The primary way we will do this is to restrict each district to having three families and one Godfather family. 

There was some discussion regarding the number of districts permitted per city but seeing as City Hall control much of why and when a city expands and contracts, we felt the automated nature of this should remain in their control.

City heads

The main idea behind this suggestion was to simplify nation-wide meetings. Topics could be discussed at length within a city then the opinions from those meetings would be carried forward into a nation-wide meeting of up to 6 representatives for the sole purpose of making each meeting more efficient and therefore more effective. 

The secondary point was that each city should find their own spokesperson regardless of Chairman status. The city head will be the person they elect to speak for them. A city could choose to rotate their spokesperson, chosen to represent the head of that city in a given meeting, on a turn by turn basis or whatever the city in question feels is in their best interests. 

Meetings

There will be city meetings every 2 weeks and a nation-wide city heads meeting once a month (or as near as is practical for all participants). 

Local and nation wide matters will be discussed in each city meeting. All ranked and respected members invited will express their opinions on the various issues and the City Head will carry those feelings into the monthly City Heads meeting. 

Made Man Rank

Everyone involved in this discussion felt very strongly about the distinction of being Made in this thing of ours. All wanted to emphasize how significant a point this was in any mobster's life. Being finally brought from being an associate into a full member of the inner family.

As much as everyone held the rank with great regard it was felt that implementing a blanket requirement for all associates to reach in order to qualify for their button, was simply unrealistic. Many mobsters contribute significantly in many ways to their families. To force a demonstration of ability in any given field would push some highly capable members out of their comfort zone and negate their outstanding value in other areas. As such, the requirements for the Made Man rank will remain bespoke to each family leader's judgement.  

New Leaders

The authorisation of a new leader will be notified to the masses by a public speech that will be made before the new leader sets up, carried out by the person that has the authority to authorise their set up. Private or personal messages can still be sent out if wished, but the public speech will be required regardless of any messages so that the masses are aware of it being a legitimate leader setting up. 

Any leader setting up before being publicly authed will be seen as a rogue. There are no circumstances outside of war where this rule will need to be broken and any breaches are likely to end with a dead leader.

Street presence requirement for new leader

A rudimentary level of street speaking ability must be demonstrated by a potential leader in order to qualify them for authorisation to set up a new family. This is not a demand for a strong or consistent presence but there is a need for them to have made themselves known in the streets. If a potential leader can't manage one single coherent speech as a 'right of passage' then there should be serious doubts about their all-round capability, intelligence and determination to lead.

Recruitment Requirements

We will dispense with the previous regime's rule of only contacting new recruits via the job's board. Everyone that expressed an opinion also thought a common sense approach to recruiting standards should be employed from here on out.

This will require each leader to remain vigilant about monitoring their sponsor's activities and meeting out appropriate punishments for members spamming one-liners, offering bribes, conversationless invites and other reprehensible approaches to recruiting. Cases that are questionable can be discussed with city heads to determine appropriate decision and subsequent action. Failure to ensure correct recruiting practices are being followed are a direct reflection on the leaders in question, both the crew leader and potentially the Godfather over them. They will be treated as such. 

Protection Orders

The option of placing a protection order will be on the person who created the scenario that requires it. In war, the option of protecting crewless members will be in the hands of the victor. In peace time, 1% or Durden leader deaths, the protection order can be placed by anyone from the relevant city or if no one is available to do so, another GF or ranking CL from another city.

Protection orders will last no longer than seven days. This will apply to all scenarios.

.

I, and the rest of the leaders involved would agree with you. But if you look, a constant or impressive street presence is not required. Just something.

We all appreciate that leading is about making decisions, man management, strategy and a myriad of other skills. That much is obvious. But we live in a world made of words, so, it is not unreasonable to expect a prospective leader to publicly demonstrate (if only once) their capacity to communicate. 

If you already take part in the occasional discussion in the streets then you already qualify. If you have never spoken in the streets then one single discussion is asked. Not a series of talks, just one conversation. If a potential leader is too lazy to meet that simple requirement, were they ever worthy of consideration at all?

I'd like to take a moment to thank all of the Godfathers for coming together and holding discussions of this nature. It's never easy to get more than one voice to agree to a single set of rules for everyone to have to abide by across our cities, I've no doubt concessions and negotiations were required from all involved, but coming together on these fundamental issues means we do have a clear vision for all to aim for on these topics. Leadership isn't about a position, it's about actions. These steps shows strong leadership from all concerned.

There's a few ideas there I personally love and a few I wouldn't have been so keen on, but that's irrelevant. I have no doubts each of the leaders involved have pushed the pros and cons of each and have made the decision in what they believe to be in the best interests of their families and their districts. Thank you for taking the time to share the findings with us all publicly on behalf of the commission Godfather Curtis, it's greatly appreciated.

I can accept that Curtis

Kalebear had been listening to the new rulings. Her mother had written letters to the Godfathers of this community so she was curious on the follow up. Having mulled over the rulings she had a question.

Thank you Curtis for bringing this out for everyone to know what has been decided on. I do have a quick question though.

In regards to street presence for auths. Does this only go for the future ones? Or will it be upheld for the ones currently up as well? Perhaps they will be looked at for coming out for more than just an auth speech?

Denam looks over the GFC ruling, and tilts his head.

This last part, about the protection orders... Is it a rule that only aggressors can issue protection orders? Because it seems like other crews may have vested interests in protecting some of those men before they're plowed under. Are uninvolved crews prohibited from issuing protection orders?

Denam, *she says and smiles as she is waiting to get his attention*

This has, in some forms occurred, where lower/middle ranked members been given shelter by a neutral party during an ongoing conflict, even though some of them still were targeted.
I would say it really depends on how much fire power that is behind the issued protection order, if a neutral district decides to do such a thing.

In my own humble opinion don't think it would be a wise thing for a crew that is not involved in an ongoing conflict to step in and issue an official protection order since there are usually kill list issued on both side of the conflict and the aggressors could regard this as aid and react to it accordingly, unless, as I mentioned earlier, they can back it up with firepower.

Mr Curtis,

I am hardly one to argue anything that is said or proposed by the Godfathers as it is none of my concern really, however, I think you are missing a part of Leadership, sure posting on the Streets and having some form of presence is a good thing but that is only one step of building a family. I believe you are forgetting the biggest form in the actual building of a family. While we are going down this road I have kept quiet for awhile about the inability for Leaders to build whole families, this including Made Men and actually obtaining rank.

I could go in depth with this, call people out and be a massive jerk but there is really no need for that as I have no idea for some people why their family is lacking ranked members and why it is not but if you are going to force Leaders to converse on the Streets then it may be a good idea to also force Leaders to do their jobs and build active families and when this does not occur and a district or city or family is completely lackluster then the people responsible for that persons auth is held accountable for this.

My bloodline has led numerous times over and I have never been a conversation in the Streets type of person unless the topic actually interests me, that has yet to slow me down at being a Leader who has had incredibly successful families, does that make me a bad Leader because I don't like to post in topic's that I have no interest in?

Are we really believing that Leadership is a one way street that is only based on presence and not the actual success of your family? Maybe I am wrong but I would rather see Leaders focus more on recruiting active members and doing their jobs than being forced to post in conversations that they have no interest in.

This is just my two cents so don't mind me, on my way I go.

Kalebear, thanks for your comments, they are appreciated. 

These rules will be applied as of Jan 31, '15 12:06, when they were announced and will not be being applied retrospectively.  As Curtis mentioned there are many ways crew leaders and Godfathers run their families and while a verbose, regular street presence is more than encouraged by us all, it is not the be all and end all.  While we would definitely encourage a healthy street presence we are really just looking for potential leaders to demonstrate to us that they have more than just a couple of rogue brain cells to bang together when it comes to speaking to the masses.  We would be looking for them to have had a street presence before their authorisation speech goes up and as such an auth speech would not really suffice for the stipulation we have put in place here. 

Denam, again, thank you for your comment, let me try to address it.

Protection orders can be issued by the victor, or victors, I don't think we made that 100% clear.  I am not sure how well someone who was not involved in any future takedown trying to issue a protection order would sit with those that potentially lost good people due to war breaking out.  With regards to wildly lucky shots, protection shots gone wrong or deaths by that joker Tyler's hands then any crewleader, city head or Godfather can make the call as to whether a protection order is being enforced.  In the absence of any leaders, which is highly unlikely in my opinion, I would like to think we can trust our hands to enforce such a protection order also.

Fear,

The posting requirement is one aspect of qualification for leadership, not the only requirement.

Any potential leader will have been watched, tested and judged by their existing CL or Godfather. They will have demonstrated many skills and shown great potential over the course of their time in their family. All these things will be taken into consideration before the candidate is asked (if it is even a point of issue at the time) to appear in the streets. It is entirely possibly that none of the candidate's attributes demonstrated within their own family, will be seen by the public at large. That is another reason an appearance in the streets will let the general community see the new leader and get a feel for their personality before they go bold.

I understand where you are coming from Curtis I really do, however, in this time I really do believe that what you have said above is incredibly hard to just sit there and agree with. I cannot tell you how many people over the past few years I have done a head shake towards why they even have their own family.

Now I understand that you want this new age or whatever people are calling it to be a good one which means bringing back values and standards and that is perfectly fine but the problem is due to the past this place has scarred people with incredibly terrible family leaders and lack of values and standards, therefore it may be hard for people to actually accept things like you mentioned.

Somebody can do one simple discussion and leave the Streets for good and it doesn't make them a good leader, in my opinion and what I believe should be others focus point is how you build your family. Too many times have their been families with forty members in it and a number of around five or six Made Men excluding the ranks of the upper structure. Do you believe that this is acceptable?

Just out of curiosity I ask this because it seems that you and the rest of the Godfather commission want a better future for this place but many people have expressed to me and others about the problem of Leaders not doing their jobs. As a Godfather Mr Curtis do you go out of your way to give your Leaders goals to accomplish or do you feel that the people you give that bold spot to know what you want them to accomplish?

See I cannot figure out why anybody would take a bold position if they have no time to put in to ensure success, and throughout the entirety of their run as clearly shown by what I have mentioned above, did not put in the work to even do as much as fill their full family with half the amount of members they have being Made Men. 

So what do you think the problem is, why is this such a common occurrence, after all, if you go through the crew list it may seem like going bold is something a lot do but in reality it really is not. Out of everybody that fills this world only a small percentage of them actually obtain that honor, so why is it that people are not giving it there all in a chance that they may never get again and what can we do as a community to get this on the right path?

Littlebuddy

These rules have been implemented collectively and the rulings were decided by a democratic vote.  In short, a greater proportion of the ruling Godfathers wanted to see this change brought about.  As Curtis has embellished with his short retort a while ago it IS NOT the only factor we will take into consideration when deciding on people's suitability for authorisation to set up but we will require a demonstration on any individuals ability to interact with the masses. 

At the end of the day, all we have are our words to leave a lasting impression on this place and a greater proportion of the Godfathers feel that this is the way to achieve that aim.  If you have not got the nouse to be able to put together a little speech then how can we all feel comfortable in putting you out there to fend for yourself?  If, as you say, you are not good with words then when the time comes that you get called out, which you undoubtedly will at some point we want reassurances that you are equipped to deal with the situation as opposed to being torn to shreds by those that are somewhat more verbose than you.

I can only reiterate that I think this is an excellent change and will hopefully serve to push people back to the streets en masse.

Ivan was strolling back through the streets when he heard a commotion about the new Godfather Commissions Rulings. 

I would first like to thank the Commission for stepping out and giving these rulings publicly. I for one personally appreciate the fact that things like this are made public like this. The awareness of change and the implement of these standards is very tasteful. These were not always made public as they were in the past.

I am quite shocked that many people are putting down the Street Presence Requirement for new leaders. 

Many people do not realize the amount of time, the amount of intelligence, and the amount of determination to lead. And I think this helps people realize what it takes to be a leader. Being a leader means speaking to masses. You have to do this on the occasion throughout your career as a leader. Whether it be to your own members or to the masses after you remove your inner city rivals. You have to be able to speak in some way or fashion. I think this is the very basis of being a leader. If you look back in history, some of the best leaders in our time were superb speakers. Don't get me wrong, there have been a few leaders who chose not so speak often. But I am fairly certain that the Godfathers don't want mutes as leaders. As sad as that last comment was, I think having a standard on it is really necessary.

LittleBuddy, you say that actions speak louder than words. They do surely. But wouldn't you expect some sort of aftermath announcement after actions are made? And its not as if the Godfather Commission has made a strict requirement regarding how you speak publicly. 

I am probably your biggest fan in regards to the recruiting requirements. Long have I seen the inexcusable ways of whoring members. I have always thought that this should be a worldwide standard but there just hasn't even been the right leaders to enforce this appropriately. I sincerely hope the standard is upheld instead of being preached about in the past.

Ivan wipes the snow from his coat before he walks away from the conversation.

Personally I agree with the commission's viewpoint on the requirement for a potential or future leader to be willing and capable of holding a speech. While I do understand your concerns and issues Fear, and I don't disagree with you, they are a very separate point.

The majority of what you've said would appear to myself at least as a "don't allow bad leaders". While I do agree with you fully, that's one that can't be quantified or seen in advance by a Godfather removed from the decision. I'm not sure what you'd wish to see the Commission do in relation to coming up with quantifiable and enforceable rules in relation to it? In fact, I'd suggest that the rule being brought in here, which means a person considered for authorization to step up is visible to the world at large prior to their authorization, will help in that regard as much as any rule could. 

In relation to the speech requirement itself, the streets are a fundamental component of this thing of ours. Many may feel differently, but I think it's what sets this thing of ours apart from so many others like it. I don't think an overwhelming street presence is the defining characteristic of a leader, but I do think it's important that some activity is shown there. With the requirement set as low as it is, even a quiet spoken person could meet it with ease once they have a couple of brain cells bouncing around.

I do strongly agree with you on is that you shouldn't be forced to speak on things that don't really concern you. However, I don't think that's what they're looking for. In fact, it's quite clear that it's not. Ever since Whatsername first spoke to me about the potential of my stepping up and taking a bold suit of my own I kept an eye on the streets looking for things I felt strongly about to become more vocal on so that others around us could get to know me and my views better. I was also planning on raising topics of my own as I wanted to see them discussed so I could hear the thoughts of other members of the community I would be stepping out into as a leader. Sharing thoughts in this manner is how we develop the trust and relationships that we need to survive in this thing of ours.

That's not to say I don't care about any of the matters brought up in the past week or two, I just didn't see the need to say "this guy hit the nail on the head. I agree with everything he said." as it really doesn't add anything to the discussion. I like to speak only when I need to and not waste people's time when I don't. I was fully accepting of the fact that I needed to make myself known before I stepped up and I was willing to wait for that honor until I was able to speak on a subject I truly cared about.

I think that the streets are a great opportunity to show the world who you are and I think it's something a new mafioso should take into consideration when they look for employment. This ties into recruiting standards. Anyone can approach a newcomer and make claims about greatness but the words they've spoken in the streets tend to convey a more accurate depiction of who they are. Before "jobs" were introduced to this world my approach on recruiting was always one primarily of guidance. I would approach someone and ask if I could help them. The words "would you like to join my family" never came out of my mouth. Something I told people who wanted to know how to choose a good family to join was "take some time to visit the streets and get an idea of who everyone is and what they're about". Of course my hopes would always be that my guidance would mean something to them and they would join me but recruitment was never the sole purpose. I wish to leave this place better than I found it so if I can help someone find their way and they choose to go somewhere else I don't see it as a failure. There's something about teaching people our ways that brings a smile to my face.

The scene of Curtis and Kelly_Kapowski standing next to a big ass sign with a group of Mafioso squabbling made Scarfo nudge Georgio with an elbow as he stopped, curious. They had been on their usual rounds. Checking for the odd car they could boost whilst others engaged in inter family conversations regarding different topics of interest.

They made their way toward the group shortly after Kelly_Kapowski joined the discussion. They stood at the back, keeping an ear. Scarfo was intrigued the Godfathers were being questioned as to what appeared to be the latest collective rulings in this criminal underworld, and the first in his lifetime. Scarfo's intrigue turned to annoyance, and Georgio seemed to have the same thoughts on the matter. Georgio turned his head toward Scarfo a little and spoke to him in a low voice.

"Who the fuck these guys think they are, questioning the Godfathers like this, eh?"

Scarfo didn't respond as he kept his attention on the speakers as they went about in turn, although he did agree. Noticing Latin join the conversation, Scarfo nudged Georgio with an elbow, then nodded in the South Philly Phoenix leaders direction.

"There's the skip."

The pair wanted to keep a low profile. They weren't exactly in The Phoenix's territory to be taking vehicles from unsuspecting owners whilst they tongue wagged. This area was neutral territory, after all. Scarfo pulled the wide brim of his fedora downwards to cover his face, yet intended to stay to hear what his boss had to say on the matter.

After Latin finished, Georgio felt like moving on. Being an Irish-American he wasn't exactly connected in the family as Scarfo was. He just wanted to get down to business and street discussions bored him.

"Let's get movin', they wont be here forever."

Scarfo nodded. He felt the conversation didn't make sense anyway. He thought that if he were a Godfather he would just lay down the rules and expect people to follow. Besides his confidants and other city leaders, he wouldn't feel the need to discuss any of this as this was the mafia and people needed to be ruled.

"Yeah, this shit doesn't make sense anyway. Let's get to work."

The pair from South Philly cut away from the pack and set about finding some wheels to jack.

*Hearing the young man snort out his "this shit doesn't make sense" Nuada felt the need to say a few quiet words. It wasn't his job to school the young gentleman, nor was he even sure the young gentleman would even listen, but sometimes a word in the ear of another may have positive consequences throughout this thing of ours*

Scarfo young sir. The Godfathers don't need to defend their decisions nor do they need to even listen to any discussion being made about them. These are the rules and once they are announced as such that's all that matters. They could play the "I'm the big cunt and you'll do what I say" and nothing more, as you've suggested, so why don't they?

It's not smart. It can be done, but that doesn't mean it should be done. Nobody has said anything here that suggests they're going to break a rule or even that rule is wrong in a disrespectful way. If they had, they'd probably be dead. All they've said is that they themselves might not agree with a specific rule. Given the number of people involved in reaching this point, you can be pretty sure some of the commission might not agree with every rule laid out here today. The world is full of unique people with unique opinions, if it wasn't it'd be pretty boring.

Why do they bother to engage here if that's the case? Leadership. Having the ability to force your will on others doesn't mean you should. If you can engage them on a topic, convince them of the merits of your argument, change their own mindset and help teach them another way of thinking or acting surely you'd agree that's a far better outcome than saying "Shut up and eat shit"?

If you don't, that's your choice. However personally I love seeing leaders like Curtis, Kelly and Latin helping to explain some of the thoughts behind things like this to others. It serves them better, it serves the people being schooled better and other than the odd, quite inexplicable in my own books, thought of the odd mobster that our leaders shouldn't speak to us it's pretty commonly viewed as a strong positive rather than a negative.  

Phantom watched as Curtis began to deliver a very particular set of rules and guidelines to follow and live by on behalf of the Godfathers and District heads.  Curtis then got out a hammer and smashed a nail into the signed and it rested upon a building. The noise echoed throughout the town square. Every city and district has an opinion in the matter so Phantom was looking forward to see what the outcome was. Phantom eagerly awaited his turn before approaching the sign a carefully scanned all the information, he absorbed the information like a sponge. Phantom double read it to make sure he didn't miss anything. Phantom paid attention to a few fellow mobsters opinion before speaking up himself and he declared his opinion. Phantom cleared his throat, fixed his suit to make him look a bit more formal and appropriate for the occasion. He quickly went over what he was going to say in his mind, hoping not to make numerous mistakes.

First off I would like to thank everyone for the input into the Godfather Commission Rules, as these rules will serve a valuable part in our society and make it a more organized place. I agree that enforcing a blind requirement to be Made Man impractical and illogical. Everyone in a family contributes differently; either it is through donations, wacking, street presence or being a general handy man/woman. The feat of becoming Made Man should be based on a collection of abilities and contribution.

My next point will tie in with Made Man requirements. I think that a leader should only give someone their button when they have showed a natural ability to be able to recruit effectively and efficiently, although not to be harassing every new member that arrives in this world of ours. Also I firmly believe that a sponsor should be able to answer almost every question about the game and have a strong knowledge and understanding of all aspects in this life of ours.

Phantom then left, he got into his vehicle and left the town square. He plucked a Cuban cigar and a box of matches from his inside blazer pocket. Removing a match from the box he struck it against the box and it lit up. He lit his cigar and flung the match outside through the car window as the car began to move.

Scarfo heard his name being called from a distance. They had already set upon a Chevrolet Standard Coach positioned out of sight. The outer wall of a business cut the car's view from the crowd. Georgio had just opened the door, whilst Scarfo was leaning up against the wall a few feet away and positioned so he could see the area a little better. Upon hearing his name though, he turned toward where he believed it to be coming from as Georgio ducked inside and began working on hot wiring the vehicle.

Scarfo saw a man speaking in his direction. He heard portions of the speech, yet couldn't completely make out what was being said. He noticed the speaker was going on for quite some time, enough time in fact, that Georgio had started the car.

Upon hearing the revving of the engine, Scarfo made his move toward the car and the passenger door swung open to greet him. He paused for a moment and made a mental note of the mans face before sliding in. Scarfo made sure if her were to see him again he'd have to query him regarding what just happened. The car sped off.