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<p class="MsoNormal">Note that the following comments essentially duplicate the comments I submitted on line at the GOVLAB site. Also note that they are my personal comments and do not necessarily represent my company or the Registries Stakeholder Group.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Chuck Gomes<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The panel makes an interesting statement: “<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">Experts note that “the bottom-line principle when implementing the practice of rotation must be that if a competent
citizen wishes to serve his organization, he should have a chance to do so.”</span>” A key word here is ‘competent’; in my opinion competency would need to be defined relative to the needs of the ICANN organization involved. Also does mean that every ‘competent
individual’ should eventually be able to serve on the Board? That seems like a stretch considering how many ‘competent’ individuals there are in our global environment. A similar argument could be made for all ICANN organizations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The panel says, “<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">Experimenting with rotating term limits could help to address some of these critiques – whether real or perceived – that the Board is not a
mirror of the community as much as a distinct bureaucracy that doesn’t fully leverage the power of the global community as well as it could.</span>” To accomplish this at the Board level would of course require major changes to the Bylaws, the biggest one
possibly being to add a requirement that Board members serve as representatives of different sectors of the community instead of serving the corporation. In contrast, other organizations such as the SOs are designed to be more representative already.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Below are some of the potential advantages of rotating term limits that the panel lists with my comments following:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]>“<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">Increase “voter choice” and the diversity of the candidate pool</span>” – A common reality in ICANN SOs and ACs is the difficulty of finding candidates.
It is possible that rotating term limits could exasperate this problem rather than help it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]>“<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">Increase the level of “learning and on-the-job experience” throughout the ICANN community</span>” – On-the-job experience might be more appropriately
gained in working groups rather than in leadership positions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]>“<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">Avoid entrenched, incumbent bureaucracy</span>” – This is one of the clear benefits of rotating term limits. Within ICANN, Board term limits tend
to be the most liberal, 3 terms at 3 years each. In contrast, the GNSO Council has 2 terms at 2 years each.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]>“<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">Prevent possibility of “long-term incumbents abusing power or gaining extraordinary financial or political power in office.</span>” – This is just
one example of many where it seems that the panel members do not understand very much about ICANN. It might be possible for incumbents in some cases to abuse power although it doesn’t seem very likely. I don’t think there is any way to gain financial power
or political power.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In discussing implementation of this proposal as well as in the proposal description in its entirety, it is not clear that the panel is aware that rotating term limits are in place for most ICANN organizations. Does the panel think that
they are insufficient? If so, how should they be changed?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The panel says: “<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">Rotating term limits are likely more appropriate in those “gate-keeper roles” within ICANN where votes are cast, as opposed to where individuals
contribute insights, expertise or perform facilitative functions.</span>” Would this conclusion be the same in cases like the GNSO Council where votes are cast as directed by constituencies and stakeholder groups?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The panel rightfully recognizes that “<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">membership continuity has merit in order “to preserve a presence of ICANN’s organizational knowledge in its decision-making
processes.</span>”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The panel lists some very good questions that would need to be asked when evaluating this proposal for implementation in ICANN:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;background:#F6F6F6">
<![if !supportLists]><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#282828"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]>“<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Cabin;color:#282828">What institutional or cultural barriers may pose challenges to implementing this proposal?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#282828;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;background:#F6F6F6">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Cabin">Should rotating term limits apply to ICANN’s consensus-based working groups? Why or why not?<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#282828;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;background:#F6F6F6">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Cabin">What is the appropriate term limit for which positions within ICANN? Would it be appropriate for ICANN to run controlled experiments to determine which make-up works best for which group or structure?<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#282828;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;background:#F6F6F6">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Cabin">How could ICANN assess the successes and shortcomings of those voting bodies that embrace some form of term limits at present in order to design the most effective pilot?</span><span style="color:windowtext">”</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Cabin"><o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is not at all clear to me that the panel members understood enough about ICANN when making this proposal. They make the case for the value of rotating term limits in a general sense but do not evaluate the ways in which rotating term
limits are already implemented in ICANN organizations nor do they identify ways in which those implementations are unsatisfactory.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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