I concur with Jordan’s thanks to Byron, his analysis of JJ’s position, and his suggestion that Council needs to consider adoption of a formal conflict of interest policy. With respect to the latter, I would be curious to know what other SO/AC’s might have developed along these lines. Best Regards, /Stephen From: Ccnso-council <ccnso-council-bounces@icann.org> On Behalf Of Jordan Carter Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 5:14 PM To: ccnso-council <ccnso-council@icann.org> Subject: Re: [ccnso-council] FW: [Ext] Request for advice - Board seat 12 election process Hi all, Byron, thanks for doing this and I am glad that JJ has replied. Unfortunately it is a reply that’s not especially helpful. My view as shared on the conference call is that there is nothing in our rules or guidelines that says there is any conflict of interest arising from someone acting as a seconded or nominator of a candidate seeking election. JJ’s reply doesn’t endorse or contradict that view in a forceful way. One thing we could do is to update (or create?) our conflicts of interest guideline that sets out clearly things that are to be declared, and situations where conflicts are known to arise. That is a standard aspect to being a good governing body, as far as practice here in NZ goes. Do we have such a doc already? Apologies for not hunting for it myself... Cheers Jordan On Thu, 27 Aug 2020 at 6:02 AM, Byron Holland <byron.holland@cira.ca<mailto:byron.holland@cira.ca>> wrote: Dear Colleagues, Please see the response below from ICANN legal. Best regards, Byron CLASSIFICATION:CONFIDENTIAL From: John Jeffrey <john.jeffrey@icann.org<mailto:john.jeffrey@icann.org>> Sent: August 24, 2020 1:56 PM To: Byron Holland <byron.holland@cira.ca<mailto:byron.holland@cira.ca>> Cc: Bart Boswinkel <bart.boswinkel@icann.org<mailto:bart.boswinkel@icann.org>> Subject: Re: [Ext] Request for advice - Board seat 12 election process Byron, Sorry for the delay in responding, it is quite rare that the ccNSO reaches out for advice to my office on such topics. I had a concern that the there might have been an active ICANN Ombudsman complaint, but I have today, finally, confirmed that there is not such complaint before the ombudsman. It was my impression that such matters rarely come to my office, but are typically dealt with either at the council level or by way of a complaint to the ICANN Ombudsman. I do appreciate that this relates to the selection of a Board Member. Accordingly, after reviewing the information publicly available to me and sent to me by you. I do not, at this time, have sufficient information to make a determination on a conflict. Without any additional information made available, there is not an indication of anything out of the ordinary in a councilor nominating a fellow councilor. I note that changes have been made to the process over time that might be tied together, with the assertion of conflict. I am available and would be willing to seek additional information from Nigel (or anyone else raising the issue) to better understand the issue raised, or to understand whether it is tied to other matters simultaneously raised causing concerns, that are not apparent in the facts provided. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. best regards, John John Jeffrey General Counsel & Secretary, ICANN 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300<https://www.google.com/maps/search/12025+Waterfront+Drive,+Suite+300+%0D%0AL...> Los Angeles, California <https://www.google.com/maps/search/12025+Waterfront+Drive,+Suite+300+%0D%0AL...> 90094<https://www.google.com/maps/search/12025+Waterfront+Drive,+Suite+300+%0D%0ALos+Angeles,+California++90094?entry=gmail&source=g>-2536 direct dial - +1.310.301.5834 mobile - +1.310.404.6001 JJ@ICANN.org<mailto:JJ@ICANN.org> _______________________________________________ Ccnso-council mailing list Ccnso-council@icann.org<mailto:Ccnso-council@icann.org> https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/ccnso-council _______________________________________________ By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). You can visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on. -- Jordan Carter Group Chief Executive, InternetNZ +64-21-442-649 -|- jordan@InternetNZ.net.nz<mailto:jordan@InternetNZ.net.nz> Sent on the run, apologies for brevity