From: Brian E Carpenter [mailto:brc(_at_)zurich(_dot_)ibm(_dot_)com]
This is exactly my take as well. I've seen many cases where a chair
has refused to become a document author or editor in a
group because
of the conflict it creates. I've also seen at least one
case where a
chair stepped down in order to become a document author.
Exactly.
For the same reason I believe that it should never be the case than an AD is
chair of a working group even if it is a different area.
Other ADs are not likely to challenge a fellow AD. It means that there is no
effective recourse to either the AD supervising the WG or to the full IESG. If
someone is abusing their position as WG chair they are quite likely to abuse
their position on the IESG as well to retaliate against anyone who agrees with
the injured party.
I do not think it would be a good thing to make it an inviolate rule that a
chair can never be an editor. There are a couple of cases where this may make
sense, particularly where the chair decides it will be easier to finish off a
draft that has been languishing rather than badger people into finishing it.
Also there are some cases where there are a lot of drafts in front of a WG. It
should be possible for an editor to hand over that responsibility to become a
chair without loosing their authorship credit.
I do think that there should be a fixed rule prohibiting members of the IESG
being WG chairs. I would also include the IETF chair in this.
The position at BOFs is rather different. It is usually helpful to have someone
experienced in IETF process to chair a BOF and often the best person to do that
is someone who is not directly associated with the actual proposal.
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