ALV May 2014/Muse2

In a Nutshell

Previous ALV there were considerable points added to the agenda with no clear support or with no-one attending the ALV who proposed it. Although points submitted to the ALV should be clear enough to be votable, having the originator present can provide clarity and insights into the matter which prove invaluable. This point proposes to amend that. In concert, this point will also add a (small) barrier to votable points.

Data on the vote

• Current Maintainer: Muse, Phicoh
• Proposed for 2nd ALV in 2014

1a Vote

Points proposed to the agenda, will have a maintainer which will be present during the ALV to present the point and provide clarification on the topic. If none is present during the ALV, the membership can decide to postpone voting on the point to the next ALV. If the maintainer is not present during the ALV the proposed point can be delayed until next ALV, unless the board decides the point is clear enough to be voted on.

The following point will be voted upon with a yes/no vote:

  All points proposed to the agenda of the ALV will have a designated maintainer. In principle this will be the 
  originator of the point but the responsibility can be transferred or shared with mutual agreement of the current maintainer(s)
  and the prospective maintainers. The maintainer has a responsibility to appear during the ALV to present the point 
  and provide clarification. Failure for the maintainer to appear on the ALV, will make the point eligible for transfer to the next 
  ALV by the board.

1b Vote

Points proposed for the agenda should have at least supporting votes by members on it. These members can also perform the function of maintainer for the purpose of presenting the point at the ALV. A majority of the board can also put points on the agenda, without this requirement.

The following point will be voted upon with a yes/no vote and a rangevote (2%-10%, 2% increments):

  A point proposed for the agenda of the ALV will have at least [range] supporting members on it, including the maintainer. 
  The amount of required supporting members are determined on the date of the announcement for the ALV. If no
  supporting votes have been found before the agenda deadline, the point will not be eligible for that ALV.
  In addition the board can decide to put points votable on the agenda.

Rationale

At the January 2014 ALV we went through a large number of votable points that were poorly thought out, badly worded or both. For those items, the process seemed have been, put it on the wiki (or not even that), move it to the agenda even if nobody commented and expect the item to fixed there. And then we are stuck with it in the ALV. In my opinion, people who propose an item have to do the legwork to get it into shape. If nobody cares, then maybe an item just doesn't belong as a votable point on an ALV. So I propose is to have a minimum number of members who have to counter sign a votable point on the agenda of an ALV. The current statutes require 10% of the members with voting rights to allow members to force to board to organize an ALV. So I will use that as a starting point. Finally, the last part of the text is there to make sure that the board doesn't have to jump through hoops. It also allows issues that come up just before the agenda is finalized to be added by the board. Phicoh