[Eg-oversight-board] Proposal: reduce the size of the EOB

[Ben Hyman]

Hi Galen,

I think the logic here is sound. I would be in favour assuming no significant objections from the community.
My sense is 7 members will still provide decent representation from the community.

Thanks for bringing this forward. 

Ben Hyman 
Executive Director | BC Libraries Cooperative
ben.hyman at bc.libraries.coop | 1.855.383.5761 ext 1001 | cell: 250.889.2738
bc.libraries.coop | Twitter: @BCLibrariesCoop

On 2014-01-15, at 5:09 PM, Galen Charlton wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> As we have elections coming up during the Evergreen conference, I
> would like to float a proposal to reduce the size of the EOB to
> streamline decision-making and encourage broader ground-up
> participation in project activities.
> 
> The EOB has certain direct functions that do not require that there be
> eleven members.  For example, liaising with Conservancy on trademark
> matters does not require the direct involvement of many people.
> 
> There are some activities where the board authorizes expenditure and
> receipt of funds held in trust for the project, and those of course
> must remain in its remit.  However, both the conference committee and
> the merchandising committee take most of their membership from outside
> the board.  Other groups, such as the developers, DIG, and the web
> team, have board members that participate, but to date those groups
> have not requested significant draws on project funds, nor have they
> required EOB supervision in order to perform their functions.
> 
> Besides working with Conservancy on the oversight of project funds,
> where I see a major role for the board is as a (though not /the/)
> nexus for identifying and obtaining resources to further community
> goals.  However, I believe that a smaller group would be able to serve
> that function more nimbly.
> 
> I propose that the EOB be reduced to seven members via attrition.
> There are four EOB positions that are coming vacant; we could choose
> to amend the rules of governance to not fill them (although if we do
> it in fell swoop, we should give thought to having some of the
> remaining positions be made open for election so that the overall
> community does not end up waiting two years to elect new
> representatives).  We could also take two years at this, reducing the
> board to 9 for the upcoming year and to 7 in 2015.
> 
> I welcome feedback on this proposal.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Galen
> -- 
> Galen Charlton
> Manager of Implementation
> Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
> email:  gmc at esilibrary.com
> direct: +1 770-709-5581
> cell:   +1 404-984-4366
> skype:  gmcharlt
> web:    http://www.esilibrary.com/
> Supporting Koha and Evergreen: http://koha-community.org &
> http://evergreen-ils.org
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