I do not enter in this debate, but it would surely be nice
to align the Bylaws with the current practice, and not rely on the fact that
members give their proxies to the people from a certain region. Moreover, this
would not guarantee neither that at the moment of the vote members will give the
proxy, nor that the members of the region vote for one of them and not for
somebody else. So, if ALAC chooses to have a musical Chair (sorry - it was too
tempting), better put it in the Bylaws rather than finding shortcuts to achieve
the goal.
Personally, seeing things from the outside, I am not
excited about the hypothesis. I think that ALAC will lose credibility by
continuously changing chairperson. For sure, it will solve some practical
issues, and share the burden, but I would invite you to think thoroughly of the
consequences. Just an example: what would you think if ICANN would apply the
same principle, and rotate Board Chair every few months? Without doubt, to have
a chair originated in the region where the meeting is held would give a PR
advantage, but what I doubt is that the overall image of ICANN would be
strengthened. Up to you to balance the pros and cons.
Cheers,
Roberto
I think you're wrong about the likely legal advice, since the same bylaw
provision delegates to the ALAC itself substantial discretion in how how the
election takes place. If you really need all 15 "electing," we would simply
adopt a procedure by which ALAC members gave their proxies to the people from
the host region. At the end of the day, the ALAC can decide how and when it
wants to select its Chair, and that bylaw provision can't prevent that. And
why should it? I think the clear intent of the provision is to give us
substantial latitude in the internal governance of the ALAC.
On Jul 9, 2007, at 11:41 AM, Nick Ashton-Hart wrote:
I doubt - very much - that the General Counsel would
agree that 3 people out of 15 electing a chair every few months is in
conformity with the Bylaws - quite the contrary.
If the Committee decides to go with this type of structure I will of
course ask.
On 9 Jul 2007, at 19:15, Bret Fausett wrote:
Nick, thanks for point out the bylaw provision, but it doesn't change
anything. The "procedure adopted by the Committee" would be that the three
representatives from the host region elect a Chair.
On Jul 9, 2007, at 11:01 AM, Nick Ashton-Hart wrote:
Bret, an election for
the Chair of ALAC isn't optional - see the ICANN Bylaws, Article
XI,S2(4)(d):
"The
Chair of the ALAC shall be elected by the members of the ALAC pursuant
to procedures adopted by the
Committee."
_______________________________________________
ALAC mailing list