<div dir="ltr"><div>Thank you for sending out a detailed and clear explanation Frederik.</div><div><br></div><div>One suggestion: Separate out the vote on whether to have fixed 2-year terms and the vote on whether to have 6 year term limits. <br></div><div>In my mind, these are really two different questions. Either you have fixed terms or you don't. But as to term limits, it could be 6 years or 4 years or 8 years or any of those with option to return after a gap...and I think people will have a lot of thoughts about that. <br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Oct 16, 2019 at 1:58 PM Frederik Ramm <<a href="mailto:frederik@osmfoundation.org">frederik@osmfoundation.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Dear OSMF members,<br>
<br>
the board of directors would like to suggest a couple of changes to the<br>
Articles of Association, to be voted on in this year's AGM.<br>
<br>
These changes are mostly the result of various concerns that were raised<br>
in connection with the mass signup of employees of one company before<br>
the last board election.<br>
<br>
Our plan is to propose these changes on the ballot individually, so that<br>
each of them can individually be accepted or rejected by the members.<br>
<br>
The AoA changes require a majority of 75% of votes to pass, and only<br>
normal members can vote. Other resolutions, that are not AoA changes,<br>
only require a 50% majority, and normal as well as associate members can<br>
vote.<br>
<br>
The changes we are proposing are detailed in this PDF:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/c/c5/Suggested_AoA_Changes.pdf" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/c/c5/Suggested_AoA_Changes.pdf</a><br>
<br>
Here is a quick outline:<br>
<br>
1. Increase the time, after signup, during which a membership<br>
application can be rejected<br>
<br>
2. Increase the time you need to be a member of the OSMF before you can<br>
vote at an AGM<br>
<br>
3. Introduce a minimum OSMF membership time before you can stand for a<br>
board election<br>
<br>
4. Fix board terms to be exactly 2 years long and allow individuals to<br>
have at most three board terms<br>
<br>
5. Replace the current "financial hardship" fee waiver by a general fee<br>
waiver which means that anyone who makes a sizeable contribution<br>
(mapping or otherwise) can become a member for free. This is the only<br>
item that is not an AoA change.<br>
<br>
The PDF has explanations about the how and why for each of these.<br>
<br>
The board has discussed these changes with the MWG and we agree that<br>
they make sense. We would now like to invite you, our members, to also<br>
comment on these items and discuss them with us here. The outcome of the<br>
discussion can either be that we put these items to a vote as they are,<br>
or we could modify them, or drop them altogether.<br>
<br>
Time is of the essence; the AGM is likely going to be in in the 2nd week<br>
of December and we should finalize these proposals by the end of<br>
October.<br>
<br>
The item we have most discussed on the board is the term limits; the new<br>
system carries a greater risk of lack of continuity, and by being strict<br>
about 3x2 years we make it impossible for someone to come back to the<br>
board at a later time. The latter could be mitigated by adding a limit<br>
like "not yet been elected three or more times IN THE 10 YEARS PRECEDING<br>
THE ELECTION" or so - then someone could serve for 6 years, have a 4<br>
year break, and come back. There is no clear majority for one over the<br>
other on the board, and we could potentially just put both options out<br>
there in a STV vote (so voters could state a preference order between<br>
"change to term limit without option of coming back", "change to term<br>
limit with option of coming back", and "no change").<br>
<br>
Bye<br>
Frederik<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Frederik Ramm<br>
Treasurer<br>
OpenStreetMap Foundation<br>
<br>
Name & Registered Office:<br>
OpenStreetMap Foundation<br>
St John's Innovation Centre<br>
Cowley Road<br>
Cambridge<br>
CB4 0WS<br>
United Kingdom<br>
A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales.<br>
Registration No. 05912761.<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
osmf-talk mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org" target="_blank">osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk</a><br>
</blockquote></div>