In the interests of full disclosure, and complete information, I should add a few things about these subjects here. Firstly, the regions present in San Juan did get to speak to the candidates, but the African, Asia-Pacific, and European regions did not get the same opportunity. I therefore recommended that there should be a pair of teleconferences after the San Juan meeting where all the regions would have the same opportunity to hear from, and ask questions of the candidates, instead of a debate at the San Juan meeting which unfairly gave extra access in this way to the two regions who were present in San Juan. Imagine if your region had been one of the other three - would you feel unfairly treated? The committee in the end voted to have the debate anyway and have the additional teleconferences too - though I note this still gives two regions greater access to the candidates than the other three. There was, and is, no mystery to the agenda modifications - there never is. All agendas of the ALAC are draft agendas until they are approved by the committee in formal session. As a result, nothing can be removed or added to the agenda - only to the draft agenda, and it is just as easily added back again by any member of the Committee. That's the beauty of draft agendas being put together on a wiki - you can see it happen - the whole community can - and the whole community can even suggest agenda items for discussion by adding comments to the page. I know of no other community in ICANN that has so open and transparent a process of assembling their meeting agendas as At-Large does - something which I think the community should be proud of. The other reason for trying to condense the agenda was that it was already very long and it was clear that there was no way it could be finished in the time allowed (in the end it ran about an hour long, and then required a six-hour additional meeting the following morning and even that was not enough to finish the agenda from the previous day!). It may be useful to know that the only reason that the ALAC Board Liaison is even under debate at the moment is because there is a Bylaw provision saying that there needs to be 30 days notice in advance of the ICANN AGM of Liaisons being appointed. The committee decided that it should then ensure that the candidates were known at the ICANN meeting before the AGM, to allow them to have opportunities to interact with the committee and community in good time to be chosen for the deadline - however, the deadline would allow the election to be held up to mid-September and the notice still be in good time, and there was and is no announcement that the election would be taking place urgently as there is no urgency to doing so. Therefore, nothing has been postponed because no election date was announced. You should consider that the role of the board liaison requires mutual respect and the chance for other board members to get to know the liaison in order for that person to effectively represent you. If Vittorio is not re-elected with several months left to go, will that turn him into a 'lame duck'? And how would that serve your interests? Finally - I hope you all will keep in mind that the ALAC we have today is now composed by 2/3 of members who were appointed or elected in the last 7 months - several in the last three months. This new committee is all volunteer, just like all of you, and they are in the process of transforming the committee and it's work and at the same time making really constructive changes to bring the regions much more fully into the mainstream of all of the work of At-Large. I hope you all will give them all - including Robert and Beau - a chance to get their feet under them and judge them by the changes they make over the coming few months. I believe you will be impressed by them and their work. I hope that this adds some additional context. On 3 Jul 2007, at 13:41, Robert Guerra wrote:
Dear colleagues:
It seems that the board liaison election has been postponed . .. (sigh)
As many of you know, this past thursday the ALAC meeting agenda item related to presentation from the candidates mysteriously was removed. I spotted the change, and managed to re-insert it into the agenda. With the change, the candidates were able to present themselves and open themselves up to questions from the committee as well as individuals representing ALS's who were present at the meeting. A good exchange resulted
To hear that the election might not take place until - Sept - , well, is shocking. After hearing from the candidates, I see no reason why the election needs to be postponed so far into the future.
The only reason i've been given is that the rules of procedure for the At-large advisory committee (ALAC) have not been yet approved, as such there is no "real need" to have an election until one month before the Annual general meeting (AGM). Of course, the rules of procedure were - conveniently - left to the end of the meeting, and hence not discussed, and of course not approved.
The document, thus now needs to be reviewed, discussed and approved. Knowing how painfully slow the ALAC goes through documents, I'd like to ask for your help to review and fix the document. Looking at the document (below and at the URL below) , well - it isn't perfect and needs major revisions. As i'm for consultation and engagement, i'd like to ask the NA list to review the document and send me any comments or better yet specific revisions that I could introduce.
https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi?alac_internal_rule_en
I look forward to your comments, and help in getting this important document revised and approved by ALAC ASAP so that we can have our board liaison vote.
regards,
Robert --- Robert Guerra <rguerra@privaterra.ca> Managing Director, Privaterra Tel +1 416 893 0377 --
ALAC Internal Rule-EN
ICANN EN ALAC/2007/1/1.Rev3 ORIGINAL: English DATE: 21st May 2007 STATUS: DRAFT
AT-LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE INTERNAL RULES OF PROCEDURE
Officers
1. The officers of the At-Large Advisory Committee (“ALAC”) are:
* One Chair and one Vice-Chair; * One GNSO Liaison * One ccNSO Liaison * One Board Liaison.
Their roles and requirements are set forth in the following sections of these rules.
1. It is forbidden for any person to serve at the same time in two different officer positions. 2. All officers are normally elected at an Annual General Meeting of ICANN, except for the Board Liaison, which is normally elected at the ICANN Meeting preceding the Annual General Meeting. All officers, including the Board Liaison, serve for a term of one year starting from the closure of an Annual General Meeting and ending at the closure of the following Annual General Meeting. 3. All officers can be removed before the end of their term by a vote of recall according to section 6 of these rules. 4. All officers have a duty of performing their roles with diligence and loyalty to the Committee, and are bound to meet the minimum participation requirements set forth in section 10 of these rules. In case of failure to do so, the Chair shall call a vote of recall according to section 6 of these rules. 5. All officers have at least the same rights of access to information, mailing lists and documents as the ordinary ALAC members. 6. Officers shall be freely chosen by the ALAC, according to the following criteria: 7. They shall normally be persons who are current or former members of the ALAC, or are anyway familiar with the activities and functioning of ICANN and of the ALAC; 8. They shall accept to serve on behalf of the ALAC by acting for the good of the entire Committee, working to bridge differences and build consensus, but also recognizing difference and enabling different opinions to be shared; 9. They shall accept, while acting in their capacity as ALAC officer, to put the collective views of the Committee always in front of their own.
The Chair
a. The mission and responsibilities of the Chair of the ALAC are:
* Chairing the meetings of the Committee; * Preparing and proposing the agenda for the meetings; * Interacting with ICANN Staff for administrative and organizational matters; * Representing the Committee in written communication, in the Public Forum and in meetings where there is no specific appointment; * Calling for votes on different matters, and ensuring that the proper instruments are available for the vote; * Ensuring that timelines and deadlines for the work of the Committee are set and met; * Verifying the respect of minimum participation requirements, rules of procedure, Bylaws and other norms applicable to the Committee; * Monitoring money expenditures and the budget situation.
b. Only standing members of the At-Large Advisory Committee are eligible to serve as Chair. If at any point in time the Chair leaves the membership of the ALAC for any reason, he / she shall immediately cease the function of Chair as well. The Vice-Chair
a. The mission and responsibility of the Vice-Chair of the ALAC is to perform the functions of the Chair, on request of the Chair, if the Chair is unable to perform them.
b. Only standing members of the At-Large Advisory Committee are eligible to serve as Vice-Chair. If at any point in time the Vice- Chair leaves the membership of the ALAC for any reason, he / she shall immediately cease the function of Vice-Chair as well.
Liaisons
a. The mission and responsibilities of each Liaison of the ALAC are:
* To participate diligently in the meetings and activities of the body he/she is liaisoning to; * To communicate and advocate the positions of the ALAC to such body; * To report to the ALAC the current and upcoming activities of the body he/she is liaisoning to, as far as this is possible under the timing and confidentiality constraints of such body; * When this is possible under such constraints, ask to the ALAC for advance instructions on matters that are going to be discussed by such body.
b. There is no requirement for a Liaison to be a member of the At- Large Advisory Committee. Election of officers
a. No earlier than one calendar month and no later than three weeks before the beginning of an ICANN Meeting where, according to the schedule of paragraph 1.c, an ALAC officer has to be elected, the current Chair of the ALAC will send to the public ALAC list an “election call” message, listing the officers that are to be elected at that ICANN Meeting, asking for nominations, and stating the deadline according to the following paragraph 5.b.
b. The deadline for nominations for all open officer positions shall be 14 (fourteen) days after the date of the “election call”. Only standing ALAC members and officers can nominate or self-nominate, by posting a message to the public ALAC list. Anyone who will or has a chance to meet eligibility requirements after the next ICANN Annual General Meeting can be nominated; it is not necessary for nominees to meet eligibility requirements at the moment of the nomination, but, if elected, they will have to meet them before taking their position. Nominations of individuals who certainly will not be able to meet the eligibility requirements after the closure of the next Annual General Meeting are invalid.
c. Nominations must be accepted by the nominee by sending a message of acceptance to the public ALAC list (or to the person who nominated them, who will then forward it to the public ALAC list, if they do not have posting privileges to the public ALAC list at the time) by the deadline of 7 (seven) days after the deadline for nominations. Nominations that are not accepted are invalid.
d. After the deadline for nomination acceptance and before the beginning of the ICANN Meeting, the Chair will post to the public ALAC list an “election summary” message. This message will contain a summary of all valid nominations for any open position. In such message, the Chair will also notify the day and time in which the actual vote will happen; such day and time must be comprised between the beginning and the closure of the ICANN Meeting, except when the Meeting is also the the Annual General Meeting. In this latter case, the day and time of the vote must be comprised in the first 48 (fortyeight) hours after the closure of the Annual General Meeting; thus, the electorate will include the ALAC members whose term starts at the closure of that Annual General Meeting, and will not include the former ALAC members whose term ends at the closure of that Annual General Meeting.
e. Nominations shall then be discussed on the public ALAC list and at the physical ALAC meetings during the ICANN Meeting.
f. At the day and time of the vote, staff will provide ALAC members with a mechanism for voting that meets the following requirements:
* It allows for each ALAC member to cast their vote in a confidential manner, so that no other Committee member or officer shall know it; * It allows for ALAC members who are not physically present to cast their vote remotely (also in advance of the day and time of the vote, if they are unavailable at that moment).
g. Each presently standing member of the ALAC can cast up to one preference for each open officer position, picking among the list of validly nominated individuals published at 5.d. Votes for other individuals are considered equivalent to abstention.
h. At least ten ALAC members must cast a vote (including abstention) for the election to be valid.
i. After votes have been collected, staff will examine them and call the result.
j. For any open position, the candidate receiving the highest number of preferences is elected, provided that he/she received at least five preferences, and that no other candidates received the same number of preferences. If the same person is elected in two or more officer positions, he/she shall immediately pick one, and shall be removed from the results of the elections for the other positions. The newly elected officers assume their position at the closure of the Annual General Meeting.
k. In case two or more candidates receive the same, highest number of preferences, a tiebreak vote is to be conducted. The Chair will select a new date and time for a new vote on that position, at least 7 (seven) days later than the current vote; in such vote, only the candidates that received the same, highest number of preferences will be eligible to receive preferences. The Chair will then immediately send a new “election summary” message according to 5.d, and the procedure will then restart from 5.e.
l. In case no candidate could be elected for any other reason (lack of valid nominations, lack of five valid preferences...), the Chair will immediately post a new “election call”, thus reopening nominations. The procedure will then restart from 5.a.
m. Incumbent officers shall continue to serve in their position in full standing until a valid result is obtained for the election and a new officer is elected.
n. If for any reason whatsoever (including lack of quorum, lack or loss of eligibility requirements, resignation, or recall) an officer position becomes vacant before the end of the term, the Chair will promptly start an election to fill it, by sending an “election call” message and starting the procedure from 5.a.
Recall votes a. A recall vote can be initiated by:
* A request, specifying the officer to be recalled and the reasons for such proposal, posted to the public ALAC list and supported by at least five ALAC members; * The Chair, upon verification of the lack or loss of eligibility requirements, or of the officer's failure to meet participation requirements set forth in 1.e.
b. In case a recall vote is initiated, the Chair will send a message to the public ALAC list, announcing such vote, and including the date and time for the vote, selected by the Chair and situated no earlier than 7 (seven) and no later than 14 (fourteen) days after the date of the announcement. Between the announcement and the vote, the matter will be discussed on the public ALAC list, including counter- arguments by the officer under recall.
c. Staff will set up a voting instrument meeting the requirements set forth in 5.f. Each ALAC member will be allowed to cast a vote picking among “in favour”, “against” or “abstain”.
d. In case at least nine votes are cast in favour of recalling the officer and at least threefourths of the ALAC members cast a vote (including abstentions), the recall is successful; in all other cases, it is not.
e. In case of successful recall, the Chair will promptly post an “election call” to start the procedure defined in section 5, to elect a replacement. The recalled officer will continue to serve until a replacement is elected.
Other ALAC appointments
a. The ALAC may, from time to time:
* attribute specific tasks or responsibilities to a given individual; * appoint a given individual as ALAC representative in working groups, task forces, or other committees and bodies different from those to which Liaisons are appointed; * form Committees, attribute specific tasks or responsibilities to them, and appoint their members.
b. There is no requirement for these appointees to be members of the ALAC. c. Such appointments shall normally be done through an informal call for volunteers, posted by the Chair to the public ALAC list, allowing at least 7 (seven) days for people to volunteer, and trying to reach consensus on the appointment. However, in case that consensus cannot be reached, or in case that this is requested by at least 3 (three) ALAC members, the Chair will start a formal election procedure as set forth in section 5. d. Such appointments can be recalled with the same procedure defined in section 6. e. The appointments described in this section expire at the end of the ICANN Annual General Meeting for the calendar year following the one in which the appointment is made, unless, before that term, the Committee recalls them, the appointee resigns, or the need for the appointment ceases to be.
Motions
a. Any member of the ALAC can present a motion for discussion and decision by the Committee, on any matter under the purview of the Committee. Motions need to be seconded by another member of the ALAC.
b. This section applies to the discussion and vote of all motions, except for matters where more specific rules are defined in other sections of this document.
c. Whenever a motion is presented, the Chair will allocate appropriate time for discussion, and the Committee will try to debate and reach full consensus on the matter approached by the motion. The Chair will try to facilitate consensus by proposing possible ALAC/ 2007/1/1.Rev3 Page 6 of 7 compromises that can accommodate the views of all Committee members, including minority views.
d. If the Chair deems that consensus has been reached, he/she can propose to the Committee to approve the consensus by a “no objections call”. To this effect, the Chair will post a “no objections call” message to the public ALAC list, stating the text of the motion being proposed – which shall reflect the consensus reached during the discussion, and thus might be different from the original motion, according to the Chair's own judgement – and giving 7 (seven) calendar days for objections. The motion will be approved if no ALAC member posts a formal objection to the motion to the public ALAC list in the seven days, or, even before the deadline, if all ALAC members express formal support for the motion, either in person (if at physical meetings) or remotely.
e. If no consensus has been reached, or if the “no objections call” does not result in the approval of a motion, the original motion and any other counter-motions presented during the discussion shall be put to votes in the order of presentation. A motion shall be considered approved if at least five ALAC members cast a non- abstaining vote, and if the number of votes in favour of the motion is higher than the number of votes against. The vote will be open for 7 (seven) days, but the Chair may close it before the deadline if all ALAC members have cast their vote, either in person (if at physical meetings) or remotely.
Meetings
a. The ALAC shall meet physically at all ICANN meetings, and virtually by mailing lists and conference calls. Ordinarily, at least one conference call per month will be held.
b. When meeting physically or telephonically, decisions on a matter of substance cannot be taken unless absent members are given or have been given the opportunity to express their opinion or cast their vote.
c. At least 7 (seven) days before each meeting or conference call, the Chair will post a proposal for the agenda of the meeting. In the following 4 (four) days, any ALAC member can request the addition of other items to the agenda of the meeting. A final agenda will then be published by the Chair.
d. If the duration of the meeting is insufficient to deal with all agenda items, the remaining ones will be deferred to on-list discussion or to future meetings.
Minimum participation requirements
a. ALAC members and officers are expected to actively participate in all aspects of the Committee's work. This includes some qualitative commitments and quantitative requirements. b. The qualitative commitments are: • Reading and commenting in the ALAC online forums;
* Following the ALS certification process and, if members, voting in accreditation votes; * Participating in ALAC conference calls; * Attending physical ALAC meetings (and/or, for liaisons, meetings of the bodies to which the person is liaisoning) at ICANN meetings; * Serving as a liaison to the public.
c. The quantitative requirements are:
* If members, casting a vote (including abstention) in at least 3/4 of ALS accreditation votes; * Participating in at least 2/3 of the ALAC conference calls in any 6 month period; • Attending at least one physical ICANN meeting in any 9 month period.
d. The participation requirements set forth in this section shall be considered met if and only if the quantitative requirements stated in 10.c are met.
e. For ordinary ALAC members, in case of failure to meet the requirements, the Chair will privately encourage the member to resign. If this does not happen by 14 (fourteen) days from that communication, the Chair will formally notify the entity responsible for appointing the member, with a message copied to the public ALAC list, and ask that the appointment is immediately reconsidered. 11.Amendments to these rules a. Proposals for amendment of these rules can be made by any member or officer of the ALAC. Such proposals will be voted by the ALAC, and will be approved only if at least nine votes are cast in favour of adopting the amendment and at least three-fourths of the ALAC members cast a vote (including abstentions).
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