[Osmf-talk] Freemap Slovakia Local Chapter application
Craig Allan
allan at iafrica.com
Wed Nov 25 15:09:27 UTC 2020
Hello All,
Some comments with regard to the Freemap Slovak application. I am not
making a decision yet.
There has been some discussion around membership categories. I am happy
with a Registered, Regular, Honorary tiered system.
My concern is with the two year qualification period, which seems
excessive. I would cap Registered status at one year of participative
membership, with automatic progression to Regular member. I think if
someone sticks around and participates for a year they have demonstrated
sufficient commitment. If there is a claim that they have not
participated and should serve another year as a Registered member, let
the Board decide on that as an exception.
The Board of Directors is set at three people - Chair, Vice-Chair,
Secretary - which seems too few for me. I'd like to see a Treasurer and
few ordinary Board members as well - something like six to eight Board
members. This allows specialised portfolios, it grooms people for
succession to office bearers, it allows exhibition of leadership
potential, it encourages more opinions around the table, it allows
participation of minorities, it is more transparent, it is more
democratic, it is probably less corruptible and in general is better for
the organisation.
I don't think exclusion for violations of the rules should be by the
full membership - it seems too public a process - let the Board exclude
offending members and provide a summary of its decision to the members.
Quorum for the AGM is set at 50% of the full membership. This may be
ambitious, as it is often difficult to get good attendance, but time
will tell. I'd suggest starting at 30% of all regular members. Also,
are members who responded to resolutions by email, deemed to be present
for determination of quorum. It sort of looks like they will be counted
as being present, but I'd like to see it stated positively.
I'd like to see a Conflict of Interest section in the Articles of
Association or a separate Rules document. Here are the CoI clauses I
suggested for Uganda. No registered, regular or honorary member may
benefit personally from LC funds, except when being compensated for
approved out-of-pocket expenses. No employee of the LC may vote in
any LC election. No board member may be an employee of the LC.
There is no clarity on signing powers for bank accounts. I would
suggest that the Chair and Secretary should co-sign bank documents. I'd
also suggest that the finance department whoever that is, should NOT
have signing powers. It is morally useful to clearly separate the
spending authority from the accounting authority.
On cancellation and termination of the association, (Section VI) surplus
funds should be redirected to a charity, not to any member or members.
I hope that these suggestions are useful.
best wishes
Craig Allan
OSM: cRaIgalLAn
------------------------------------------
On 2020/11/22 21:09, Joost Schouppe [OSMF secretary] wrote:
> Hi,
>
> You may be aware that Freemap Slovakia has applied to become an
> official Local Chapter of the OpenStreetMap Foundation. As part of the
> application process, we would like to ask you, the OSMF membership,
> how you feel about this. Do you support this application? Do you have
> any questions, comments or concerns?
>
> You can find all the information about this Local Chapter application
> on the OSMF website:
> <https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Local_Chapters/Applications/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo>https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Local_Chapters/Applications/Slovakia
> <https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Local_Chapters/Applications/Slovakia>
>
>
> We will close this round of discussion two weeks from now (7 Dec 2020).
> You can reply here or send a message to /board (at) osmfoundation.org/
> I am looking forward to hearing your responses.
>
> Thank you to the Freemap Slovakia team for this submission.
>
> Joost Schouppe
> /Secretary/
> /OpenStreetMap Foundation/
>
> Name & Registered Office:
> /OpenStreetMap Foundation
> /
> /St John’s Innovation Centre/
> /Cowley Road/
> /Cambridge/
> /CB4 0WS/
> /United Kingdom/
> /A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales
> Registration No. 05912761/
>
> _______________________________________________
> osmf-talk mailing list
> osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
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