Southwood Neighborhood Association Listserv Policies

The Southwood Neighborhood Association has a few rules to keep us all on friendly terms, on topic, and to encourage list membership and participation. The rules are not intended to stifle or censor discussion; rather they are designed to foster and encourage fact-based discussion without personal attacks. Our rules are patterned after the 1995 "Netiquette Guidelines" and the Austin Neighborhoods Council listserv rules. (https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt)

Participants are welcome to post on any matter they think would be relevant to people in the neighborhood. This includes but is not limited to notices on lost pets, requests for help finding a handyman, announcements about upcoming meetings or events, and reports of a recent crime, as well as expressions of an opinion on neighborhood planning or zoning issues. 

Please keep in mind that the Southwood Neighborhood Association is not a homeowners association with deed restrictions or uniform standards for landscapes, house color, signage, or other aesthetic preferences. Please be respectful of the preferences of other Southwood residents. The City of Austin has safety regulations concerning the maintenance of property. If you have concerns about safety, from what you consider to be poorly maintained property, please dial 311 rather than posting these concerns to the listserv. If there is an immediate danger to public safety, feel free to post an alert to the listserv and call 911. 

Membership

Anyone who lives, owns property, or works within the boundaries of the Southwood neighborhood or the Salem Walk Area Neighbors (SWAN) neighborhood may join this e-mail group. Although SWAN has its own separate neighborhood association, Southwood welcomes its participation in our listserv discussions since like Southwood it lies within the area bounded by Stassney - Ben White – Manchaca - S 1st Street, and because the City of Austin has historically treated Southwood and SWAN as a single entity in neighborhood planning matters. The Southwood NA Executive Committee may add other members at its discretion. Examples of "other members" would be police officers serving the Southwood Neighborhood Association geographical area, and officers of adjacent neighborhood associations. All prospective members must report their name and address prior to being approved for membership.

General Etiquette

Do's

  • Re-read your post, correct spelling, and count to at least 10 before sending to ensure that it's courteous and pertinent. 

  • Provide discussion focused on issues relevant and germane to the neighborhood.  

  • Provide factual information and cite your sources when you can. 

  • Provide personal opinion. 

  • Use appropriate subject lines (changing them when content changes). 

  • Delete old messages when you reply rather than building a big "chain" email. Do make a reference to the old email if you think people need help understanding to what you refer. 

  • Sign your posts with your real name and feel free to include your address or street name. 

  • If your emails are better directed to one person, please send off list. 

Don'ts

  • Do not post more than twice a day on any single topic.

  • No spam or commercial advertising of any kind. 

  • No personal attacks or insults (major infraction). 

  • Do not impugn the motives of people you disagree with (major infraction). 

  • No off-list (private) discussions to the list. Messages sent to the list addressing one person should instead be sent directly to that person off-list and not to the entire list. Edit the TO: and CC: fields appropriately. 

  • No Out-of-Office replies 

  • Do not quote another member's private email to you or private conversations with you without their permission. 

Removal

One major infraction of listserv guidelines shall result in moderation of your messages for up to six months. Additional infractions shall result in removal from this group. Two or more moderators will determine if a violation is "major" and agree to a member's moderation or removal.

Moderators

Number of moderators shall be three. The Second Vice-President shall automatically be added as a moderator at the beginning of his or her term. The additional two moderators shall be selected by the second vice president at the beginning of his or her term. 


Disclaimer

The views expressed on the Southwood Neighborhood listserv are assumed to be the views of the author alone, not necessarily those of the Neighborhood, unless explicitly stated otherwise. List subscribers agree to hold Southwood and others harmless for any claims that litigious parties may have against emails sent to the list or the senders of the email.

All this said, WELCOME TO THE DIALOGUE!

July 2014 guidelines approved by majority vote at 9/14/2014 general meeting