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Re: Proposed Revisions to IETF Trust Administrative Procedures

2008-04-10 22:28:06
I have resisted contributing to this thread because so many of the salient
points had already been made.  But permit me to make a small observation.

This proposal has a general thrust that seems to say "This position is 
important, and
we don't want to pile too much power in one pair of hands, so we can't let the
following folks take the position, and we need explicit ways of removing 
someone from
the position."  It also has a section (d), which downplays that reading by 
saying:

The Chair shall convene and preside over meetings of the Trustees but shall 
have no other powers or authority beyond his or her powers as a Trustee.  If 
the Trust Chair is not available, then any other Trustee may convene or 
preside over meetings of the Trustees in the  absence of the Trust Chair.

When Brian tried to create "Vice Chairs" for the IESG, the IESG of the time
was very concerned with both the optics inside the IETF, the optics outside
the IETF, and the chance that Vice Chairs would eventually come to believe that
they had a role  beyond chivvying folks to do get their positions
in on time.  After much discussion, including silly suggestions by me,
"Whips" got picked as the title instead.  That worked, and the people doing
the job helped a lot in taking up tasks that Brian did not have time for.

A "Whip" is not what you're looking for here, but it seems clear to me that
the terminology of "Chair" is going to set up the same kind of expectations
that have caused problems before.  This person *will*, for example, get called
for quotes by press looking at IPR issues in the IETF.  They can push those off,
but believe me that there is a target painted on the back of the stuckee
with this choice of phrase.

Call this role a "meeting convener" or "show runner" or "den mother" or
something else less likely to cause confusion and attract trouble.  That will 
help,
at least in my opinion.  Names matter, and the one you've chosen implies powers
that all the sub-clauses in the document can't truly take away.

Thanks for listening,
                                Ted


At 6:21 PM -0700 4/10/08, Ray Pelletier wrote:
The Trustees have considered the comments from the list and propose the 
following amended revisions to the Trust Administrative Procedures.  The 
Trustees propose to take action at its April 17th meeting and will consider 
all comments received by that date.

2. The Trustees shall select one Trustee to serve as the Chair of the Trust. 

a. The following Trustees are not eligible to serve as IETF Chair:
   1. ISOC President
   2. IAB Chair
   3. IETF Chair
   4. ISOC IAOC Appointee
   5. IAD

b. The term of the Trust Chair shall be one year from the time of selection or 
the remaining time of his or her tenure as a Trustee, whichever is less.  An 
individual may serve any number of terms as Chair, if selected by the Trustees.

c. The Chair serves at the pleasure of the Trustees and may be removed from 
that position at any time by a vote of 2/3 of the voting Trustees, not 
counting the Trust Chair.

d. The Chair shall convene and preside over meetings of the Trustees but shall 
have no other powers or authority beyond his or her powers as a Trustee.  If 
the Trust Chair is not available, then any other Trustee may convene or 
preside over meetings of the Trustees in the  absence of the Trust Chair.

4. The Trust Agreement defines the quorum and voting rules for a meeting. 
Motions passed by electronic means between meetings shall be confirmed by a 
vote at the next possible meeting.

12. The Trustees are the current members of the IAOC. When a member leaves the 
IAOC for whatever reason, he or she ceases to be a Trustee. When a new member 
joins the IAOC, he or she becomes a Trustee upon his or her agreement in 
writing to fulfill the duties of a Trustee, as specified in the Trust 
Agreement.

a. If at any time the IAOC ceases to exist, or there are fewer than three 
Trustees, then the IESG, or its successor, shall appoint Trustees in 
accordance with Article VI of the Trust Agreement.

Ray

Brian E Carpenter wrote:

On 2008-04-10 07:04, John C Klensin wrote:


--On Wednesday, 09 April, 2008 13:50 -0400 Ed Juskevicius
<mailto:edj(_at_)nortel(_dot_)com><edj(_at_)nortel(_dot_)com> wrote:

  

John, you wrote:

    

Then recommend to the community that the Trust Agreement be
changed.
      

The Trustees are not talking about changing the terms of the
Trust Agreement, so this should not be necessary.
    

Good.  But I was just trying to suggest, following what I
thought I saw in Marshall's note, that, if the Trust Agreement
is defective, one could try to change it.  The other option is
to conform to it.  Ignoring it and adopting procedures or
polices inconsistent with it --even if one believes those
policies will never be triggered-- is a non-starter.

  

I am worried about the IAOC and/or Trustees adopting
procedures that are inconsistent with the Trust Agreement.
      

Me too! It is not the intention of the Trustees to adopt
procedures that are inconsistent with the Trust Agreement. 

    

if anything is going to be said, it needs to be consistent
with the Trust Agreement _and_ reflect the desires and intent
of the community.
      

I agree.
    

I think we are in synch.
  


I agree with the above, and I assure everybody that the intent
was always exactly that. There's definitely an error in the way
the current procedures were drafted; it was my error, and I have
evry confidence that the current Trustees will fix it.

   Brian
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