[haiku-inc] Re: Updating the donat-o-meter...
- From: Urias McCullough <umccullough@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Public Haiku-inc List <haiku-inc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 11:41:28 -0700
On Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 10:43 AM, Karl vom Dorff <karlvd@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> And just another comment; I am not sure exactly how this organization is run
> (are there any by-laws?) - but the same directors have been there for a long
> time.
That's correct - there are essentially no bylaws describing how the
board of directors is appointed/elected. As such, the original board
of directors voted in the current board of directors, and no change in
bylaws has occurred since then. No change in board has occurred,
although I think the time is quickly approaching where one or two
board members simply need to be rotated out. Certainly it can be
healthy to do so.
> I've normally seen directors have a set term and need to be
> re-elected. This brings about fresh changes/ideas & accountability. Usually
> with five directors, two have a one year term, two a two year term, and one
> a five year term. That way there's always someone with experience on the
> board. Has Haiku Inc. or Haiku OS' website (on the frontpage) ever tried to
> call elections for the board of directors at Haiku Inc. to see who
> volunteers? It might be worthwhile. Several directors complain they do it
> only because nobody volunteers.
>
> I'd envision having profiles of each candidate posted to Haiku's website for
> a couple weeks before the election, and then having the community vote on
> the directors.
It turns out that it's a bit of work to design bylaws for
community-driven elections - there was an attempt early on (around the
2008 timeframe I believe) to draft something up that would produce a
Haiku, Inc. "membership" with voting rights, but it didn't get very
far and eventually fizzled out.
It may not make sense to give the whole "community" voting rights
without defining specifically who the voters are, and making sure that
they're individually recognized and counted properly. Otherwise, it's
ripe for abuse and ballot stuffing.
Perhaps we need to start by setting an initial "voting membership"
(maybe everyone with commit access?) in order to elect new board
members, and then hopefully those board members have a plan to rewrite
the bylaws and shape them into something that Haiku, Inc. can proceed
into the future with.
I suspect if not done properly, things can get out of hand - and who
knows where it'll land down the road. But we need to start somewhere.
Perhaps a public call for candidates and/or nominations is the place
to start. I can perhaps write something up this weekend and see if we
can get it posted. Even without community elections, I think some on
the board would welcome some rotations in the very near future, and
the best time to start that search has probably already passed - so
better late than never.
- Urias
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