[bc-gnso] CSG charter and knock-on effects to BC charter

[Mike O'Connor]

hi all,

i've read through our current charter just to remind myself of the major issues we were working on when we drafted it.  my sense when we passed it on up the chain was that it was an interim document that was going to get revised once we had a better feel for the CSG charter (one "layer" above us in the GNSO) and after we'd had some experience with its day-to-day implementation (the kinds of things that i bet Chris has on his list).

so i'll join the chorus that is saying that this review of our charter is a Good Thing, and that this is about the right time to do it.

here are some of the big issues that i recall (hastily constructed after a quick reading, i'm probably missing a few);

-- membership -- whether/how consultants and new-gTLD-applicants fit in our membership focus.  

-- disclosure -- whether consultants/lawyers/etc. needed to disclose their clients and the interests of those clients (we've got a new framework from the GNSO to incorporate into this one)

-- Credentials Committee -- processes for members to appeal if their application is denied, and processes for disciplining members  

-- GNSO Council representatives -- the "each constituency elects 2" structure was an interim thing awaiting decisions further up the food-chain

-- Executive Committee -- this charter created the Executive Committee and their roles out of thin air, so there well may be a number of tweaks that need to be applied based on experience

-- Finance and Policy Committees -- again, created from whole cloth.  experience may be a good teacher here as well.

-- Policy-development process -- thresholds for adopting policy positions, process, etc.

-- role and supervision of the Secretariat -- this was substantially changed, again experience may be a good teacher

-- standards of behavior -- a very tough issue that may be informed by subsequent work of various players

-- the level of accountability, authority and responsibility that apply to (and between) Council reps, Excom members and the constituency -- this one clearly needs work and clarification

as i say, this is just the highlights through a foggy memory -- but i think it's a reasonable starting point for an "issues list" for discussion.  i'm not sure we need to revisit all of these, but i'm perfectly fine with the decision by our leadership to take a look at the charter now that we've had some experience with it.

mikey

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