[NCUC-DISCUSS] Acceptance of nomination for NCUC EC

[William Drake]

Hi Milton

> On Nov 7, 2015, at 3:29 PM, Mueller, Milton L <milton at gatech.edu> wrote:
> 
> This gap between bylaws and reality and the need for better organization is one of the reasons I want to be on the EC, though it is not 100% necessary if you want to abide by formalities in this case (and ignore them in about 50 others). 

Great
> 
> As for the formalities, there is nothing in the bylaws that says a regionally elected EC member cannot also be appointed as Secretary-Treasurer. 

Nope. I was just flagging the issue for awareness. Good to do things with eyes open.
> 
> Here's the problem: NCUC does not exist, as far as the banking system is concerned. So the bank account is treated as an individual account until and unless we incorporate. That means that, legally, the bank account is mine. Not NCUC's - mine. Of course I hold it in trust for NCUC and have done so for years, but moving it around is not as simple as Tapani and others have suggested, because banks tie these accounts to jurisdictions, they want to know where you live. They will not give an NCUC account because, as I said, NCUC does not exist. So we've had to give an individual custody. This account was established in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and giving it to someone who does not live here would mean either that the new person has to live here or you have to re-establish the entire account. It took me a month to do that, I am still ironing out some kinks, and aside from trust issues messing around with that just to maintain a distinction between ST and EC members seems like pointless bureaucratic nicety, if you ask me. Don't we have better things to do?

I hope so.  And we’ve survived on trust for 16 years.  But at some point NCUC may want to think about the what happens if you’re somehow indisposed.
> 
> In order to mature as an organization we need to incorporate NCUC, and then apply for 501 3 c (tax-exempt status) and that in turn means a hell of a lot of paperwork and legal work and a long wait. That's my goal. I could assist with this work with or without being on the EC, but thought that being more formally engaged as the NA EC member would make it more of a group effort. I'll be happy to work on it in some other capacity if you want someone else to represent you as the NA EC member. 

Glad to hear you’re willing to get into this.  For the sake of people who don’t read the EC list: our tax status became an issue this year because the Public Interest Registry, which supports us with an annual donation, needs us to have a US tax ID going forward to keep contributing, and there are other rationales as well.
> 
> By the way, if you read the bylaws about what the Secretary-Treasurer is supposed to be doing, the EC hasn't followed those rules for years and some of the duties (e.g., making recommendations about the eligibility of applicants for membership) is no longer even possible because the eligibility checks are happening at the SG level. So I am not sure why we are suddenly sticklers for the bylaws. Fixing those bylaws is another thing that needs to happen, it should be and should have been the Chair's and EC's responsibility. That's another reason I'm running. We need to fix this. 

Again, great. Join the bylaws team and have at it :-)
> 
> However this happens, it needs to be done in a way that involves people with institutional memory and a good understanding of where we are now organizationally and financially. 
> 
> So I'm still in the race. 

All good.

Cheers

Bill