Re: [gentoo-nfp] Questions For Gentoo Foundation Trustee Candidates

[Robin H. Johnson]

On Sun, Jul 14, 2019 at 10:53:48AM -0400, Aaron Bauman wrote:
> > > 2. Will all candidates explain the reasoning supporting their position
> > > on their future plans for the existence (or otherwise) of the Foundation.
> >
> > The reasoning is simple.  We haven't been able to maintain Foundation
> > in really good standing *for years*.  Even if we are closing to
> > *finally* fix things, it mostly relies on a few people putting a lot of
> > work, and this means low bus factor.  There's no way to know that
> > a future Trustee board won't mess everything up again, and we still
> > barely have any candidates in the elections.
> By-laws can mandate the retention of a CPA.
Can, but possibly shouldn't. Just because our filings are complex now,
doesn't mean they always will be. The SPI's 990 filings were initially
prepared with the aid of a CPA, but later on were prepared directly by
the SPI's treasurer, as they gained confidence in the process.

> Additionally, reimplementing the
> "removal of officers" section of the by-laws is paramount. I am shocked this has
> been removed/deleted.
No. It isn't, because it would simply be a partial repeat of the
previous section, 6.4 "election and term", which contains:

"Each officer shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees and shall hold
office until such time as the officer resigns or is removed by the Board
of Trustees"

Emphasis on "is removed by the Board of Trustees".

To the best of my knowledge, the original section came from the stock
version of New Mexico bylaws for non-profits, and was less flexible.

The board must have the power to select & remove officers.
The electorate must have the power to select & remove the board.

-- 
Robin Hugh Johnson
Gentoo Linux: Dev, Infra Lead, Foundation Treasurer
E-Mail   : robbat2@g.o
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