Hi Edwin I can see the responses to our membership form, which was opened on the 19th of November and I can't see your name on the list of responses.
We potentially should email people responses to the form, so that they have a copy for their records, but I assure you that we have a well meaning team working on the membership working group who would not have disapproved of your application. You can sign up here if you'd like to be a member: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfyt_YoV6oK4hdVSsZjOACUV5V55J5m9RZtVUDuoFTidzZBDg/viewform Kind regards, Alex On Tue, 15 Sep 2020 at 17:26, Edwin Liava'a <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi John, > > I submitted my application to be a member of the Oceania Chapter > during FOSS4G in Wellington 2019. > > Apparently it didn't happen or it was not approved? We were all there > at the AGM but I don't know what happened and I've never received a > single email from the list until I subscribed to the mailing list last > week :) > > Anyway, it's not a big deal for me since we are all volunteers and if > my contribution is not needed by the members of this chapter then I'll > move on and keep doing what I do best in promoting FOSS in my own way, > as I used to. > > cheers, > > Edwin > > On Mon, 14 Sep 2020 at 12:27, John Bryant <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Thanks, I agree that directors should have "skin in the game" as well, > but a simple 12 month membership requirement would probably disqualify some > people who'd be great. Martin's suggested modifications could perhaps help > address this. But I still think it would need to be addressed in the > constitution, and not by board-level decision. > > > > Cheers > > John > > > > > > > > On Mon, 14 Sep 2020 at 09:59, Alex Leith <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> Hey John > >> > >> I'm not sure about the 12 month qualifying period either, but I do > think that having 'skin in the game' as Adam has said many times is > important. If someone wants to be on the Board, the smallest hurdle is > being a member and having the foresight to be a member, and presumably > involved, for at least 12 months is not really a big deal. > >> > >> That said though, you are right that we cannot override the > constitution in our election process... So while we may 'define a process' > in clause 79.1, I don't think we can further constrain eligibility, as per > clause 74. > >> > >> So I think we need to remove this qualifier from the election process > and refer to the constitution. > >> > >> Kind regards, > >> > >> On Mon, 14 Sep 2020 at 09:46, Martin Tomko <[email protected]> > wrote: > >>> > >>> Hi John, Adam, all > >>> > >>> I agree with your second point, John, that this should be covered by > the constitution. I awas myself uneasy with the decision that the board > decides this. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> I am not in agreement with the first point. I believe that we are now > past the ”storming and forming” stage of the organisation, and our initial > days. > >>> > >>> I believe that to stand as a director, members need to demonstrate > that a member has been active for a period of time, in good faith. The > issues OSM had in the last year are a testament. The organisation is now > managing substantial funds, and carries responsibility. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> This could be addressed in a number of ways, in my eyes: > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> A candidate could have the backing of a number of members that have > been members for at least 12 months ( I suggest 3), if the candidate > themself were not a member for that period; > >>> A backing of a SIG could be equivalent. > >>> > >>> Anyway, I do not see a problem for people to wait for 12 month before > being nominated for a director. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Martin > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> From: Oceania <[email protected]> on behalf of John > Bryant <[email protected]> > >>> Date: Sunday, 13 September 2020 at 10:38 pm > >>> To: Adam Steer <[email protected]>, "[email protected]" < > [email protected]> > >>> Subject: Re: [OSGeo Oceania] Call for Feedback Due 23rd Sept - Board > Election Process & Timeline > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Yes! We want the board to be made up of engaged and motivated people > with the community's best interests at heart. Our community is full of > people like this! I reckon our best bet is to articulate that vision, > create the conditions for those people to step forward and participate, and > make sure the members who elect the board have enough visibility into it > all to make informed decisions. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Cheers > >>> > >>> John > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> On Sun, 13 Sep 2020, 3:48 pm Adam Steer, <[email protected]> > wrote: > >>> > >>> Hey John, all > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> That clause was aimed at preventing people whos only interest is to > get on boards getting on the board, and has been a topic of debate. Based > on your input about the constitution its probably a good idea to just > replace it with ’nominees shall be nominated in accordance with clause 74 > and 19.3 of the constitution [link]) > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> It is worth remembering we all just kinda nominated ourselves at the > start. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Cheers > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Adam > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> On Sun, 13 Sep 2020 at 05:43, John Bryant <[email protected]> > wrote: > >>> > >>> Hi all, > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Great work, and thanks for the opportunity to discuss the election > process. I've added a couple of comments to the Google doc, but I have a > specific concern that may need a little more room for discussion. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> In the proposed process, there is a section called "Minimum term of > membership", which says: > >>> > >>> To be nominated as a Director, you must have been a Member for a > minimum of 12 months (calculated from closing date of elections). This > ensures that potential Directors have had the opportunity to participate in > OSGeo Oceania business, and gives the Board an opportunity to mentor those > who would like to take up leadership positions in the future. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> I think there are a couple of issues with this: > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> 1) It's not an effective way to assess someone's capability to act as > a director. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> For example, I want to nominate Edwin Liava'a to stand in the next > election. Edwin was a keynote speaker at last year's conference in > Wellington, and has been a highly engaged leader in the Pacific open > geospatial community for many years. He's volunteered on a number of > committees that would count as OSGeo Oceania business. He's done plenty to > prove his dedication to this community, would be an asset to the > organisation, and would be an effective voice from the Pacific, which to > date has been missing from the board. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> But (as far as I can tell) Edwin's not currently a formal member, so > by this clause he wouldn't be qualified to serve as a director, even if he > became a member now. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> My point is, there are likely many people in our community who would > be excellent additions to the board, and the length of their membership > doesn't seem to be a relevant measure of their potential for contribution. > If someone has a valuable contribution to make, why would we want to put > this up as an obstacle? > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> 2) It may not be within the board's scope to decide who is qualified > to serve as a future director. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Required qualifications to serve as a director are already defined in > the constitution (section 74: simply, "Each Director must be a Member"). > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Members' rights to nominate are also defined there, subject to this > qualification (section 79.3: "Any Member may nominate a person who is > eligible for appointment under clause 74 to serve as a Director."). > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> I'm not sure that it's appropriate to use the election process to > create additional eligibility hurdles, it seems this might be impacting on > members' rights. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> If a nomination were declared ineligible based on this section in the > election process, could a constitutional challenge be made? If the election > process were found to be in conflict with the constitution, could this > potentially render the election invalid? Obviously it's a hypothetical, > unlikely scenario, but maybe not impossible. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> My feeling is the election process would be better without this > section. If there are new director eligibility requirements to add, it > seems a lot safer to stick to using constitution amendments, which would > require formal assent by the membership through a statutory process. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Cheers > >>> > >>> John > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> On Wed, 9 Sep 2020 at 17:58, Hamish Campbell <[email protected]> > wrote: > >>> > >>> Dear OSGeo Oceania Members, > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Our proposed November 2020 election process and timeline for > appointing directors to the board requires your review and feedback. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> You can review and comment directly on the Google Doc. We also welcome > feedback on the OSGeo Oceania mailing list by replying to this email. > Feedback to the board must be received by midnight on Wednesday, September > 23rd. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> The board will review the feedback and finalize the election process > and timeline in early October. > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> Thank you for your contribution! > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> On behalf of the OSGeo Oceania Election Group > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Oceania mailing list > >>> [email protected] > >>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Oceania mailing list > >>> [email protected] > >>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Oceania mailing list > >>> [email protected] > >>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Alex Leith > >> m: 0419189050 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Oceania mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania > _______________________________________________ > Oceania mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania > -- Alex Leith m: 0419189050
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