The Contact Person was the chief representative and organizer of each ExoHuman settlement during the Beta Age’s Free State of Settlers. Tasked with mediating local disputes, coordinating communal projects, and advocating for their community’s interests at the Settler’s Council, Contact Persons embodied the settlers’ commitment to participatory democracy and localized leadership amid rapid expansion.

• Formalization: Instituted on October 3 2625 alongside ratification of the First Constitution.
• Purpose: Provide a single point of coordination for emerging settlements—overseeing public works, dispute resolution, and liaison with the central government.

• Election Cycle: Annual elections by all adult settlers of each community.
• Settlements Represented: New Kourou, Firetown, Hope, Morningstar, and Arla Town each elected one Contact Person.
• Nature of Office: A volunteer, non-partisan role — political parties and professional politicians did not yet exist.

Local Governance:

• Convene and chair community assemblies to debate local policy and resource allocation.
• Mediate civil disputes under the Civil Code; refer criminal cases to Guarding Troopers.

Council Representation:

• Serve as the settlement’s delegate at the Settler’s Council when summoned.
• Advocate for funding, infrastructure projects, and legal exemptions.

Crisis Management:

• Organize defense and relief efforts during emergencies (e.g., tribal clashes, natural disasters).
• Coordinate logistics for critical supplies—food, medicine, and building materials.

• Location: Housed in the settlement’s Community Center — the administrative hub for public records and meetings.
• Staffing: Minimal — typically one clerk or scribe; most duties performed directly by the Contact Person.
• Support Network: Relied on local entrepreneurs, institution heads, and respected elders to implement decisions.

• Typical Backgrounds: Local entrepreneurs, farmers, sawmill foremen, or heads of major communal enterprises.
• Re-election: Though elected annually, many Contact Persons served multiple consecutive terms, reflecting both competence and the advantage of incumbency.

• Concentration of Power: Critics argued that wealthier or better-connected individuals dominated elections, excluding working-class settlers from candidacy.
• Campaign Costs: Without party structures, high campaign expenses favored those with private means or patronage networks.
• Volunteer Burden: The unpaid nature of the office discouraged participation by settlers without independent wealth or institutional support.

• Beta → Gamma Age: Following the Peace Treaty and creation of the Federal Confederation in 2632, the Contact Person role evolved into the municipal mayoralty, with a professionalized Office of the Mayor under settlement-level Sheriff’s Offices.
• Institutional Influence: Early practices—annual elections, direct accountability, and community assemblies — shaped the Free State’s successor governance systems and remain commemorated in Federation civic ceremonies.

• Beta Age
• Free State of Settlers
• Exohuman governmental and legal system in the Beta Age
• Federal Confederation (Gamma Age)
• Mayors (Gamma Age)
• Mayor’s Council (Gamma Age)