[Osmf-talk] May 2017 use of Code Of Conduct (CoC) for Membership control in HOT US Inc internal governance

[Martin Koppenhoefer]

2017-12-03 3:54 GMT+01:00, Blake Girardot <bgirardot at gmail.com>:
> There is, as far as I know, no current group of volunteers to review
> CoC complaints at HOT at the moment as there has been no need, but
> someone can please correct me if I am wrong, since leaving the board I
> do not read the meeting minutes often enough :)


This makes the whole procedure a bit moot in my eyes. If there isn't a
standing group for handling complaints, it means it will be created ad
hoc when needed, and the composition will likely be such as deemed
advantageous by the people in power.

I've looked a bit into the currently documented procedures of HOT.
https://www.hotosm.org/hot_code_of_conduct#complainthandling
links to document on an external server:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xb-SPADtSbgwl6mAgglHMPHpknt-E7lKRoIcSbW431A/edit

According to this, the Membership Committee (MC) is (besides other):

1. selected by the board at the beginning of a new term

2. consisting of 2 board members and 5 other voting members

3. will exist until it is replaced by the Board

4. a subset of the MC (1 board, 2 other members) will decide on cases
(Case Committee)


if the MC doesn't evaluate a complaint within 15 days, it will be
automatically passed to the board.

In case "where one of the above listed individuals acts unilaterally,
they must report their actions to the MC, Board and Executive Director
for review within 24 hours."

---


While Code of Conduct are usually very generic, the actual effects
result mostly from how they are applied, who decides on the cases, how
the committee is selected, which are the means of appeal, etc.

Reading the HOT procedures, it seems the Board being involved in a CoC
complaint was not on the author's priority list.

Cheers,
Martin