[Foundation-l] Board-announcement: Board Restructuring

[Michael Snow]

Jussi-Ville Heiskanen wrote:
> I have an idle thought. If there are to be seats elected by
> a limited circle of projects with chapters, would not the
> easiest manner of balancing things be that people from
> projects with chapters not be able to vote in the other
> elections from the community. In this fashion the so called
> "community" seats would be transformed into "chapterless
> community seats".
>
> Note that this proposal has the virtue that this would not
> disenfranchise nearly all the _individuals_ who contribute
> to projects with chapters, as many of them contribute in
> multiple languages, and thus may have an voting-eligble
> account in a smaller language without chapter.
>   
I would be cautious about tying projects to chapters, considering that 
they do not map to each other at all exactly. So unless I misunderstand 
your proposal, I think the consequences for individual participation are 
more drastic than you seem to believe. You suggest people might have 
accounts on other projects, but it seems like this would 
"disenfranchise" everyone who contributes to the Spanish projects, all 
because a chapter has been formed in Argentina.

I'd be more inclined to take the idea and turn it completely around. In 
the context of chapters selecting board members, I think it's worth 
considering having an "at-large chapter" for people to participate in if 
they don't have one available in their jurisdiction. Since it already 
puts us in a situation where we have to think outside the standard mold 
of what is a chapter, because we need to create something for the US 
among others, a virtual chapter could be considered. A "chapter" for 
board selection purposes need not be a "chapter" in the sense of an 
incorporated nonprofit entity with tax deductibility for donations and 
the ability to make formal agreements. Maybe this would also help some 
of the places where people have expressed concerns about the wisdom of 
actually forming associations - I vaguely recall Japan might have that 
issue, for example.

--Michael Snow