[Oceania-Board] resolving resolutions

[Martin Tomko]

HI Greg,
I think this is a good discussion to have,, and one that should be taken by the new board to refine the constitution.
I will dissent here with your opinion on a few bits:

“This was a minor decision to resolve a time pressing issue.”

I do not agree. I believe there are no small land big decisions, in principle, but whatever the case, membership is a key one, one that lets people external to the organisation become members, and gives voting rights. Either we can have a system where anyonce can become member without requiring apporval ( which, arguably, can be discussed and considered). To avoid issues like with the OSM board a few years back IIRC, a minimum term “novitiate” could be instituted, instead of approval. But that is besides the point. If a change requiring board vote is needed, we should have a minimum time for discussion, and another period for voting. It may make us less nimble, at a cost of due process.

Important wording changes, such as that now, need time for discussion, and feedback. I believe, in this case now, the vote was triggered without discussing the wording, and it may have also come very shortly before the weekend ( I do not do business on weekends, sorry). Hence, I did not comment, and did not get a chance before the vote.

As for comments on a 'Quorum', a quorum is the minimum number of directors that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid. To be honest I am not sure how this should be interpreted outside of a formal board meeting.
…
In my mind Loomio was never meant to replace Board meetings but rather give the board the opportunity to discuss and vote on those issues that didn't need to go to a full board vote, or needed to be resolved before the next meeting. I don't think Loomio votes are binding per see but for minor or time sensitive issues are suitable.

Again, I dissent here. I believe that the meeting can take whatever form ( in writing, by Zoom, in person, whatever). It just must be made based on a formal, public invitation ( here, a Loomio vote announcement),to all board members. In my eyes, Loomio was put here as a way to record votes, transparently. In principle, I would appreciate if Loomio was the main way to record votes even during board meetings ( not nimble, I know), as it keeps a record. We do have a large number of agreements by acclamation (all agree), which is fine, but maybe it would be worth to have Loomio on these too. So, the fact that it is on “Loomio” is not a deciding factor, and I do not perceive these as “not binding”.

Caveat on all above: I am no lawyer, and these are just my feelings/opinions. I appreciate the urgency of some of the proceedings now, and I do not fear any harm was done. But we should really not use urgency as an excuse to avoid due process.

Martin


On 11/12/2020 10:35:58 AM, Alex Leith <alexgleith at gmail.com> wrote:
Ok, I missed the vote, and I'm very sorry I did. I would have voted +1.

I think we should minute that, or do a re-vote, because with my votes it's 5 out of 8...

On Thu, 12 Nov 2020 at 10:38, Martin Tomko <tomkom at unimelb.edu.au<mailto:tomkom at unimelb.edu.au>> wrote:
Support Adam here. We need the rest of the board to vote!!!! IN particular as one of the votes (mine) is borderline, with caveats similar to Adam’s.
Martin

From: Oceania-Board <oceania-board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:oceania-board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org>>
Date: Thursday, 12 November 2020 at 9:24 am
To: oceania-board at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:oceania-board at lists.osgeo.org> <oceania-board at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:oceania-board at lists.osgeo.org>>
Subject: Re: [Oceania-Board] resolving resolutions
Hi Alex

Ok for the first, if it works then fine...

> The second Greg is handling. There’s a lot going on, so we’re moving forwards with on boarding new members after two supporting votes from the MWG. I'll make sure we reach out to Ed.

is it OK to proceed on 4/8 of board votes? The constitution requires a
majority. Yes new members need to be accepted and communicated with,
so I agree that getting in touch with Ed/the MWG should be the very
first priority.

Cheers,

Adam
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Alex Leith
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