[gentoo-nfp] Potential Bylaw violation in 2017 Foundation member removal

[Michał Górny]

Hello, everyone.

I have recently noticed that Trustees have been removing active Gentoo
developers from the Foundation.  This has at least taken place before
the 2017/2018 Trustee election.  I would therefore like to request
Trustees to reply to that in context of Foundation Bylaws.


To be more specific, Bylaw 4.4 states (emphasis mine):

  Section 4.4. Continuation of Membership

  *Full members who remain Gentoo developers shall have their
  membership continued until it is terminated in accordance
  with 4.8 or 4.9.*

  Full members who retire from the Gentoo project shall have there
  membership continued while they indicate that they remain interested
  in the affairs of the Foundation unless their membership is terminated
  in accordance with 4.8 or 4.9.

  Criteria for loss of interest in the foundation shall be determined by
  the trustees, from time to time.  [1]

For the record, 4.8 and 4.9 are, appropriately:

  Section 4.8. Voluntary Withdrawal from Membership

  Members may withdraw from membership in the foundation at any time
  upon thirty (30) days' written, signed notice delivered to an officer
  of the foundation, which notice may be by cryptographically signed
  electronic mail with a valid signature.

  Section 4.9. Termination from Membership.

  Membership may be terminated by a majority vote of the board of
  trustees in the event that any member acts contrary to the purpose(s)
  of the Gentoo Foundation.

The Bylaws therefore clearly state that active Gentoo developers remain
Foundation members until they *voluntarily* withdraw their membership,
or act contrary to the purposes of Foundation.  Removal as a result of
'loss of activity' applies only to retired developers.


Now, in May of 2015 the Foundation member list have been updated with
a number of members being removed (with no comment suggesting why
the update took place) [2].  According to data on file (LDAP), among
the removed Foundation members there were 10 active Gentoo developers
at the time:

- deathwing00
- djc
- flameeyes
- hattya
- jkt
- rafaelmartins
- scarabeus
- titanofold
- xmw
- yngwin

Even if we assume that some of those people were already in process of
being retired (or considered for retirement) at the time, this leaves 5
developers who are still active today.

I have confirmed that the people listed above were also removed from
voter list for 2017/2018 Trustee election [3].  Apparently the decision
was made during the 20170326 meeting, and was approved by positive vote
from all Trustees [4][5].


So why were you removing active Gentoo developers, contrary
to the Bylaws?  Were you unaware of Bylaws by which the Foundation
operates?  Or did you fail to verify the list?

What should be done about developers who were unjustly removed?  What
should be done about Trustees elected in 2017/2018 election whose
electorate was changed in violation of Bylaws?


[1]:https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Foundation:Bylaws
[2]:https://wiki.gentoo.org/index.php?title=Foundation:Member_List&diff=642628&oldid=627658
[3]:https://gitweb.gentoo.org/proj/elections.git/tree/completed/trustees-201707/voters-trustees-201707
[4]:https://projects.gentoo.org/foundation/2017/20170326.log.txt
[5]:https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Foundation_Talk:Meetings/2017/02

-- 
Best regards,
Michał Górny