Hello everyone. I have a great deal of sympathy for the points Liz raises. It is quite important to the BC's legitimacy and our effectiveness that we take our governance seriously and that we go about our processes in an even-handed and transparent manner. This is not exactly how I, at least, perceive the BC to be operating these last few years. Just to address one factual point which Liz mentions, in last year's election it was not quite so simple as Rick "not having his nomination in on time". Without regurgitating the tedious details, what actually occurred was that the officers announced there would be an election and my nomination was promptly submitted - but it was deemed to be "too early" as the nomination period was not yet formally commenced. I was in the process of changing jobs, homes and moving 2000 miles cross- country. While my new membership was pending, I was briefly removed from the list for a few weeks whilst the membership application of my new company (yes, a large business) was submitted, processed and accepted. I was quite surprised to find that in the interregnum my "too early" nomination had simply been ignored, thinking then (and now) that this is a rather shoddy way to treat longstanding members who are expressing an interest to volunteer our time for roles. Once my new firm's membership was processed, it was then "too late" to resubmit that nomination. On that basis I was excluded from running: one nomination too early and the other too late. The members were informed there were not enough candidates to hold an election, and an acclamation proceeded. It would not have any effort at all to confirm the interest of another candidate known to be willing to stand, and known also to be in the process of a membership transition, but no such effort was made. I did perceive a certain capriciousness in all of that, as does Liz today, and said so at the time in my objection. With respect to today, I am seeking no special treatment. There is a vacancy for the position of our BC's large business rep on the NomCom. I have indicated my willingness to fill that position, and am qualified to do so. If there are others who are also willing and qualified, the obvious solution would seem to be for the members to have an election and for the members to choose our large business rep, as Liz and others have stated. Best wishes. cheers/Rick Rick Anderson EVP, InterBorder Holdings Ltd email: randerson@interborder.ca cell: (403) 830-1798 ----- Original Message ----- From: owner-bc-gnso@icann.org <owner-bc-gnso@icann.org> To: BC gnso <bc-gnso@icann.org> Sent: Thu Sep 03 01:34:47 2009 Subject: [bc-gnso] Elections Colleagues I am very disappointed with the conduct (not the results) of the elections and have set out below my suggestions for a way forward. The problems with the election illustrate again, despite months of discussion about accountability, transparency, charter improvements and policy development processes that we still haven't got things right. I preface my remarks by saying how delighted I am that Mike Roberts has been encouraged to join our efforts -- the test for him will be whether he actually joins the constituency and takes an active role in its operations. I am most concerned about the way in which the election process was run. 1. No nominee for the large business representative was received. Three nominations were received for the small business representative. There was no plan from the Councillors to address that - either through an appointment process or whatever that was made PUBLIC before the elections took place. I was asked for and I submitted a note to the Councillors expressing my interest in volunteering for the Large Business representative seat, should no other nominees be received. I don't know whether Waudo was given that option. 2. We are now in a situation where two candidates have lost the election who could have been selected for the position as runners-up. There is nothing in the By-laws that would have prevented that happening, except that the nominees may not have wanted to. 3. We now have a presumptive nominee (Rick Anderson) sending in his nomination AFTER the fact with a statement as to why he should be elected when there isn't even a nomination period open. He didn't nominate in the first place and shouldn't be given preferential treatment in any "second" round, especially where other candidates have spent time and effort finding nominees, submitting statements of suitability, going through an election where they have to seek support for their candidature. Members will recall the fuss and bother last year, over exactly this issue, when Rick protested about not having his nomination in on time and he was excluded from running. Waudo and I have been significantly disadvantaged in the choices open to us -- as a representative of WITSA Waudo is qualified to represent large business interests; having worked for large corporations I am qualified to do the same. Indeed employment with a large organisation is not a requirement of this post -- sensitivity to the various needs of large businesses is much more important. Having said that, I would support Rick's candidacy because he is able, highly critical of the constituency and may have some influence on making positive changes. My issue is that the process was not public beforehand and candidates have not been treated equitably. 4. With respect to Mike Roberts' nomination, it was very unfair that neither Waudo or I were given the chance to have a detailed statement of support from our nominees, in exactly the way that Marilyn did for Mike. This was a decision taken by the Secretariat which, for perhaps uninformed and disinterested voters, was the information that they needed to sway their vote. My argument is not that the statement shouldn't have been distributed but that each candidate would have had the same opportunity. We are now in exactly the same situation with Rick Anderson receiving letters of support -- what other potential candidate would be silly enough to stand in the face of a self- nomination in a pseudo election by default? If we are to be taken seriously as representatives of business interests, we need to smarten up immediately -- not sometime in the future, not when a notional charter is completed, not when we get around to it but immediately in every action we take. I say this across the board in our operations -- from working on the Credentials Committee assessing new member applications & being involved in disciplining members; in my work on developing the new charter and encouraging a deliberate move to a new and broader mode of operation and in our work on policy development process improvements. On the latter, no BC representative has been present on the Working Group on PDP improvements for many months. I am also making an official request that the results of the election are made public showing who voted for whom and how the weighted votes were applied. Liz ... Liz Williams +44 1963 364 380 +44 7824 877757 This e-mail message and any attachments may contain confidential and/or privileged information intended only for the addressee. In the event this e-mail is sent to you in error, sender and sender’s company do not waive confidentiality or privilege, and waiver may not be assumed. 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