[atlarge-discuss] Panel mandate proposal

[Joop Teernstra <terastra@terabytz.co.nz>]

Dear icannatlarge members,

Before we throw ourselves into Nominations and an Election for a new Panel, 
we should first have an agreement on what the mandate for that Panel will be.

I would like to set off an urgent discussion on this Mandate.

Let me kick it off by stating  my own views:

1. Have a large Panel of 11 in charge of website content control and 
nothing will get done. Much better a Panel of 3 (or 5) and separate 
elections for other Offices of the organization.

2. It is possible to be accountable for a tight mandate, but much less for 
a broad one.

3. We need a division of Powers, checks and balances to prevent hijacking.

Therefore I feel that the Panel should confine itself to web site 
management and web site content control and that the original name of the 
first "web site supervisory Panel" should be retained.
The job is difficult enough, since the web site is our only common public 
mouthpiece with a potentially huge role in the organization.
The events have shown that control over the host and the website can mean 
unilaterally determining content. (why was the forum axed, where is that 
Chuck Costello speech?)

The Panel should be tied down, along with the webmaster,  by agreeing to a 
set of webmaster rules, part of our Bylaws as proposed and discussed in 
http://www.icannatlarge.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=262

The Panel must elect itself a Chair based on the qualities a good chair 
must possess. This means it is not  automatically the most-voted Panel member.
The  Panel Chair can not be the same person as the webmaster or hostmaster .

Polling
All matters of Polling the membership are outside the mandate of the 
website supervisory Panel.

Polling is the area of responsibility of an elected Polling Commission that 
will serve as the trusted anchor of  control-by-the-membership.
There is one directly elected Polling Officer in charge of the Polling 
interface.
Members (3) of the Polling Commission cannot sit on the Panel or on the 
Executive.

The Polling Committee has the right to take Polling initiatives and is 
responsible for the formulation of Polling Questions, Polling Options and 
Ballot texts and messages.


A Polling Commission should be elected with the highest priority, higher in 
the bootstrap-order than the Website Panel.
I will volunteer to boot this up by being the first unelected Polling 
Officer and then stand aside immediately for an elected PO with an initial 
mandate of 6 months.

Executive
Under the supervision of the newly elected Polling Commission a third 
election should then be held for an  Executive office of 3. (spokesperson, 
secretary and treasurer)

It will be up to the Executive to carry out Incorporation, Bank Account, 
making statements on behalf of the members, representing the members at 
ICANN meetings, etc.

The spokesperson is ex officio a member of the website supervisory panel, 
but cannot be its Chair.

I see the above both as a set of Bylaw clauses and an essential and urgent 
to-do list.

It could be done well within 6 months and it would result in a solid core 
of structure, not so easy to blow aside.


On my 58th birthday,


-joop-