Ban Dispute (Acerius)

[kyleSVO]

Punishment Type: Ban
Punishment Subtype: Server Ban
Appeal Type: Dispute[Evidence]
Which staff member issued the punishment?: @Acerius
How long were you banned/blacklisted for?: 5 Days

Your Steam Name: -=PR=- KyleSVO
Your Roleplay Name: Samuel Bryant
Your SteamID: STEAM_0:1:432381577

Why were you punished?: 2.5, 3.12 - User killed the Mayor when there was no apparent valid reason to do so: Sales Tax was at 1% and Income Tax/salaries were at a reasonable level; no harsh policies were active; and the Mayor had not done anything that would be considered a valid reason to have been killed under 2.5. It is likely the user only done this so they themselves could become the Mayor.

Why should this appeal be considered?: I was banned for a supposed violation of rules 2.5 and 3.12, which are against excessive negativity and also the guidelines for killing the mayor. I'd like to explain my side and why I believe this ban does not represent the true nature of what actually happened. For starters, me and my associate were roleplaying doing business in the city as investors, and my associate actually did have roughly ~$2 million in his account. The city's finances were running a downward deficit, which in any scenario, would make it hard to sustain investments in a city. I have multiple clips of us warning the mayor to fix the city's public safety (rampant crime caused by poor communication w/ PD) and the deficit, over a ~10 or more minute period (these will all be attached in additional information). Rule 3.12 includes "city management" within its definition, which falls under the issue of a massive deficit and a collapse in public safety.

Additionally, in the third clip, the mayor runs away at the end while we're listing our complaints, which is a sign of lack of respect for constituents. This directly ties back into our earlier complaints (and the earlier part of my appeal), showing the mayor had little regard for our complaints and never followed through on our demand, despite repeated warnings.

In addition, the ban advises that I may have killed the mayor to "become the mayor myself", which I think is an untrue assessment. I did not become the mayor until a good while after the assassination happened; the next mayor after the assassination was RDM'ed / randomly assassinated through the city hall windows by the same person I killed, who was posted up with a sniper rifle, in an act of retaliation (I have a clip of that too). It was only then did I put my name on the ballot and because of a delay became mayor like ~20-30 minutes later.

I really do enjoy this server and would love to continue playing without waiting 5 days, for a ban which I believe did not violate the server rules as stated above.

Additional Information: https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/nlt3KMKW2WxTnKPj6?invite=cr-MSxKT3UsMTI4NzQzNDg3 | https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/nliSu1RXw5CaGrqtg?invite=cr-MSxhTlUsMTI4NzQzNDg3 | https://medal.tv/games/garrys-mod/clips/nliTTsjWpqNO_c1Bl?invite=cr-MSw0dnAsMTI4NzQzNDg3

 

[Acerius]

Before other staff look into this, would you please review the following guide: https://help.perpheads.com/page/mayoral-assassination

At the time of you killing the Mayor:

• Income tax target was 10%, which was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Sales tax target was 1%, which was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and is the best available)
• Fuel tax target was 25%, which was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and is almost never a reason in isolation to kill the Mayor)
• Police Officer salary was $210, which was increased as part of your demands from $151 (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Medic salary was $210, which was set 7 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Unemployed citizen salary was $5 and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and is almost never a reason in isolation to kill the Mayor)
• Firefighter salary was $210, and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Road Crew Worker salary was $250 and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Taxi Driver salary was $190 and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Courier salary was $150 and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• The only policy that was activated was City Hotline, which is not a reason to kill the Mayor
• Vehicle slots were moved up and down, but again, they have no bearing on you as a civilian

With all of the above in-mind, please actually articulate what your specific reasons were for killing the Mayor. Wanting to 'invest' in the City and leaning on 'city management' is not in of itself a good enough reason, especially considering that - as outlined above - the Mayor's 'city management' was objectively fine. The taxes were objectively fine; activated policies were objectively fine; and this quote-on-quote 'deficit' (which didn't really exist) had no bearing on you or anyone else because all government employees were being paid and services still occurring.

In addition, the Mayor had not done anything to you in which it would be permitted to kill another player under 2.5 - in-fact, with regards to them running away showing a 'sign of lack of respect for constituents', 2.5 is quite clear in that verbal insults or minor or accidental actions do not suffice. Plus you actually told the Mayor before they ran away in a thinly veiled way that you were essentially going to carry out domestic terrorism which would cause a - as you describe it - 'multi-agency level response'.

Additionally, your conjecture of 'poor communication with the PD' doesn't really mean anything. Firstly, you weren't a cop or any form of government employee at all throughout the tenure of this particular Mayor. Secondly, what does it matter to you as a civilian what the level of communication is between the Mayor's Office and the PD at any one time? Thirdly, the Mayor has no direct control whatsoever over the deployment of the PD - Police are bound by the Paralake Penal Code and follow their own separate chain-of-command, which the Mayor is not a part of.

 

[kyleSVO]

Before other staff look into this, would you please review the following guide: https://help.perpheads.com/page/mayoral-assassination

At the time of you killing the Mayor:

• Income tax target was 10%, which was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Sales tax target was 1%, which was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and is the best available)
• Fuel tax target was 25%, which was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and is almost never a reason in isolation to kill the Mayor)
• Police Officer salary was $210, which was increased as part of your demands from $151 (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Medic salary was $210, which was set 7 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Unemployed citizen salary was $5 and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and is almost never a reason in isolation to kill the Mayor)
• Firefighter salary was $210, and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Road Crew Worker salary was $250 and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Taxi Driver salary was $190 and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• Courier salary was $150 and was set 20 minutes before you killed him (and has no bearing on you as a civilian)
• The only policy that was activated was City Hotline, which is not a reason to kill the Mayor
• Vehicle slots were moved up and down, but again, they have no bearing on you as a civilian

With all of the above in-mind, please actually articulate what your specific reasons were for killing the Mayor. Wanting to 'invest' in the City and leaning on 'city management' is not in of itself a good enough reason, especially considering that - as outlined above - the Mayor's 'city management' was objectively fine. The taxes were objectively fine; activated policies were objectively fine; and this quote-on-quote 'deficit' (which didn't really exist) had no bearing on you or anyone else because all government employees were being paid and services still occurring.

In addition, the Mayor had not done anything to you in which it would be permitted to kill another player under 2.5 - in-fact, with regards to them running away showing a 'sign of lack of respect for constituents', 2.5 is quite clear in that verbal insults or minor or accidental actions do not suffice. Plus you actually told the Mayor before they ran away in a thinly veiled way that you were essentially going to carry out domestic terrorism which would cause a - as you describe it - 'multi-agency level response'.

Additionally, your conjecture of 'poor communication with the PD' doesn't really mean anything. Firstly, you weren't a cop or any form of government employee at all throughout the tenure of this particular Mayor. Secondly, what does it matter to you as a civilian what the level of communication is between the Mayor's Office and the PD at any one time? Thirdly, the Mayor has no direct control whatsoever over the deployment of the PD - Police are bound by the Paralake Penal Code and follow their own separate chain-of-command, which the Mayor is not a part of.

So in response to this,

As I was saying, at the time of the assassination, me and my associate were roleplaying as investors/businessmen with a substantial amount of money involved in our plans, and we believed the Mayor was failing to manage the city in a way that was compatible with those interests. Over approximately 10+ minutes, we repeatedly approached the Mayor and raised our concerns about the state of the city, particularly the city's financial situation and public safety, and repeatedly asked them to address those concerns. I would like to specify that the mayor running away from us wasn't taken as a sign of "disrespect" (which we've established isn't justified killing under 2.5), but rather a sign that they showed no intent in fixing our specific grievances or hearing us out, which harmed me and my associate per 3.12. The mayor basically turning their backs on us and running away while we were listing our issues (after we'd issued 2 warning beforehand) was taken as an escalation point, as this was a major sign to us that the mayor had no intent in hearing us out and listening to our grievances.

I also want to clarify something about that last clip. I noticed you mentioned that I threatened to cause a "multi-agency response", I think you heard me wrong. If you return to the clip, I was discussing my complaints on public safety and mentioned that a major multi-agency response right infront of city hall (which had just happened behind them) was a terrible look on public safety and was terrible for the interests of our characters, especially for investors (which was part of our IC plot). Poor communication w/ PD ties back into public safety, as I had mentioned above. In addition, be "deficit", I was referring to the downward trend of the city budget, meaning the expenditures outnumber the income. If this trend continued, it would lead to bankruptcy for the city funds, which obviously would cause widespread issues from salaries not being received (including for unemployed civilians), layoffs, and policies being canceled.

My interpretation of 3.12 was that if we had a direct interest in the city's operation, had repeatedly raised those concerns with the Mayor, and they failed to address them after being given reasonable time to do so, escalation could eventually include assassination. This was of course in accordance with the atleast 3 separate warnings we gave the mayor. I understand from your response that my interpretation of 3.12 and the mayoral assassination guide may have been broader than the standards you have applied; and I think it's important to specify I believed that our direct interests, repeated attempts to resolve the issues with the Mayor, multiple warnings, and their eventual refusal to engage constituted sufficient grounds under 3.12. I would ask that the clips and the full context of those interactions be considered before a final decision is made.

Regarding the city management claim, we raised this with the Mayor because, from our perspective as civilians conducting business in the city, the expenditure/income divide and the public safety issues (including the incident outside city hall) was evidence that the city was not being managed in a way that was conducive to our interests. I was not saying that the Mayor personally controlled the Police Department or that poor communication with the PD was independently a 3.12 justification. Rather, public safety was one of the specific areas of city management that we were complaining to the Mayor about.

My final statement is the assassination happened because I believed their handling of public safety and the city's financial situation was directly contrary to the interests of me and my associate, and because after repeatedly raising those concerns and warning the Mayor, I believed they had demonstrated that they were unwilling to address them. I believed the combination of those circumstances constituted sufficient justification under Rule 3.12.