[FOSS4G-Oceania] Fwd: Governance

[Jonah Sullivan]

I've also been watching from the sidelines since I don't have much
experience in this topic.

I'm learning a lot, this is a great discussion.

On Tue, 11 Dec. 2018, 09:52 Martin Tomko <tomkom at unimelb.edu.au wrote:

> HI all,
>
> I have been keeping away from chipping too much into this discussion, as
> governance is not my strong point ( and I do like a bit of anarchy, but…).
> SO here a brief chip in.
>
> I strongly support Alex’s and John’s points. I think the guidelines, or
> bylaws or whatever, are here to guide us in the bad times, not in the good
> times. I would not worry about an overzealous steering committee – I think
> anyone who wants to be involved hands on would be on a LoC anyway.
>
>
>
> I think the point of the steering committee is :
>
>    - Continuity and transfer of knowledge
>    - Financial oversight, as a means to assure the community their money
>    is spent wisely, and any surplus ( not profit) is re-invested either in the
>    next conference, or the community (immediately – as a means to achieve
>    participation of disadvantaged/underrepresented groups – or in the data and
>    software projects themselves, judiciously). I agree with the points of Alex
>    here, although maybe we do not need a hard $ limit on the decisions, but
>    one that will be set for any instance of the conference by the steering
>    committee, in agreement with the LoC.
>
>
>
> I think that if we peg in a rotating membership ( for at least apart of
> the Steering committee) of the poast, current and next Conference chairs,
> any miscommunications will be minimal and if they would happen, this would
> be a clear indication something is amiss.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Martin
>
>
>
> *From: *FOSS4G-Oceania <foss4g-oceania-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> on behalf
> of Alex Leith <alexgleith at gmail.com>
> *Date: *Tuesday, 11 December 2018 at 8:43 am
> *To: *John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com>
> *Cc: *foss4g-oceania <foss4g-oceania at lists.osgeo.org>
> *Subject: *Re: [FOSS4G-Oceania] Fwd: Governance
>
>
>
> Hey folks
>
> Perhaps the one thing that needs to be concrete is the financial
> delegation, or approval guidelines.
>
> So, for example, approval of the conference budget should be with the
> Board. Delivery of the budget is the CC. Spending that is less than, say,
> $1,000 that is within the agreed budget is the CC’s responsibility,
> anything greater needs the treasurer’s sign off or potentially approval by
> the Board.
>
> There needs to be wording around agreed budgets, as a budget should aim
> for a reasonable surplus, and if its looking like exceeding that greed
> surplus, then there’s discretion around spending on extras, as we did. But
> if the budget isn’t likely to exceed the agreed target, there shouldn’t be
> optional extra spending....
>
> This process ensures that the group that is responsibility for financial
> longevity is in the loop when it comes to big financial decisions, while
> the group running the event is empowered to make decisions still.
>
> Other than that, I can only think of guiding statements really, and each
> individual conference committee gets to make their stamp on process and
> format.
>
> Cheers,
>
> On Tue, 11 Dec 2018 at 8:25 am, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Yep, all makes sense. I agree that strong communications should resolve
> any tension there.
>
>
>
> I think you're dead right re: the relationship between a strong conference
> proposal/concept and more independence, will be something we can evolve
> towards. If we can use a statement of guidance to the board in this first
> iteration, I hope it will serve the immediate purpose and leave us room to
> grow.
>
>
>
> One key point is that we don't set any stalemate traps by leaving too much
> vagueness in the lines of reporting. To actually delegate authority to the
> committee, it seems like we would need to get quite detailed about how this
> would work ie. lots of what ifs.
>
>
>
> My feeling is that *formal* authority would only need to be invoked if
> *informal* authority isn't cutting the mustard... if we focus on
> nurturing a strong & healthy & engaged community, perhaps we can keep the
> need for formal authority at bay.
>
>
>
> I've added the guidance statement to the doc so we can consider whether it
> meets the need. Have at 'er!
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
> John
>
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> --
>
>
>
> Alex Leith
>
> 0419 189 050
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