We value diversity of opinion

  1. Be kind, honest, and direct.
  2. Remember that what you write is permanent; all communications are archived.
  3. Try not to overwhelm people with giant volumes of email in a given day or week.
  4. Adjust subject lines to keep them relevant; double check cc: and to: fields for accuracy; using bcc is generally a poor idea.
  5. Comment on or criticize ideas, not people.
  6. If you think you have a personal or financial stake in a topic, disclose that stake in the same messages as your comments.

The big no-nos:

  1. Do not cast aspersions on or malign people or groups of people.
  2. Do not promote personal or financial interests.
  3. Do not include in your email personal contact information (e.g., email addresses, phone numbers, et al.) for people unless you have permission to do so. It’s fine to use GA committee, director, and/or officer group email names and addresses.

Administration and conflict resolution

Each email list has one or more administrators who can, in the event that an email seems to have transgressed these guidelines, contact and work with an individual poster to review these guidelines and help steer the individual toward adherence. If you see list emails that don’t seem to comply with these guidelines, please contact the poster directly, or contact the list administrator. If you don’t know who the administrators are, they can always be reached by contacting clerk@greenacton.org, who will pass messages on, or act directly if there is urgency. If you have concerns about the administrator or the Clerk, please contact the Green Acton Board of Directors at directors@greenacton.org. Emails to the whole list about one person violating a guideline should be a last resort

The administrator of an email list can remove an individual from the relevant list if the administrator determines that the need is urgent, or has communicated about the guidelines with the individual on three subject emails and violations persist. Individuals may appeal removal decisions to the Green Acton Board of Directors; decisions of the Board will be final.