[Foundation-l] Restricting Appointed members (Proposal).

[Thomas Dalton]

> Whether you are dealing with volunteer wiki contributors or volunteer
>  professionals from other non-profit organizations, in both cases, you
>  are left with whatever they commit to before joining the Board until
>  they are either removed, resign, or their term ends.

Yes, but we generally know the community members better and know by
their choice to dedicate their time to the project in the way have
that they value the same things we do. The professionals are still
volunteers, so that still applies in part, but not as strongly as with
long standing members of the community.

> So, in both
>  cases, there has to be a basic trust that most people are not
>  deceitful, stupid, or evil.

I'm not sure about the "stupid" part - depends on where you draw the
line (half of all people are below average, the average seems to be
pretty low at times). We should be able to prevent anyone truly
idiotic from getting onto the board (it's the hardest of the 3 to
disguise), and the other 2 are pretty rare.

> The problem, in my mind, is how to appoint
>  the Board members -- and that responsibility would almost certainly
>  lie with the Volunteer Council or some Nominating Committee it elects.

Ah, now that's an interesting idea. It would certainly resolve most of
my concern. There is a problem, though: As you said, "It's very hard
to do good hiring for a
position whose background is completely different from your own." How
would a council of community members know how to pick someone that's
going to be a good treasurer of the board? With the appropriate
advisers, it could be done, but it's tricky.

>  In an ideal model, I would like to see a requirement for future Board
>  members to have served in an advisory capacity for some time before
>  being appointed to the Board of Trustees -- effectively having
>  volunteered in a role that suits their qualifications, just as a wiki
>  editor does.

That might make it difficult to attract good candidates. It would need
to be carefully weighed up.