Hello, Michael!
First of all, thank you for doing this work!
> We start with a minimalistic interim charter to be able to start the
> process of joining the SPI as a member. The application process itself
> takes some time, so while waiting to be accepted as member we can work on
> the "real" charter.
Sounds good.
> We need to name a so called liason.
Actually, it's called "liaison" if my spellchecker can be trusted.
> Citing [1]: "The Liason is the person
> from your project to whom the Board listens for all authoritative
> decisions regarding your project assets, fundraising, expenses and
> disposition. While the Board is happy to talk to other members of your
> project, only the Liason will be able to send any instructions regarding
> your funds or assets, unless they delegate someone else."
Just to clarify, I assume "the Board" is the SPI Board of Directors.
> I'd volunteer to act as liason for a limited time of, say, 3 months.
I really appreciate it.
> I'd
> appreciate if we find a second member who would be willing to act as
> "backup liason" in case I'm not available for whatever reason, so we don't
> get stuck at some point. Once we have agreed on a final charter the final
> SPI Liason/s is/are elected following the terms that have been laid out in
> the final charter. As announced before I won't be available in this
> election, as I want to concentrate on more technical tasks in the project
> instead.
I don't think I would be good for that role, unless nobody else
volunteers.
> My suggestion for the interim charter is:
>
> === cut ===
> The MadWifi project intends to join the SPI as member, basically to get
> the backing of a non-profit organisation and for being able to handle
> monetary donations properly. The project is working on a full-fledged
> charter but will need more time to finish it. Until then the following
> minimalistic interim charter shall be in effect:
>
> 1. Michael Renzmann acts as interim liason for the SPI, <yet to be named>
> acts as backup. They both are authorised by the team to fulfil the tasks
> outlined by the SPI in
> http://www.spi-inc.org/treasurer/associated-project-howto.html section
> "Your Project Liason".
Please spell check it. British quirks are fine, but the rest should be
avoided.
I understand the document requires one liaison and doesn't mention the
backup. It should be clarified that the above named backup (but nobody
else) can become the liaison if appointed by the current liaison.
The liaison can also be elected or replaced by a simple majority. This
is needed to the case when the liaison cannot transfer the functions to
the backup or a needs to be replaced with someone else.
> 2. The authorative list of team members is available on
> http://madwifi.org/wiki/TeamMembers and the liasons are responsible to
> keep the list up-to-date.
>
> 3. While this interim charter is in effect, all decisions regarding the
> use of assets managed by the SPI on behalf of the project (such as donated
> funds) need to be authorised by an affirmative vote of 75% of all team
> members. Such votes must be held on the publicly accessible mailing list
> madwifi-devel@....
Good, but the threshold is too high. See below.
> 4. The team should decide on a final charter until May 31, 2008. Once that
> has happened the interim liason(s) inform the SPI board about the result
> of the decision. At that point this interim charter will be replaced by
> the regular charter the team has agreed on, and a regular SPI liason will
> be elected.
> === cut ===
>
> Yes, I know that the referenced list of team members needs an update, I'll
> take care ASAP (but most probably not before next monday).
>
> Regarding 3: Actually I think it should neither be required nor desired to
> use funds unless the regular charter is in effect. So I deliberately set
> the required amount of affirmative votes to a high number. The last vote
> turned out that 4 of the officially listed 23 members seem to have
> silently retired from the project. If the remaining 19 active members vote
> affirmatively that's still just 82%. As soon as 2 of the active members
> say "no" the 75% barrier is missed... in other words: with this rule in
> effect we can only spend funds if almost all members agree, and that's
> exactly the intention.
Don't forget of vacations and holidays. More members can be
unavailable. 66% would be a saner limit. And there is no need to wait,
as the time for deals is now.
> Any general objections to this approach? Or any additions you would like
> to see in the interim charter? If so, please speak up during the next few
> days, so that we can soon make another important step forward to finally
> get the awaited non-profit backing.
I have no idea how a charter should look like, so I have no problems
with it, but if there are any suggestions from SPI, please forward them
to the list.
--
Regards,
Pavel Roskin
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