[Osmf-talk] AGM

[Courtney]

Simon, we do have at least a general sketch of the issues (plural) which
can be seen starting here:

https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/osmf-talk/2024-August/008850.html


Which leads to further updates that further describe issues.

Now, granted, some of these updates require reading between the lines.  For
example, it's not only a "bug" though I have no doubt there are probably
some bugs in a free, open source CRM.  There are also data discrepancies
and a lack of data hygiene. Some are due to the difficulty of creating the
right fields (and other schema) for overly complicated membership
requirements, such as you have noted. Some are just due to not having a
database expert in charge of the data. Some are due, it has been said, to a
processing issue with Paypal.  But, what I have seen in my short
time looking in on some of this, is that sometimes, OSM'ers attribute
problems to the requirements of external tools or governing bodies, when
really it is that the requirements of external tools or governing bodies
expose the byzantine and/or calcified nature of internal processes and
conventions that badly need a refresh and reset. There are reasons that
global payment processors require certain things and I think any nonprofit
would do well to comply with them.

Note also, that I put forth the numbers that are known for this year's
election earlier in the thread. They are not statistically insignificant to
the election.  I don't know what the numbers are for 2023, only that "some"
people who were eligible, received ineligibility notices.  This is enough
for me to want an audit. As anyone knows, where there are small
discrepancies, there are usually bigger problems.


To me, it all comes down to operational leadership:  organizations have to
be able to cull the bad processes, dump bad habits, make tough
decisions, prioritize, spend money, and in general, act. This small issue
of balloting problems is a very good signal of a bigger problem; namely the
OSMF board needs reforms so that it can competently lead a much bigger and
more complex project than the one it was created to lead a dozen years ago.

On Sun, Oct 20, 2024 at 12:34 PM Simon Poole <simon at poole.ch> wrote:

>
> Am 20.10.2024 um 16:39 schrieb Edward Bainton:
> ...
> > I would gently suggest that this thread should
> > (1) not name names (except to agree or disagree), but stick with
> > principles, and
> > (2) focus on the question of member records and eligibility that
> > started it off.
> >
> > Maintaining the members' register is a statutory duty of the
> > directors, and they are in breach of that duty by not having done so.
> > That's a matter of legal fact, but I don't say it as a moral judgment:
> > there, but for the grace of God, go I.
>
> Is there even an indication that regular members were affected by the
> issue?
>
> At this point we don't even know the size of the issue and if all the
> upset is even justified. It is further not clear if it has anything to
> do with recording the inbound payments from paypal which is the historic
> reason that renewals have now and then failed, or if it has any
> connection to any other issue with membership admin.
>
> So could we perhaps wait with the outrage till we have a better idea of
> what actually went wrong and how large the effect actually was.
>
> Simon
>
>
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