Use of the TMMA EMail List

The following message is sent to everyone on the TMMA email list when they join:

Subject: Welcome to the TMMA EMail List
Last revised: January 18, 2006

Since you have received this message, you are currently on the TMMA EMail List. This is an attempt to clarify the purpose of the List, and to explain its intended usage and how to use it.

*********************************************************

AGREEMENT:
By not requesting removal from this list you agree to the following terms and conditions of use for as long as you are on the list:

1. The contents of any email received from this list are those of the originator and do not reflect the policy of the TMMA or the Town of Lexington unless the originator is an official of that organization and indicates that they are acting in that official capacity.
2. The delivery of any email message to any individual, or to the entire list, is not guaranteed by either the TMMA, the Town of Lexington, or Yahoo.
3. Any individual may be removed from the list at the sole discretion of the list administrator if email directed to them by the list results in repeated error messages or returned emails due to any cause. (e.g. failure to notify of a change of email provider, overflowing mailbox etc.)
4. You agree to adhere to the PROCEDURES FOR USING THE LIST and the USAGE RULES, DECORUM etc sections contained below. Failure to do so may result in removal from the list.
5. There is no warranty, express or implied by the Town Meeting Members Association or the Town of Lexington that this list is of any utility for any particular purpose and neither is responsible for any incidental, special or consequential damages arising from use of or the inability to use the list.

*********************************************************

PURPOSE:
The purpose of the TMMA list is to support, encourage and inform discussion among Town Meeting Members regarding issues before Town Meeting or directly concerning the Town of Lexington. Appropriate postings present opinions, ask questions, provide answers or offer illuminating information on acceptable topics. Pertinent topics are those that:

• could or will come before Town Meeting;
• are relevant to Lexington Government; or
• are specifically relevant at a town level.

List members are encouraged to use other Lexington on-line groups for postings that fall outside of these guidelines.

PARTICIPATION:
This list is primarily to serve the TMMA and the Town Meeting. Persons who may post to the TMMA list are Town Meeting Members, elected officials, Town Management, and Committee, Board or Commission Members.

All postings are freely available for viewing by the public via the list’s website at https://groups.google.com/group/lextmma. As a courtesy, list members may post messages on behalf of those who are not list members, if such messages otherwise meet these guidelines.

Be polite and respectful in tone. Following the same expectations outlined by the Town Moderator before every Town Meeting, list members should address the issue, not the personality, and should not impute motive. Please sign all messages and identify your committee or position if you are writing in an official capacity.

The TMMA will respond to postings in violation of these guidelines with an escalating set of actions beginning with private, then public reminders of the policy, and ending with suspension or removal from the list.

Your email address will be visible to other people who are members of the list, and may be visible to non-participants. See the Yahoo groups web site for an additional discussion of privacy considerations. Participation is entirely voluntary on the part of participants, and maintenance of the list is performed by volunteers on behalf of TMMA.

ADMINISTRATION:
This list is provided as a free service to the LexingtonTown Meeting Members Association by Yahoo.

This list is maintained by the TMMA EMail List Administrator.

The List Administrator will make any additions, changes or removals. Please send any request to be placed on the list, to have your listing removed, or to have your listing changed via email to lextmma@gmail.com with the subject “TMMA email”.

List members may elect to receive all messages, a Daily Digest of messages, or no messages. If one elects the Daily Digest or no messages options you will not receive any material in attachments, since they are not stored in the Web Archive at Yahoo and are not part of the digest.

PROCEDURE FOR USING THE LIST:
To send a message or copy of a message to everyone on the list just place the following address in either the “To:” or in the “CC:” section of your email header:

If you just hit “Reply” to a message from the list it will only go to the originator of the message and not to the entire list. You need to use “Reply to All” to send your answer back to everyone on the list.

All the TMMA email is archived on the Yahoo Web site, so you can view old messages there. You can also change your own account’s email preferences there. The options include receiving all the group email, just a single daily summary of the messages, or no mail at all. In the latter two cases you can still read the messages on the web site and send messages to the list. You access the group’s web features using the link below. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lex-tmma/ .

Usage Notes:

1. All messages to the list should be related to events of interest to the Town and the TMMA. Anything suitable for use on the Town Meeting information table is welcome.
2. Opinions relevant to matters of interest to the Town Meeting are welcome.
3. Civility is required. Assume that the same rules of decorum apply as would on the floor of Cary Hall. NO PERSONAL ATTACKS. Stick to issues.
4. Brevity is encouraged. (This is not intended as a restriction on introducing new ideas.) When replying to a message, consider removing all past quoted content except the message you are replying to.
5. All messages sent to the list will be from members of the list so they will identify the sender by real name and have the sender’s email address visible to all other group members. They should preferably include the sender’s precinct and/or position for non-tmma members as well.
6. Message attachments should be in text or PDF whenever possible. When an attachment isn’t the program needed to view the attachment should be identified. Some of the members use services that block all attachments and some firewall and virus programs filter them out even if they are virus free, so don’t count on attachments getting through. Long attachments will probably not pass through in any case.
7. No junk mail, please.
8. Please respect the privacy of other participants, including their email addresses.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Remember that this is a form of broadcast. Your messages will be posted on a web site available to ANYONE on the Internet with a browser. If you are intending to communicate mainly with one individual use their individual email address and don’t put the TMM list in the TO:,CC: or “reply to all” including this entire list unless the subject is of interest and intended for all.