Re: Extending the call for candidates (was Re: Withdrawal of board of idrectors candidacy)

[Sriram Ramkrishna <sri ramkrishna me>]

On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 11:29 PM, Karen Sandler <karen gnome org> wrote:

On Thu, May 23, 2013 4:57 pm, Richard Stallman wrote:
> It is not a good thing when there are so few candidates
> that nearly all have to be elected.  With just 8 candidates
> and a 7-member board, we are only voting about which single
> one of these candidate not to put on the board.  That is getting
> pretty close to no choice at all.  What would we do if there were
> only 7 candidates?  If there were only 6?

I think in the instance that there are not enough candidates to elect, the
empty spots would be treated as vacancies under the bylaws. I'd need to
check, but I think then the directors in office can fill the remaining
spots.

That said, I don't think that we are near that position at this point that
we really need to worry about it. My point about the candidates this time
being really strong is that I think there were a few people who were
thinking of running but who decided not to run against the people who had
already put themselves forward.

That would be unfortunate.  It is hard to put your name out there and especially so if there is a lot of people who are perceived as strong.

This is not my first attempt at running for the board.  While I had good name recognition amongst the most active developers in GNOME, nobody outside of IRC really knew who I was.  In fact it might be still the case that people might not know who I am.  :-)  I ran and I think I placed second to last place.  I don't know if I would fare any better but who cares? 

The point is that as long as people elect folks with diversified skills then I think it is going to be fine.  There is a propensity to elect members who are well known and I hope that foundation members resist that and look at the core skills.

Who you elect on the board will be important for the health of the project.  So if you were thinking of running then I think you should speak up or mail Karen, maybe we can make a special dispensation and get you on the ballot?

sri

>
> I propose changing the election rules for future elections so that if
> the number of candidates is less than 7/4 the size of the board, there
> will be another request for candidates, giving 5 days for people to
> step forward.
>

I don't object to this change, but I worry about the wait and see attitude
it could encourage for people who might be more timid about running. I
don't like the idea of two waves of nominations if we could avoid it, and
if only 7 people throw their hats in the ring, if they are solid
candidates I don't think there's a problem with that. As I was saying
above, I think there's been some self selection this time.

karen

> If that squeezes the subsequent step, then expand it
> by moving all the previous dates 5 days earlier.
>
>
> --
> Dr Richard Stallman
> President, Free Software Foundation
> 51 Franklin St
> Boston MA 02110
> USA
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