Re: Advisory referendum, not decision [Was: Beginning of the 2005 GNOME Foundation elections]

[Dominic Lachowicz <domlachowicz gmail com>]

> I pretty much feel the same way. I understand why it was done, I used to be
> an avid supporter of reducing the number of seats on the board, but in the
> end, I don't think it was done for the right reasons, nor were alternatives
> properly canvassed.

I couldn't agree more. I got the clear impression that some board
members didn't like being there. I got the clear impression that the
board's decision making abilities were somehow less-than-effective.
What I didn't get was how removing people from the board would
positively effect changes, or if there were perhaps other unexplored
options.

But you bring up a good point - this referendum was advisory only,
which is a point that I (and perhaps others) overlooked. That leaves
me with a few questions and only 7-8 days until the election is
scheduled (if http://foundation.gnome.org/elections/2005/rules.html is
up-to-date).

Candidacies must be announced prior to November 14, 2005 or
thereabouts (which has already passed). Currently, I count 8 nominees
(Federico, Christian, Jonathan, Bastien, Vincent, Behdad, Quim,
David).

Will this be 8 nominees to fill 11 seats? Or 12 seats (11 board seats
+ Tim's vacancy)? Or 7 seats? Or 8 seats? Must the board decide this
before the election? What happens if the board doesn't reduce the
number of seats and there are only 8 warm bodies to fill them? Or if
there are only 7-8 seats, in which case all nominees are guaranteed a
seat (they're all qualified guys, but their being shoe-ins is a little
depressing). Or will the board uses the small number of nominees to
shape their decision on the number of seats?

I guess my question is: is it even vaguely ok to have the nomination
period closed before we're certain of how many board members we'll
have next year?

Puzzled,
Dom