2010/1/11 Patrick Vande Walle <patrick@vande-walle.eu> The option to automate the process and remove the RALO chair ad personam
from the voting process altogether would be most welcome. I would further suggest that the vote appears under a generic name (eg 'EURALO_VOTE') and that it should also apply to those RALO-elected ALAC members.
The level to which (elected) ALAC members are bound to the decisions of their RALO differs from region to region. While you are welcome to encourage EURALO to adopt such practise, it is unreasonable to insist that every region adhere to your personal opinion. An approach in which the region places trust in its elected representatives may work better for some regions. After all, the element of trust is already a requirement of this process, because once elected the At-Large-appointed Director has absolutely no accountability to the community that elected him/her. Anything we can do to avoid the perception that the ALSes choice could in
any way be filtered by a 'clique' (to use the report's wording) would be most welcome.
I would remind you that this "clique" exists through the direct mandate of the ALSs, for terms that are shorter than those of Directors. I would also remind you that in the proposed process, it is not the ALAC but an independent committee (made up of community members appointed by the ALSs) that chooses who gets on the ballot. Even should the ALAC be indeed be a clique it cannot choose its own favourite as a Director; the vote is only between candidates selected by the ALS-appointed ABSC. Besides, those elected to represent the regions within ALAC have the confidence of their ALSs to make policy and recommendations on every aspect of ICANN throughout the year. Why are they suddenly to be distrusted for this one event? - Evan