[Osmf-talk] Draft resolution on membership prerequisites

[Mikel Maron]

I am on leave from work and OSMF Board duties, but I feel compelled to share my personal views on this topic. I dissent from what my fellow Board members have put forward. The resolution should change to require only 15 days of lifetime mapping and at least 3 months elapsed since registering with OSM. There should be no non mapping option. That’s it. This will allow the Board to move on from this topic to more pressing matters, in a way that is minimally damaging and satisfies the Board’s self imposed needs to do something on this topic.


There are legitimate takeover risks OSMF should consider, however after over two years of discussion at the board level we are no closer to answering basic questions of who might want to takeover OSMF, what their motivations are, which risks are most serious, nor the protection provided and unintended consequences of various possible actions.


Look over OSMF Board meeting minutes and screen to screen notes since December 2019 for topics like membership requirements and takeover protections. The initial proposal came in the first board meeting following the “GlobalLogic incident”, to set the minimum OSMF requirement at 15 mapping days. We resolved to discuss further and discuss we did — at screen to screen meetings and many mid month and public meetings. The Board decided to focus first on Active Contributor Membership. Later we couldn’t decide on a specific proposal on general membership, so we decided to have members vote on whether or not we should make a proposal, and that passed (and sure why wouldn’t a vote to “do something” pass?). The Board asked the MWG to work on a proposal, and they ultimately declined (understandably). The Board asked prominent community members to form a takeover special committee, and they didn’t meet at all. The Board tried to get legal advice on membership changes and didn’t receive any. The Board, still without a firm idea of what to move forward, resolved to hold a general meeting this spring to vote on a proposal.


Here we are. The proposed action in front of us now is unchanged since the initial idea from December 2019, with no further elaboration on how it actually helps OSMF, except the number of days has changed. There are many sound points made on this thread indicating how the proposal is problematic, and they do not need to be restated by me. I implore the Board to heed those points carefully, rather than dismissing them as an extreme position on par with others stated here that the days proposed are too low.


I now think we should have quickly adopted the original idea 2 years, with small tweaks, and move on. 15 days lifetime mapping and 3 months since registration demonstrates that someone has familiarity with OSM. It’s not overly onerous to individually achieve. Putting the takeover question aside, it’s a reasonable expectation of contribution. It avoids punting judgment calls to the Board on non mapping time. 


I really want the Board to focus on pressing needs. Like EU registration, solid personnel management, fundraising, membership and chapter growth, and technical improvements. We need a Board ready to put time and effort into OSMF’s priorities. Let’s do something satisfactory on this topic and quickly move on.


Myself, I’m on parental leave, so regretfully I am missing this and next month’s Board meetings and the screen to screen. Wish I could have been there, and I’m excited to read up on what’s moved forward this weekend.

Mikel

On Sunday, February 13, 2022, 11:25 AM, Tobias Knerr <osm at tobias-knerr.de> wrote:

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 to 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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