Talk:Free Geek Bylaws

Thanks Steve, Describing the exact sources of the text makes it easier for anyone to take the next step with it. It is problematic to be overly humble. This line of yours is/was causing difficulty: "These rewrites in no way reflect the opinions of current board members (or really anyone else for that matter)!" --kathey 21:04, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

Kathy, I was instructed by Laurel 1.0 and Anne (board members) to draft up some language that could at some point be discussed/voted on by the board, and place it on the wiki so that it may be accessed by everyone. I was tasked with identifying bylaws that were out of date, and rewriting them so as to reflect any governance changes that have been made. These rewrites do not reflect what I have "heard", rather they reflect the official changes that were voted on and adopted by the board and council at their last meetings. The basis for these changes can be found in the minutes of those meetings. These bylaws need to be changed, regardless of what language ends up being used.

As I said in my introduction, these changes are simply sample language that may or may not be used. I sent out the link to this page on the council so that others may see what changes are being proposed. The whole point of me drafting these changes was so that they could be sent out to groups, added to agendas, and discussed, voted on, etc.

I apologize if any of this was unclear; I thought my introduction was fairly straight forward. -Steve F. 5/18/2011

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PROCEDURAL POINT: Bylaws policies are too sensitive for any ambiguity between authors. Because this wiki does not have clear structure for discussion, it is not a great place for sorting dialog. I guessed at the location of a separation line between texts below. It would be better if the most recent notes were from a recognized committee. Then there would be more understanding of the judgment behind rough drafts. Steve may argue that these notes are based on what he heard at recent board, council and transition committee meetings. (Which is what they look like it to me). Then just say so: "These are my notes on what I've heard discussed in recent meetings of ... These notes need to be reviewed by..." Then post them to the appropriate lists for meeting minutes, and/or get them on the next meeting's agenda. That is the best way to get others' memories of what was actually said and agreed, or proposed and left for future work, etc. That would separate out proposals from the note taker, versus proposals from the meeting outcome. --kathey 17:29, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

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Proposed bylaws/changes- Stephen Forbush, May 2011. NOTE: This is NOT a final draft; some of the numbers will need to be changed, and the election procedures have not yet been fully discussed, and I'm sure there are numerous other changes that need to be made. These rewrites in no way reflect the opinions of current board members (or really anyone else for that matter)! I am simply drafting up sample language that could be used if/when we decided to formally rewrite the bylaws. Feel free to comment, but please let people know if you have changed any language in the sample bylaws. -Steve

Article III Section 2: The board shall consist of no less than 7 members, and no more than X members. The number of members will be decided by the board. At least 25% of board positions will be filled by volunteer representatives, with a minimum of 2 representatives elected.

Article III Section 3: Add "Volunteer representatives will serve 1 year terms following the date of their election."

Article III Section 4: Board members will be selected in one of two ways. Prospective members who represent interests or skill that are important to Free Geek may be appointed by the existing board as it sees fit. Board members designated as "Volunteer Representatives" will be elected once annually, at a convention held for this purpose. Volunteers may cast ballots for the representative of their choice. The board is in charge of ensuring a fair and democratic election, though it may delegate responsibility to another body if needed. All candidates seeking to become volunteer representatives must have completed 30 hours of volunteer work within the past year in order to be considered. The board is responsible for creating all other policies in regard to the election of its members.

• Note: I left this section intentionally vague. Even once the election process has been decided, it would be unwise to codify all of it in the bylaws. It is likely that our first election will reveal areas of the process that need improvement, and having overly specific bylaws will make it difficult to perfect the process!

Article III Section 11: In the event of a vacancy, the board will appoint an interim director for the remainder of the term. (changed from having council appoint a replacement)

Article V Section 3-This bylaw simply needs to be erased once the council has expired.

Article VIII: These Bylaws may be amended by the Board then in office at any regular or special meeting of the Board provided the notice given for such meeting indicates that such amendments will be considered.(changed from requiring notice to be given to the council, as well as allowing council to provide bylaw proposals)

The bylaws I have modified are the ones in most obvious need of revision. Most of the other bylaws deal with board policies that are not specifically addressed by the governance changes being proposed. These are probably best left for revision after new board members have been elected.

----------best guess at separation point between two generations of text: ---------

Article III, Section 4 says that the council selects the board. This makes Section 10 kind of useless since, as written, it says that the board can only remove directors elected or appointed by the board. Oops! We probably should ammend this as shown here, no?

Section 10. Removal or Resignation of Directors.

Any Director of Free Geek may resign from such position by delivering written notice of the resignation to the Board, its presiding Officer, the Chairperson or secretary, but such resignation shall be without prejudice to the contract rights, if any, of Free Geek. Any Director elected or appointed by the Board may be removed by the Board, for cause, by the Directors then in office, except for the director in question, whenever in its judgment the best interests of Free Geek would be served thereby, but such removal shall be without prejudice to the contract rights, if any, of the person so removed. The election or appointment of a Director shall not of itself create contract rights.

I also wonder if that last sentence, The election or appointment of a Director shall not of itself create contract rights., belongs in this section, rather than in the section where we describe how directors are elected or appointed, but no big deal on that. RfS 12:59, 14 Dec 2005 (PST)

This amendment was passed at tonight's board meeting. RfS 19:24, 11 Jan 2006 (PST)