Dear GNSO Council Members, This is a call for additional volunteers for the proposed standing committee to assist the Council in forming comments related to ICANN Budget and Operating plans as discussed in Abu Dhabi. The email thread below was first sent to those that have signed up already. If you are interested in joining this group, please respond to the list and I will get you added to the mailing list and add you to the dedicated wiki space. A conference call will be set up shortly to begin discussions on the two public comment periods listed below that may be of interest to the GNSO Council. Thank you. B Berry A. Cobb 720.839.5735 <mailto:mail@berrycobb.com> mail@berrycobb.com @berrycobb From: gnso-sc-budget-bounces@icann.org [mailto:gnso-sc-budget-bounces@icann.org] On Behalf Of Berry Cobb Sent: Thursday, November 9, 2017 10:21 To: gnso-sc-budget@icann.org Subject: [Gnso-sc-budget] GNSO Council Budget Standing Committee - Pending Public Forum Comments All, Thank you for volunteering on the (for now) informal standing committee of the ICANN Budget and Operating Plan. You may recall Council deliberations on this topic at its meeting in Abu Dhabi. Even though the standing committee charter has not been formally adopted yet, it was agreed to already informally gather volunteers for this effort to consider whether Council input should be provided on two near term comments related to budget and finance topics. This will also allow for some informal experience with the proposed charter which may help inform further Council deliberation. In preparation, staff went ahead and created the digital assets to support this group. First, you have been subscribed to a Mailman list (http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/gnso-sc-budget/). Second, staff has created a new wiki space for this proposed standing committee (https://community.icann.org/display/GCSCOIBOP). We invite you to browse around to become familiar with the initial content posted within the wiki space. Persons currently subscribed to this list can be found on the member's page (https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=74580769). Shortly, staff will send another request for volunteers to the Council list to determine if others are interested in joining this group. Once the standing committee has been formally created, staff will then send a message to the Stakeholder Group and Constituency (SG/C) leadership seeking ICANN budget related subject matter experts that may wish to join. On this trial basis, there are two near term public comment periods that may be of interest to this group: 1) Draft PTI and IANA FY19 Operating Plans and Budgets: https://community.icann.org/display/GCSCOIBOP/2017-11%3A+Draft+PTI+and+IANA+ FY19+Operating+Plans+and+Budgets As discussed at the last Council meeting, the Council will likely not have any specific input to the PTI budget as this mostly affects Registry Operators and has very little to do with management of policy. However, the GNSO is a decisional participant within the Empowered Community and as such staff does suggest submitting a general comment of endorsement or to highlight any comments that have been made by SGs/Cs to demonstrate that the GNSO takes its commitment as a decisional participant serious. See below on comment development and adoption process. Comments are due: 26 Nov 2017. 2) ICANN Reserve Fund - Public Comment on Rationale and Target Level: https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=74580777 The Council may wish to weigh in on this public comment as it not only intersects with the annual budget cycle, but it is also a relevant topic within the CCWG on Auction Proceeds. Further, the Board passed a resolution at its meeting in Abu Dhabi to transfer $5M of excess operating funds to the Reserve Fund (https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2017-11-02-en#2. b) as suggested by the Board Finance Committee at its 22 November 2017 meeting. Note however, this public comment only includes the rationale and Target Level at which the Reserve Fund is set and NOT how it is funded. In short, the Board's conclusion based on the analysis is that the Reserve Fund should be 12 to 17 months of annual operating expenses which remains consistent with the Target Level currently stated in ICANN's Investment Policy. See below on comment development and adoption process. Comments are due: 30 Nov 2017. Comment Development and interim Adoption Process: Given the short time frame of which these comments are due and the next scheduled GNSO Council meeting on 30 Nov (with a resolution submission deadline of 20 Nov), staff suggests that after draft comments are formulated amongst this group, that they be submitted to the GNSO Council mailing list for review and further deliberation. After which, the comments, subject to non-objection and with a disclaimer that it was not formally approved through a vote, can be submitted on behalf of the GNSO Council. Alternatively, a placeholder motion could be submitted by the document deadline to allow for formal consideration, should there be a need. The PTI comment closes prior to the Council meeting, and the Reserved Fund closes the same day of. Staff will suggest that this item be included on the 30 November agenda. Lastly, staff will facilitate a conference call to discuss these topics in detail beyond this mailing list. I will send out a doodle pole to find an appropriate time. Thank you for your attention to this matter. B Berry A. Cobb 720.839.5735 mail@berrycobb.com @berrycobb