[Osmf-talk] Draft resolution on membership prerequisites

[Simon Poole]

I've voiced my opinion before that the OSMF is changing some 
fundamentals about the origanisation with this change without proper 
discussion and reflection, what I really don't understand is why we are 
wasting time on this now, instead of investing the effort in to moving 
the organisation out of the UK.

Any move will require completely new founding documents and rules to the 
point that a restriction as proposed might not even be possible.

Simon

Am 13.02.2022 um 17:25 schrieb Tobias Knerr:
> Hi all,
>
> at the 2020 AGM, a 79% majority of the membership asked the board to 
> propose prerequisites for membership in the OSM Foundation which would 
> ensure that all applicants for membership have made a reasonable 
> amount of contributions tis o OSM (not necessarily through mapping).[1]
>
> We would like to ask for your feedback to a first draft of this 
> proposal which you can read below. It uses a definition for 
> "reasonable amount of contributions" that is comparable to the active 
> contributor membership[2], but has lower requirements: 42 days of 
> contributions ever instead of 42 days per year. Existing memberships 
> would not be affected by this change.
>
> The 2020 resolution called for a membership vote on this topic in 
> 2021. Unfortunately, the board didn't produce a proposal in time for 
> the 2021 AGM and we would like to apologize for this delay. Our 
> current plan is to have the resolution ready for a general meeting on 
> April 30, 2022.
>
>
> # Potential text of the resolution
>
> Using its powers under §15 of the Articles of Association, the board 
> of directors shall reject applications for membership or associate 
> membership if the applicant has not demonstrably contributed to 
> OpenStreetMap on at least 42 days. The specific form of the 
> contributions (e.g. mapping vs. non-mapping) does not make a 
> difference for the fulfilment of these prerequisites. The board may 
> delegate verification and rejection of membership applications to a 
> working group.
>
> ## Rationale:
>
> This change would more firmly establish the OSMF as an entity serving 
> the people and communities who create OpenStreetMap. By ensuring that 
> votes in Foundation elections and resolutions are cast by 
> OpenStreetMap contributors, it becomes more likely that the Foundation 
> will continue to support the the project well.
>
> The criteria take inspiration from the fee waiver (known as active 
> contributor membership) to allow using a similar implementation. 
> Unlike the fee waiver, eligibility will be evaluated as a one-time 
> step during application for membership, rather than annually. As such, 
> members do not have to fear losing their membership if their activity 
> fluctuates or declines. Existing memberships won't be affected.
>
> ## Considerations:
>
> This one-time check applies to all member applications including those 
> that pay the regular £15 membership fee.
>
>
> # Footnotes
>
> [1] 
> https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Annual_General_Meetings/2020/Suggested_resolutions#Vote_3:_Work_on_membership_prerequisites
> [2] https://join.osmfoundation.org/active-contributor-membership/
>
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