Hi Caitlin, Thank you for circulating this draft letter and thanks to Council leadership for drafting. I believe it accurately conveys the discussions Council had with the Board members during our February meeting and conveys the proposed next steps well. I made a few suggestions in the draft for leadership to consider – mostly just wording edits rather than any substantive changes. Thanks, Sam From: Caitlin Tubergen via council <council@icann.org> Reply-To: Caitlin Tubergen <caitlin.tubergen@icann.org> Date: Monday, February 23, 2026 at 11:00 AM To: "council@icann.org" <council@icann.org> Subject: [EXTERNAL] [council] Draft letter summarizing recent SSAD dialogue with ICANN Board Caution: This email originated from outside the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Councilors, During the February 2026 GNSO Council meeting, Support Staff captured the following action item re: Next Steps for SSAD Recommendations: Council Leadership to propose a draft letter to send to the Board, summarizing the dialogue and emphasizing the message that the Council, in recommending the Board consider non-adoption of the SSAD recommendations, does not intend to throw any recommendations away, that it will complete the work in a timely manner (e.g., less than one year), and provide brief rationale for why the suggested path is preferable. Council Leadership is proposing this draft letter, which endeavors to include the above points, to be sent to the Board early next week prior to ICANN85: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c3sgy18x3TR0VjOznwfRJVXns6dvAlHUM92L51BT.... Deadline for review: If you have any comments or concerns on the draft, please provide them by Thursday, 26 February. Thank you. Best regards, Caitlin on behalf of Council Leadership