[gnso-dow123] Nomination for Co- Chairs for TF-follow up response

["Marilyn Cade" <marilynscade@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Ross and other colleagues

I too read the bylaws section, before making the nominations of co-chairs. 
As I understand the Task Force's ability to elect its leadership, I see no
reason why co-chairs are  not a positive outcome for the TF. As to anyone
making a "decision", I made a nomination. 

However, since Ross has suggested that the TF needs a "ruling" from outside
the Task Force, to move the discussion along, I've cc'd Dan Halloran, deputy
general counsel, John Jeffrey, General Counsel, and Bruce Tonkin, chair,
GNSO. The Policy staff are of course routinely copied on the "list".

I note that I proposed "co-chairs", not two chairs. I believe that there is
a difference, just as there is a difference between a chair and a vice
chair. :-)  I nominated two individuals from very different perspectives,
but with deep understanding of the work that has been done, and awareness of
the work that remains in order to ensure that there is strong trust in the
leadership process. 

Regards, Marilyn Cade


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gnso-dow123@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-gnso-dow123@xxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Ross Rader
Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2006 3:32 AM
Cc: gnso-dow123@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [gnso-dow123] Nomination for Co- Chairs for TF

Marilyn Cade wrote:
 > Is there a second to this nomination of co-chairs?

Who made the decision made to move from electing a chair to electing 
co-chairs? With due respect to Steve and Kathryn, I don't believe that 
this is a legitimate proposal.

The bylaws are clear in that they instruct the Task Force to select a 
single chair - not two.

"c. Appointment of Task Force Chair. The Staff Manager shall convene the 
first meeting of the task force within five (5) calendar days after 
receipt of the Charter. At the initial meeting, the task force members 
will, among other things, vote to appoint a task force chair. The chair 
shall be responsible for organizing the activities of the task force, 
including compiling the Task Force Report. The chair of a task force 
need not be a member of the Council."

If it is the will of the task force to ignore the instructions of the 
bylaws and pursue the election of two chairs, I would like to request 
first that we seek instruction from our policy support staff, the GNSO 
Council and ICANN's legal counsel regarding the legitimacy of such a 
move. We must ensure the legitimacy of our processes so that we can 
preserve the credibility of our output. I believe that this proposal 
undermines our efforts and we should not proceed in this direction 
without receiving further guidance.

If we are indeed electing two chairs, I will be nominating Paul Stahura 
and Tom Keller. In the meantime, I don't believe that there is a 
legitimate process in place to elect two chairs, therefore my nomination 
of Avri stands.

If Kathryn and Steve wish to stand separately as individual candidates 
for a sole chair, I would be happy to consider their candidacy.


-- 

                        -rr








                 "Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions.
                                            All life is an experiment.
                             The more experiments you make the better."
                         - Ralph Waldo Emerson


Contact Info:
Ross Rader
Director, Research & Innovation
Tucows Inc.
c. 416.828.8783

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