Re: [gentoo-project] RFC: Expanding Foundation Bylaws, section 4.9 Termination from Membership

[Daniel Robbins]

Ulm,

You are using hyperbole. A majority vote of trustees is required. That is
not haphazard, as you state -- it is a process that requires majority
consensus of elected officials. We assume that the trustees are looking out
for the project. The trustees are there to protect the community so they
must have this ability.

If you have concerns over potential for abuse, I'd be interested to hear
those concerns and discuss those.

Best,

Daniel

On Fri, Feb 9, 2018 at 12:32 AM, Ulrich Mueller <ulm@g.o> wrote:

> >>>>> On Thu, 8 Feb 2018, Matthew Thode wrote:
>
> > On 18-02-08 15:33:02, Daniel Robbins wrote:
> >> I think rich0 is spot-on here where if we make it even shorter, it gets
> >> even stronger:
> >>
> >> Section 4.9. Termination from Membership.
> >> Membership may be terminated by a majority vote of the board of
> >> trustees.
> >>
> >> No explanation required. Right now, it sounds like the trustees may
> >> need to justify that the member is acting contrary to the
> >> purpose(s) of the Foundation. When really, no justification should
> >> be required (it just opens the door for endless argument,
> >> grumpiness, and thus more likely to lead to legal action). At the
> >> very least, it should say that the trustees can remove anyone *they
> >> feel* (ie. based on *their opinion*, which can't be argued) is
> >> acting poorly. That removes the possibility of debate.
>
> > Agreed, this is the only improvement I see us making to that specific
> > bylaw.
>
> Have I understood this right, removing the possibility of debate and
> giving trustees the power to haphazardly kick members is seen as an
> *improvement* over what there is now? I would rather call it
> despotism.
>
> Just for comparison, look at the corresponding wording in the bylaws
> of Gentoo e.V. (my attempt of a translation, original German is in
> https://gentoo-ev.org/w/images/8/86/Satzung.pdf, §4 (5)):
>
> "A member may be excluded by decision of the board: for damaging the
> reputation of the Verein, for failing to pay the membership fee, or
> for another important reason. The board must communicate the decision
> to the excluded member in writing, indicating the reasons, and give
> him hearing on request. The general members' assembly can be invoked
> for an appeal against the board's decision; membership is suspended
> until the decision of the general assembly."
>
> Ulrich
>