[Foundation-l] Provisional Volunteer Council - proposal sent to the Board

Wed Apr 2 09:42:24 UTC 2008

Chad wrote:
> Actually, I think Mike raises a good point right now, not for down
> the road. We're giving this group an open-ended slate. We're saying
> "here's a vague idea of what you're in responsible for, decide the rest
> yourselves." Giving it Board sanction only legitimizes the idea.
>   
The Provisional Council's agenda is certainly an open-ended slate, but 
beyond its own meetings it can only recommend.  Once it has made its 
major report the Board will be free to grant the new Council all or some 
of the powers that it seeks.  Some of the powers could be granted on a 
conditional basis.
> When you discuss things such as amending the bylaws, you're
> beginning to tread into areas that not only require a legal knowledge,
> but a legal responsibility. And the question Mike asks is legit:
> has this been discussed yet? 
Discussion itself is not a problem; implementing the product of those 
discussions is another matter.  Similarly, it would not be productive to 
ban someone from a mailing list on the sole basis that he does not know 
what he is talking about.
> Is it appropriate for someone under
> 18 to have a say the future (potential) legal status of the Foundation?
>   
I don't see this as much of a problem.  If there is a legal issue around 
the age of Councilors, it would likely be counterproductive to make a 
fuss over this when there are so many other  more important problems to 
face.
> I'm really not trying to be ageist, just trying to remind everyone that
> just because you're a lvl5 sysop on 3 projects and lvl30 bcrat on 2
> others doesn't make you qualified to make legal decisions for a
> non-profit.
I don't think anyone is presuming that it does.

Ec