[WP1] rights of approval over budget and stat plan

[Greg Shatan]

This is an interesting thought.  The Draft FY16 Operating Plan & Budget is
out for public comment right now.
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/op-budget-fy16-2015-03-18-en  So,
it's not like there's no place for community input into the Budget; it just
doesn't come with much leverage attached.  Perhaps this could be amplified
into an *approval* right by the SO/ACs on behalf of the community.
Approval *after *the board decides (or a veto after the board decides) are
inherently troublesome because it takes the "last word" away from the
board.  In a membership structure, it's natural for the members to have the
last word.  (In a designator structure, it's kind of unnatural.)
Approval *before
*the board decides doesn't cause the same kind of governance "heartburn."

Greg


On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 8:31 PM, Robin Gross <robin at ipjustice.org> wrote:

> Jordan, Greg,
>
> I've been thinking about our discussions today on clarifying what type of
> community right we are looking for with respect to the ultimate adoption of
> budget and strat plan and I'm wondering if there is a much easier fix than
> we thought.  We talked about creating this right as right approval for the
> community *after* the board makes its decision, but I wonder if we are
> thinking about the ideal process backwards.  The budget and strat plan that
> should be presented to a board vote for ultimate approval should be one
> that the community has *already* approved of.  Like how the GNSO policy
> is made: what gets put before the board for approval and adoption is
> something that the community already signed-off on before it gets to the
> board for final approval.  It might be just terminology - misusing words
> like "veto" or "reconsideration" or "rejection" - when what we are
> ultimately seeking is an approval right on these issues.   Might this
> clarification of language and what we are ultimately seeking be helpful to
> designing it into the bylaws?
>
> Thanks,
> Robin
>
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