On Tue, 4 Sep 2018 at 12:53, Ana Martínez <anamma06@gmail.com> wrote:
In our Wiki page[1] does not say anything about supporting decisions a board member don't agree with. But it does say that the board should document decisions and policies. When things are not documented neither discussed, it is normal that your expectations and mines are different.
The Board should document decisions and policies. The board should provide guidance and support existing governance structures but shouldn't direct or control development, since community mechanisms exist to accomplish the goals of the project. Everything we've ever documented about "The Board" speaks of the Board as a team which is accountable as a single unit. Hence the rule that _the Board_ can be removed by 20% of the members requesting it. Everything in our rules implies the Board should be acting as a collective unit, and is collectively accountable. Nothing I can find in our rules implies that Board members should be held individually accountable. Hence, my opinion at the topics being discussed in this thread that the Board should act in accordance to those principles.
I object to not discuss it.
From this thread I get that: - Community wants the votes to be public
Some of the community wants the votes to be public. There are others who do not.
- I want them to be public - You want them to be private - I am not sure what the other board members want
I would like to know what the others in the board think. More information is always a good thing.
I would also like to know what the others in the Board feel. Given the discussion so far has been done wholly in public, I believe that those other Board members should engage in this topic publicly also. I have always disagreed with the idea that the Board deciding things in private which could be decided in public. Like our wiki page says "community mechanisms exist to accomplish the goals of the project". This is one of those mechanisms, and taking the discussion on this topic privately now would be closing the stable door after the horse is long bolted.
I agree with your principle. My point is, the Board should only be deciding on topics where there is a good reason not to make it public.
What was the good reason for the board to decide on the football team and not to make it public?
Because, unlike the vast amount of other sponsorships which the Project decides upon without the Board's direct involvement, the unusual nature of this one led to the marketing team (who normally decide on sponsorships) asking the Board for our opinion.
We have the Board so the Project has people who can make unpopular, but trusted decisions.
I disagree. I believe the Board should make popular decisions, which represent what the community wants.
From our Wiki[1]: Facilitate decision making processes where needed. Facilitate decision is not the same as decide and it also doesn't include anything about unpopular decisions.
Indeed, so on the topic that decided this, I think there is a case to be made that the Board could consider suggesting a way to allow the marketing team to decide about sponsorships without involving the Board. I would fully support such an effort. But without such a way, we end up being the only process left And that process in which the Board makes decisions is one which doesn't make those votes public, because the Board is designed and structured for making decisions only in cases where no other process or community mechanisms exist. The Board should only be making decisions _as_a_last_resort_. When that is the case, we need to have the freedom to make those decisions with private voting (but public minuting). As many decisions as possible should be made by people other than the Board - like our wiki says "community mechanisms exist to accomplish the goals of the project" - the Board is there for when those community mechanisms don't exist, or fail to work for the Project.
If the Board's function is only to make popular decisions, then we might as well not have a Board and put everything to a popular vote. And such an option is not viable in many of those cases.
I really like the idea for the cases in which it is possible.
I really think those cases should be none of the Board's business, and should be handled elsewhere in the Project. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, email: opensuse-project+owner@opensuse.org