Resolution 2003-10-14.iwj.2, .3, .4, .5 - election

[Ian Jackson]

In this mail I will propose:
 * My preferred version of the election resolution, 2003-10-14.iwj.2.
 * Some possible amendments on the substantive questions:
     - two or three
     - reinstate or not
     - apologise or not


Resolution 2003-10-14.iwj.2

 WHEREAS

  1.  The Board memberships of Ian Jackson and Martin Schulze
      have reached the end of their 3 year terms as directors and
      Manoj Srivastava has resigned from his position as director and
      the board now consists of only 7 members;

  2.  The membership of the board of directors must remain
      between 8 and 12 in accordance with the constitution;

  3.  Software in the Public Interest Inc.'s by-laws require the
      Board of directors to be accountable to the membership;

 THE BOARD RESOLVES THAT

  4.  The Board of Directors calls an election of the contributing
      membership for three seats on the board of directors.

  5.  The election shall be organized and overseen by the SPI board's
      secretary or their designate.

  6.  The voting period shall begin as soon as possible but no earlier
      than 21 days after this resolution is passed and no earlier than
      14 days after the SPI Secretary announces the starting and
      ending dates of the voting period.  The voting period shall have
      a duration of 14 days.

  7.  Candidates shall be SPI contributing members.  Candidates must
      declare their intention to run by submitting a position statement
      to the SPI secretary by a date before the beginning of the
      election and determined and publicly announced by the secretary;

  8.  The voters shall be SPI contributing members;

  9.  The voting shall take place on the Software in the Public
      Interest web site using the Condorcet election method;

  10. The results of the election will be verified and announced by
      the SPI secretary as soon as possible.

  11. The three most preferred candidates, as determined by the method
      stated above, are hereby appointed to the board of directors of
      Software in the Public Interest, Inc. 7 days after the SPI
      Secretary announces the results.

  12. While the board may repeal paragraph 11 before the appointment
      takes effect, the board resolves to do so only if there are
      problems with the conduct or integrity of the election.

 THE BOARD FURTHER RESOLVES THAT

  13. In order to ensure compliance with the constitution as soon as
      possible, Ian Jackson and Martin Schulze are immediately
      reappointed to the board.  They will remain on the board until
      the new elected members join the board as stated in paragraph
      11, or for a period of 90 days from the passage of this motion,
      whichever comes earlier.

  14. Ian Jackson and Martin Schulze may stand as candidates in the
      election according to paragraph 7 above, just as any other
      SPI contributing member.

 FURTHERMORE, WHEREAS

  15. The ad-hoc organisation of this election is less transparent and
      democratic than ideal;

  16. The bylaws reform effort appears to have stalled;

  17. These problems are in significant part attributable to the
      Board;

 IT IS RESOLVED THAT

  18. The Board apologises to the Membership and the Bylaws committee
      for its failure to work more proactively to help reform the
      bylaws.

  19. The Board asks its members individually to participate more
      fully in the bylaws reform process.



Possible Amendment 2003-10-14.iwj.3  - change seats to two
 
  (i) amend paragraphs 4 and 11, to elect and appoint two rather than
      three board members.


Possible Amendment 2003-10-14.iwj.4  - no interim reinstantement

  (i) delete paragraphs 13 and 14.


Possible Amendment 2003-10-14.iwj.5  - no apology from the board

  (i) delete paragraphs 15 to 19 inclusive.


-- 
Ian Jackson                  personal email: <ijackson at chiark.greenend.org.uk>
These opinions are my own.        http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/
PGP2 key 1024R/0x23f5addb,     fingerprint 5906F687 BD03ACAD 0D8E602E FCF37657