Re: [boost] RFC.. Steering Committee Bylaws Proposal

Subject: Re: [boost] RFC.. Steering Committee Bylaws Proposal
From: Rene Rivera (grafikrobot_at_[hidden])
Date: 2017-10-17 04:16:42

On Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 11:00 PM, Niall Douglas via Boost <
boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> On 16/10/2017 12:35, Rene Rivera via Boost wrote:
> > It has become clear to me, and some others, that the recent decisions of
> > the Steering Committee have exposed various problems with how the
> Steering
> > Committee operates. At CppCon I met with some of the Steering Committee
> and
> > expressed the concerns with them. I also explained, from my experience in
> > other organizations, how such issues are managed. The result of that is
> > that I will be proposing the Steering Committee adopt operating Bylaws.
> But
> > before formally presenting them to the Steering Committee I'd like get
> > feedback on them <http://bit.ly/2hI22DN>[1].
>
> I dislike the proposed structure. It has no separation of powers. I also
> believe it is impossible under charity regulations, though the SFC
> lawyers can say for sure.
>
> If you're going to propose bylaws, my original proposal whereby the
> existing Steering Committee becomes a "Board of Directors" and a new
> Steering Committee made up of elected library authors is far more
> conventional.
>
> The Board of Directors would be limited to managing the finances, but
> can also dissolve the Steering Committee and call for a new election
> (one would expect this only to occur if the Steering Committee did
> something illegal like embezzle money). The new Steering Committee takes
> on all other responsibilities apart from the finances, and is elected
> from here on two year terms. This new Steering Committee would "run"
> Boost on a day to day basis. The Board of Directors runs BoostCon and
> the other "once off" stuff, and continues to deliberately be made up of
> mostly *non* Boost library authors.

> This separation of powers is how most charity based orgs are run. I'd
> strongly recommend you don't innovate on that.

Thank you for volunteering to make a formal proposal. I look forward to
studying it.

> I also think that despite
> my many run-ins with the Steering Committee over the years, having not
> library authors in control of the money is a wise idea.
>

Why?

-- 
-- Rene Rivera
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