[Ec-ncuc] [NCUC Finance] Finance Team reboot

[Edward Morris]

Hi Milton,

I've had to limit my participation recently as I'm mulling some job offers,
possible marriage, lots of transatlantic travel etc. My apologies for
missing a lot of the current discussion but I assume varied availability is
 expected in volunteer organizations. I'll be offline for most of this
weekend but should be back next week. There are a few things, though,  I
did want to comment on that's come to the fore:

1. First, I think we all owe you a debt of gratitude for doing all this
banking stuff by yourself for so many years. In reading posts there
apparently is some undercurrent that you get some great delight in
maintaining control of all this stuff. That doesn't mesh with the man I've
gotten to know slightly in Meissen and other venues. If I'm wrong and you
get great delight in filing bank statements and balancing cheque books I'd
be happy to send you all the data from my three current accounts in three
countries. None are in balance, one comes in a language I don't understand
and if you get off on all of this stuff I'd be delighted to receive your
help. :) . Seriously, this is thankless work with limited intellectual
challenge and I personally appreciate you taking it on. Thank you.

2. I'm a pretty good test case for what is public and what is not as I'm
only subscribed to the public lists. Thank you very much for ensuring this
discussion is on the EC list where it belongs. I would note there has
actually  been recent discussion on the EC list about the ST position. For
example:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?shva=1#search/Maria/13cc82ecd9992ace

I've gone to digest reception of posts, where possible,  as it makes it
easier for me to process the volume. I know I used to miss lots of stuff.
I'm not sure you've seen some of the EC ST discussion (there are other
minor posts on the subject) but it doesn't matter at this point. I'm sure
if we work together for transparency we might actually get a bit closer to
our target. Thanks for pushing for it. With your support I like our chances
for success.

3. I've probably pushed the Chair to appoint a ST harder than anyone else.
I'd like to explain why and give you a peak at what I'm hoping to push for
in the near future. Perhaps by explaining my reasoning at the outset I can
avoid charges like power grabs and the like which have been mentioned in
the past.

I've never been comfortable ignoring the Bylaws and investing authority in
the working groups. They have a function, I think the Chair has done a
great job in setting them up, I'll be involved as will you, let's hope they
work. In no circumstances, however, can they take the place or subvert the
current role of the EC per the Bylaws. Where the Bylaws don't work we now
have a WG set up to change them. However, until they are changed by vote of
the members  they need to be respected. To paraphrase John Adams, we're a
Constituency of our bylaws, not of temporary office holders.

We currently have no official means of admitting new members to the NCUC.
>From what you write KK took on that responsibility, I've been asked to do
the same. I'm doing it but with great discomfort. When I call for an ST I'm
more focused on the S than the T. As long as you're willing to deal with
the bank...thank you. I certainly support you and am grateful. I hope they
give you a calendar every year :) You deserve something. Short term there
is no reason for anyone to come to Syracuse, delightful though the winters
may be. :)

Longer term we both know as we grow and prosper things will need to change.
You and I are probably the most resistant to accepting ICANN money and
resources of anyone on this list. I personally was sickened by some of the
feeding frenzy I saw in Los Angeles. We do need resources though. To most
effectively get them we a legal personality and U.S. tax exempt status.
These are basics. Of course, you know all that which is why you raised the
issue yourself earlier today.

For now, though, we need an ST to process new members in the way the Bylaws
call for them to be processed. If you'd like to take on the role great. If
Maria wants to do it fantastic. If we want to give a new member the
responsibility perfect. It's more clerical than anything else.  If not you,
 I'd prefer it to be a female for EC gender diversity but that's not an
absolute. Let's try to follow our governing doc's and see what happens.

For the moment, though, let's all agree that if you're willing we keep the
bank account where it is and that in addition you agree, per Tapani's
concern, not to get hit by a truck. Or a bus for that matter. If you could
avoid moving vehicles of all types...thanks. :)

4. When I return from Arizona I'll be going through our Bylaws and calling
for a much stricter compliance with them. I just want to let everyone know
why I'm doing this so if you disagree with what I'm proposing you can
attack me on substance rather than motive.

First, I actually find much to commend in the Bylaws. I'm more inclined to
tinker with them in a rewrite rather than do a total makeover. There are
some major problems but, again, I think whoever wrote them did a decent
job. I'm sure there was a lot of hard work that went into their creation.
Might be nice to implement them, see how they work, before throwing them
out.

Second, it's what I, as a member of the EC, is supposed to do. I was
elected under these documents, I'm supposed to try to make them work. I
note Robin has just seen to it that the NCSG PC chair and vice chair
positions were filled. That's her role as elected NCSG chair and she's
doing a great job in it. We should expect the same of our E.C.

Third, per Fadi we are supposed to have a Transparency International audit
in the near future. I know T.I. quite well. In the early 2000's T.I.
founder Peter Eigen asked Terttu Utiainen and I to set up the first Finnish
chapter of T.I. We declined but directed him to those individuals who
subsequently started one. I've been a member of T.I. for over a decade.

The first thing T.I. does in an audit is measure an organization's  mission
statement and governing documents and juxtaposes them against reality. We
currently fail that test. I think it's important we pass it. We certainly
need some operational flexibility is implementing the Bylaws (location of
the bank account, for example) but I'd suggest it is in our interest to
comply with everything in the Bylaws as best we can. I will note NPOC
appears to be in a good position to get high grades in any T.I. audit.
Should we expect no less from our Constituency? Of course not.

Thanks again, Milton, for all of your work on the finances. The income
statement you kindly provided last month was really helpful in letting
newbies like Tapani and myself fully understand our financial position. I
hope you'll be willing to do all of this a bit longer until we finally get
our house in order and we can rescue you from a world of bank statements
and cancelled checks.


Ed











On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 3:48 PM, Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:

>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ec-ncuc-bounces at ipjustice.org [mailto:ec-ncuc-
> >
> > > until the EC appoints a Secretary-Treasurer I am still it I guess.
> > [...]
> > > The reason for the default is the bank account.
> >
> > Right. But that is not a big issue in S-T selection.
> > I see nothing in the charter that prevents the S-T from delegating the
> > bank account management to another person, in fact it would seem to be
> > in a rather minor role in S-T's function.
>
> [Milton L Mueller] Right on target, as usual, Tapani. The two functions
> have been combined (actually, I have not vetted membership apps,
> Konstantinos started doing that some time ago because it made sense to
> integrate that with membership list maintenance) but they need not be.
>
> Just to clarify a false assertion in Bill's prior message: I have been
> formally appointed as Treasurer during Robin's and KK's tenure as Chair. I
> just assumed nothing had changed because I had seen no discussion of it on
> the EC list. Indeed, it is a bit odd the way on the one hand some people
> are calling for greater transparency and on the other trying to make
> appointments in the dark and bypassing the EC completely.
>
> > In particular should we one day choose a non-American as S-T, delegating
> > the account management might be a practical necessity.
> > The bureaucratic difficulties notwithstanding, I think it would be
> > prudent to have at least two people with access to the account.
> > We should try to avoid hard dependencies on individuals here just as in
> > e-platform management - if you're run over by a truck tomorrow, what
> > would happen to the funds?
>
> [Milton L Mueller] Totally agree, will cooperate with any reasonable and
> secure way of handling that issue, just do it in the open involving the
> whole EC.
>
>
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