term of Council members

[Milton Mueller]

Hi Jisuk,
Good to hear from you directly. 
You raise good points about the terms and procedure.
Let me add what I can to your questions:

>>> Jisuk Woo <jisuk at snu.ac.kr> 11/24/03 09:09AM >>>
>I particularly did not understand why the issue regarding the term 
>of the members came up so late, after the election. 

We have always known that the first Council election
would involve staggered terms (i.e., one person elected
for one year, one for two years). I am sorry that the
people convincing you to run were not aware of this.
You can forgive them because it was buried in the
ICANN by-laws concerning the new arrangements for
transition to new Council structure. 

Worse, the situation was complicated when the number 
of Council members was modified at the last minute, due 
to pressure from the Business constituency. 

>was not known to me when I was running. And it seemed that 
>many other people did not know, either. Why wasn't this issue 
>dealt with "before" the election, rather than "after" the election? 

This is unfortunately typical of the ICANN process. 
There are many administrative burdens placed on people
who can barely meet them. In this case, we assumed that
there would be three people running for two positions, and
that the person who got the most votes would get the two-year
term and the other person would get the one-year term.
However, the top two vote getters (you and Marc) got a tie.
That was the problem. Suddenly, we have to invent a procedure 
to choose between you. 

>obligations burdening my time next year. But I was told by those 
>who encouraged me to run, that this is a two-year term so I cannot 
>run next year, and I would have some time to learn and make myself 
>more familiar with the operation of NCUC and the Council. If I had 
>known that the terms are different for Council members, I might have 
>made a different decision.

I am sorry for the expectation problem, but honestly I do
not think this should concern you. Because, whether your term
is one year or two, if you have the backing of AP region and
others you could be easily elected next year. 

>More serious problem that functions as a black cloud regarding 
>my participation is the odd time of the teleconference meetings. 
>The first one was scheduled at 4:00 am in Korea. 

Yes, this is a problem. However, it also is not as big as you
might think. 

First, you should complain to Council itself about this. You
and Marc and Carlos would be the people who could get
this changed. At least, rotate the times so you can make
some meetings. I will also send messages to Council Chair
in support of this if you wish.

Second, if you miss meetings held at impossible times do
not feel bad. A lot of Council work takes place BEFORE
the actual tele conference, e.g., developing positions, monitoring
the Council and Task Force email lists, communicating with the
constituency. You can argue positions on the Council mail list.
If you cannot attend the actual teleconference, but coordinate 
properly with the constituency and with Marc and Carlos
you are fulfilling your obligations. 

So, for example, if the meeting is held at a time you can
attend but Carlos or Marc cannot, then they should 
coordinate with you. The key is that we have a strong,
well-coordinated position on all the issues, and hold the
proxy vote for all of our Council members. 

We are honored to have you as our representative
and I hope you don't already regret being talked into
running!

Regards,
MM