[HamWAN PSDR] New Constitution for HamWAN at last
Bart Kus
me at bartk.us
Mon May 27 11:26:41 PDT 2013
It has now been 7 days since the constitutional changes were announced
for voting, which means voting has now concluded. Vote results:
Yay: 1 (100%)
Nay: 0 (0%)
Total: 1
The new constitution is adopted. I will update the website shortly.
--Bart
On 5/19/2013 10:50 PM, Bart Kus wrote:
> Someone just pointed out a point of potential confusion, so let me
> better explain the qualifications of Supporting Member status. Ask
> yourself these 2 questions:
>
> 1) Have you been a Member for 6 months or more?
> 2) Have you donated the equivalent of 6 months or more of Basic level
> support? (be it recurring or lump sum)
>
> If you answered yes to both, then you qualify to become a Supporting
> Member. The only situation I want to prevent is someone coming in and
> on day 1 attaining Supporting Member status by slapping down $120.
> Money alone should not buy you influence in this project. Your
> personal proven commitment counts for a lot. These are the principles
> I tried to embody in the new constitution.
>
> --Bart
>
>
> On 5/19/2013 10:32 PM, Bart Kus wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> The time has come to update some aspects of our governance and wrap
>> up the loose ends not covered before. As a refresher, we only have 1
>> approved document which governs our present behavior, and that is the
>> Constitution
>> <https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Constitution&structure=HamWAN>.
>> There is a page claiming to be bylaws, but it's just a proposed draft
>> and was never voted on. I'm in favor of not proceeding with the
>> proposed bylaws as they introduce too much needless complexity into
>> the organization, and leave many more loose ends.
>>
>> In this new proposed constitution (provided below) there are many
>> important changes. Allow me to walk you through them in order.
>>
>> 1) Membership status is expanded to differentiate between Supporting
>> Members are regular Members. Supporting Members are Members who
>> support the HamWAN mission financially by donating at the Basic level
>> on a recurring basis. They need to do this for 6 months before
>> obtaining Supporting Member status. Since these people put their
>> money where their mouth is, and have demonstrated a 6-month
>> commitment to the project, they are allowed to use their mouth in the
>> election of Directors and are eligible to become Directors
>> themselves. New outside influences cannot simply buy their way in
>> and take over HamWAN, they must always fulfill a 6 month Membership
>> period to become Supporting Members. If they've got the dedication
>> to do all that, then they deserve to take over if that's their
>> intention. :)
>>
>> 2) Gone are fixed elections in October! Directors can be elected at
>> any time. This, combined with the previous changes regarding
>> Supporting Members, will allow HamWAN to empower proven project
>> contributors sooner than just on a yearly basis. I can tell you there
>> have been a small number of outstanding people who have really helped
>> out in the last few months, but still cannot be empowered to vote on
>> decisions until October. This is a shame, and these new laws will fix
>> that.
>>
>> 3) Gone is the "public HamWAN voting list" concept. In its place,
>> announcements regarding elections or decisions will be sent to ALL
>> public HamWAN lists. This should keep everyone informed, and will
>> not require the setup of some special 3rd list that no one is on.
>>
>> 4) Amendments will be changed to be voted on by Supporting Members
>> only. This includes Supporting Members holding Director positions.
>>
>> After these new laws are approved, the board will make a special
>> one-time review of the project's membership and contributions, and
>> make public a list of Members + Supporting Members available for the
>> first time. These lists will be used in future voting situations as
>> identified in the proposed constitution.
>>
>> So, without further ado, here is the new proposed Constitution,
>> below. Please vote with Yay or Nay. It needs 66% Yay to be
>> adopted. If you have feedback, feel free and we can re-set the
>> vote. But for the time being, the vote will close 168 hours (7 days)
>> from the time of this email.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Article 0 -- Mission*
>>
>>
>> HamWAN is focused on creating, operating and coordinating free
>> digital networks. These digital networks are used for:
>>
>> 1. emergency communications when other systems go down
>> 2. research and development in the realm of microwave networking
>> 3. a means of free digital communication for anyone who is or
>> becomes a licensed radio amateur
>> 4. an educational resource in spreading the knowledge of how to
>> create, operate and use such networks
>>
>>
>> All knowledge generated and gathered by HamWAN in the realm of
>> microwave networking is made freely available to the public for
>> unrestricted consumption. Coordination services provided by HamWAN
>> ensure the interoperability of other similar networks not directly
>> under HamWAN's control.
>>
>>
>> *Article I -- Members*
>>
>>
>> HamWAN membership is open to everyone.There are three levels of
>> membership: (1) Member, (2) Supporting Member, and (3) Director.A
>> Member is accepted by default, after having gone through the
>> www.HamWAN.org enrollment process, unless the board votes to reject
>> membership to a potential member.
>>
>> A Member can also become a Supporting Member by donating to HamWAN at
>> a minimum of the Basic level for a period of 6 months.A lump donation
>> does not eliminate the 6 month Member status time requirement before
>> becoming a Supporting Member.A Supporting Member must continue a
>> minimum of Basic level donations to remain in Supporting Member
>> status.Donation financial levels are defined at www.HamWAN.org.
>>
>>
>> *Article II -- Board of Directors*
>>
>>
>> The board shall be composed of three or more Supporting Members
>> serving as Directors, one of whom is also acting as Chairman.
>> Directors shall have no predefined duties. The only special duty of
>> the Chairman is to resolve vote ties; the Chairman effectively gets
>> two votes in this case. Board positions shall be valid for one year,
>> and obtained by election of the Supporting Members.Only Supporting
>> Members are eligible to be elected to board positions.
>>
>>
>> *Article III -- Elections*
>>
>>
>> Any Supporting Member may announce his or her intention to be elected
>> as a Director at any time, and must set a 7-day voting period to end
>> no later than 21 days from the initial announcement of intention to
>> run.Supporting Members are entitled to one vote each.Election of a
>> board member shall be successful if the candidate receives more "Yay"
>> votes than "Nay" votes.
>>
>> Directors wishing to serve as Chairman can announce their intention
>> to be elected by notifying the acting Chairman.Votes for Chairman can
>> only be cast by Directors, and voting will conclude 24 hours after a
>> Director announces his or her intention to become Chairman.The new
>> Chairman shall be the candidate with the most "Yay" votes.The acting
>> chairman shall be a candidate in any Chairman election by
>> default.Ties shall be resolved by the acting Chairman.The new
>> Chairman will assume the acting Chairman duties on the day following
>> the Chairman election.
>>
>> *Article IV -- Decisions*
>>
>>
>> Director decisions or actions which:
>>
>> 1. impact HamWAN finances in excess of $100 USD
>> 2. or contractually obligate HamWAN in any way
>> 3. or are reasonably judged as significant
>>
>>
>> shall be announced to all public HamWAN mailing lists. Voting will be
>> considered complete 24 hours after the mailing list announcement of
>> the issue at hand. Decisions shall be rendered approved by a majority
>> vote of the Directors who voted. Directors unfamiliar with the issue
>> at hand are encouraged to abstain from voting. Non-Directors cannot
>> cast votes, although they can communicate with Directors to influence
>> their votes on issues.
>>
>>
>> *Article V -- Director Removal*
>>
>>
>> Directors can be removed from the board by a "Yay" vote of 75% or
>> more board members.
>>
>>
>> *Article VI -- Dissolution*
>>
>>
>> Should the board vote to dissolve HamWAN, physical assets can be
>> liquidated. All resulting and remaining assets, liquid or physical,
>> will be distributed to like-minded charity organizations.
>>
>>
>> *Article VII -- Amendments*
>>
>>
>> Any documents of HamWAN governance, including this constitution, can
>> be amended by a 66% or more vote of the Supporting Members. Proposals
>> for amendments shall be published to all public HamWAN mailing lists,
>> and voting shall be considered complete 168 hours (7 days) after the
>> mailing list announcement.
>>
>>
>>
>> --Bart
>> (my vote is Yay)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> PSDR mailing list
>> PSDR at hamwan.org
>> http://mail.hamwan.org/mailman/listinfo/psdr_hamwan.org
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PSDR mailing list
> PSDR at hamwan.org
> http://mail.hamwan.org/mailman/listinfo/psdr_hamwan.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.hamwan.net/pipermail/psdr/attachments/20130527/843b09d5/attachment.html>
More information about the PSDR
mailing list