Okay. So what can we trade with the colonists?

Probably the ale and the fine cloth. They're listed in the scroll as "Trade Goods."

@TrP- My question is what could we get from them?

This has been a slow month.

I blame the HC..... just like in the real world people blame the president.

I'm the only one to cast an actual vote for the poll of whether or not we should add new mothers to the workforce. And that started hours ago.

@TrP- I abstained because I just don't know enough about what the effects would be. yes we increase production but the magistrate hasn't answered whether the people will see this as a reason to dislike our governance. If the magistrate could confirm there will be no ill morale effects then I will vote for it.

The Magistrate is not omniscient. There are some things that we just have to dive in to to figure out by doing them ourselves.

Yes, but he has offered for us to talk to elders and those elders will know the culture and general opinions of the population. Thus I as well as likely many others are waiting to hear what they say. Patience is a virtue.

The Magistrate regrets to inform the Council that Councilor ag has died.

Tasks
Assign German Shepards to Royal Guard
Hang Royal Banners outside Town Hall, Barrack, Granary, and Dock
Meet with the Elders regarding Pearl Production and increasing workforce
Have the Mason build a Barrow

Proposed Policies
Add new mothers (~80) to workforce and have the Elders watch over infants (UNDECIDED)
Lower the age of the workforce to 12 (UNDECIDED)

Well, as it stands, if no one else votes, those women ARE going to be added to the workforce.

And if I may add, the problem with this council is that everyone is too worried about approval and not at all worried about getting things done. It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

CB: What if the council gives us no productive answer? Do we let this colony rot? We're already cutting into wheat reserves this month.
Regarding ag, requiescat in pace. (How do we handle the 2 missing councilors? Do we take to the forum and ask for 2 people willing to become a part of our experiment here? We would need to add the disclaimer that this consumes quite a bit of time.)

We need better communication. There is too much to wade through to determine what voting links there are. There has to be a simpler way. I hope someone had the forethought to bring their copy of Robert's Rules of Order.

Why did Councillor Ag die?

Do we really need to spend time getting banners hung? Let the non-working kids make banners for us...it's fun, they feel included, etc.

And basically, to the esteemed Councillor TrPrado's remark, may I humbly go on the record and say, "Fuck approval! Get shit done!"

The Magistrate informs the Council that there is no way to access the island until the next trade ship arrives in 5 months.

Will the King be sending any new Councilors?

The Magistrate informs Councilor Brian that how Councilor ag died is of no concern to the Council.

The Magistrate is acting suspicious. And he never answered me when I asked about the Governor's specific cause of death when we got here. Hmm...

The Magistrate assures Councilor Prado that the Governor died of natural causes under no suspicious circumstances. The Magistrate assures the Council that he exists only to serve the will of the Council.

HB: I brought the Banners along for this purpose. Those buildings would seem far less significant if we didn't mark them with our Banners.

Record, because I don't want it getting too far back:
http://tinyurl.com/lblc22h

This is the relevant vote:
Adding mothers to the workforce poll:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18yqiCpPP10GL03gRyZ_zBUf_lRx6Edeyqolbwa3kEB4/viewform

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pdHcZErv6CGmykqTzLHGd4bCjpf3R5fPWJIqP-wHemQ/edit#gid=1170892765
I also want the lowering the minimum working age proposal brought to vote. If both are implemented, the workforce is revitalized by an addition of ~120 workers.

We should absolutely, absolutely add new mothers to the workforce when possible. If we can get 80 more workers, we should be thrilled to do so, and even if we cut back their hours from the norm for a few months while they regain their shape and raise their newborn, they are still an incredibly valuable asset. At some point, we may want to turn back on this in order to appease the natives' potential dismay at this decision, but for now, it is a necessary evil, and as such, we should compensate them well for their service to the King. Likewise, we should be more than happy to lower the age of the workforce, but we should be careful in doing so, assuring that the natives are consenting of their children being put to work, and we should reconsider this move once we have a working education system in place, but we have to do this for now.

@TrP- you take my caution as disapproval. I agree we should get them going, I just feel that the loss of production due to a possible uprising isn't worth the small boost in production. If the elders tell us no good answer then i agree that we should go forth with it; but to make a decision with a possibly negative outcome when the ability to make a more informed decision is right around the corner seems very near-sighted and dangerous for the colony. If we could find some avenue to get more information then I would be more than happy to vote yes, thus why I abstained and didnt vote NO.

On that note I would like the magistrate to summon a pregnant woman from the community immediately for our questioning. She may bring her child, and this shouldn't take a month as you can literally go outside and get her.

The magistrate needs to organize a meeting with the elders, and at that meeting, we can pose these concerns, but the fact of the matter is that we've got to get more people working and working productively. This setup works, especially if we offer the mothers a reduced workload from their full-time counterparts until their baby is no longer in need of their care at random hours throughout the day. More specifically, I think we can offer this work exception until mothers are no longer breastfeeding.

@Bo- can we see if the magistrate will fetch us a mother to talk to right now? then we dont have to wait for the elders and can get a safer perception of their wants/needs.

Sure, but let's institute this policy now to get production up and then scale back as part of a compromise rather than getting the inevitable response that they don't think they are ready to return to work. That's why I propose lower hours, frequent breaks, access to their children at any time, and increased compensation until the child is no longer physically dependent on their presence.