Dear all,
some thoughts on the discussion of the role of the president in OSGEO,
as the discussion is going on in the board-list.
First of all, I hope that this is a discussion of interest for all OSGEO
members and thus I cc:discuss.
Secondly I think I agree mostly with Michael Gerlek's point in his
e-mail of July 17th, so I think that there are ways to lighten the
President's burden. A small example: there are very competent board
members coming from Europe, they can easily and successfully represent
the board in European based events. The same is true for Australia and
South America. So less work for the president and fewer expenses for the
board and the budget even if these trips are covered (which could even
not be the case if the specific board member would attend anyway).
Moreover this brings back an older suggestion that we need to officially
establish regional chapters that will also be directly connected with
the regional events like FOSS4G-Europe. This would ease a lot of those
discussions.
Thirdly, reading Arnulf's account for his term, one can only say
"wowowow" and thank you to Arnulf and Jeff for the (both personal and
financial) burden they have taken so far.
Forthly, I think that the organization should cover the expenses of any
members going on an "official" business, given that the board agrees on
that. For me it goes without saying that some limits should be set (e.g.
X* hotels) and as others pointed out maybe also a yearly overall limit
not to be exceeded in any case. Of course again and as usual in OSGEO
everything funded should be public.
Lastly, I think that increasing the president's term will only
discourage people to apply for that position. Two years is enough and if
he/she wants can reapply - Eli's suggestion of putting a two terms limit
is also good. I prefer a more flexible scheme that could include a
president elect or some sharing of responsibilities with other members
of the board, e.g. establishing a vice-president's position.
My 2cs and thanks for listening,
Dimitris
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