Principal

A Principal Adminstrator is tasked with running a town or city in the Empire of Dalthion.

Requirements

A person typically needs to have served as an administrator for at least 20 years before they will even be considered for the role of Principal. Most Regional Governors also insist that during that time they must have spent at least 3 years running one of the sections and reporting directly to a Principal.
Those who are within 10 years of being able to receive a stipend are considered ineligible unless it will be their second term as Principal. Those suffering from ill health are also considered ineligible under the emperor's rules.
Many governor's will also limit the pot of eligible administrators by taking out those who have been linked to an excessive level of corruption, whether they were directly involved or not. While this is partially to protect the integrity of the position of Principal it also servers as an incentive for junior administrators to come down heavily on any corruption amongst their subordinates.

Appointment

A Principle is appointed by the Regional Governor who selects the Principle from a shortlist of candidates. Depending on the region's available pool of available administrators the short list can contain anywhere between 1 and 10 names.
Making it on to the shortlist can be a tricky affair as those compiling it are frequently allowed to exercise their own judgement to filter out any unsuitable candidates. As a result making sure not to make enemies out of the senior administrators on the governor's staff is considered a key skill for those wanting a promotion.

The appointment of a new Principal is considered a fairly significant affair for a town, at least amongst members of the imperial bureaucracy. A ceremony is typically held where the Governor will present the new Principal with the documents detailing their authority. This is usually attended by administrators, their families, and some members of the army. This ceremony is uually kept fairly brief, but the hospitality provided afterwards usually goes on for somewhat longer.

Limited Term

Although some have suggested that a competent Principal should be able to remain in post as long as they are able, the emperor decreed that a limited term was essential to ensure that younger administrators could see a path to reaching this rank without having to undermine their superiors

A second ceremony may be held in the new Principal's town to introduce them to the populace. In larger towns and cities this may involve a parade, musical performances, and perhaps a small festival. In smaller towns it tends to be a more muted affair, with the Principal holding a small gathering of the influence people in the town. Either way the costs come from the Principal's town budget, so they are frequently motivated to keep the cost as low as possible.

Responsibilities

The Principal is responsible for the smooth running of their town. This invludes collecting tariffs, maintaining order, passing judgements, and keeping the people at least reasonably happy. In order to achieve their are several groups reporting to the Principal including:

• The Enumerators.
• The town's soldiers.
• The administrators looking after the daily paperwork.
• The law specialists.

Alternative Naming

Principal Administrator

Length of Term

10 years, renewable once

Reports directly to

Regional Governor

Related Organizations

• Empire of Dalthion

Related Professions

• Administrator

Promoted to fail

In some cases a senior administrator's colleagues have arranged for them to be promoted to Principal in order for them to fail. While this has worked on several occassions it has also backfired as it is rarely just the Principal who gets blamed when things go wrong.