[HCoop-Discuss] Bylaws revision - increasing size of board, etc.

[Michael Potter]

On Wed, 2007-12-05 at 20:43 -0500, Nathan Kennedy wrote:
<SNIP for brevity>
> I would like to propose revisions to the HCoop bylaws to make this 
> effective, and after some discussion and revision, put them up for 
> vote.  I would like to take care of this soon, as we are about to reopen 
> membership and the next election is going to be just around the corner.
<SNIP>
> Let me know what you think,
> -Nathan
> 
> Proposed resolution:
> 
<SNIP>
> Modifying Section 405 to read as follows:
> Section 405. The board may revise the Corporation's policies or take any 
> action on behalf of the Corporation by majority vote of members present 
> at any board meeting. The Secretary is responsible for keeping and 
> publishing up-to-date editions of the Corporation's policies.

Nathan,

I'm on-board with most of these revisions, they seem sensible and well
thought-out. I noticed the modification to section 405 wasn't mentioned
in your summary, but it appears to formalize the policy that members
don't have any say in events once elections are over. The board needs to
be able to act without having its hands tied, but to cut regular members
off from all decision-making does away with all but a token democracy. 

The way it's worded, the board might even be able to eliminate elections
altogether. 

Therefore, I suggest a regular membership vote be required on all
significant policy changes. What constitutes "significant" is debatable,
but I would think items like modifying the policy, appointment/dismissal
of sysadmins or hiring/firing of paid sysadmins, whether or not to grow
and how fast or have tiered membership levels would qualify. 

I also suggest a formal policy that any member be able to call for a
vote on significant issues at election time, provided they have enough
support (10% percent of membership perhaps). This allows for lobbying
without letting random malcontents cause trouble. 

Michael