[Chapter-delegates] Message from Internet Society Audit Committee Chair

[Mike Godwin]

Just as a reference point:

When I served as general counsel of the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia
chapter officers who wanted to serve as WMF board members had to resign
their chapter-officer positions if they were elected or appointed to the
WMF board of trustees. This was required to be consistent with COI policies
and was not considered at that time to be an unusual requirement. COI
policies were communicated to the chapters (they were public, in other
words), but they weren't developed subject to chapter approval, because
under the relevant state law (Florida, in that case), they couldn't be.

Mike



On Mon, Nov 9, 2020 at 9:45 AM 'Andrew Sullivan' via Chapter-delegates <
chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 09, 2020 at 03:33:45PM +0100, Richard Hill wrote:
> >
> >From time to time, when the laws change in either the US or the chapter's
> >country. In the case of Switzerland, the law in question has been stable
> for
> >decades.
>
> But it isn't just the laws.  The IRS issues interpretations about the tax
> code all the time, and they can also have an effect.  And in case it is not
> obvious, they don't provide a list of cases that might have been affected.
> You are proposing a large potential cost for a benefit that literally
> nobody has so far in this thread has even attempted to describe, as near as
> I can tell.  There is nothing that prevents someone who is actually sitting
> as a member of the formal leadership of a Chapter from being appointed as a
> Trustee, but if they accept that appointment they have to give the other
> one up.  If any Chapter is so pressed for volunteers that there is nobody
> to step in under those circumstances, it raises doubts about the viability
> of the Chapter, surely?
>
> In any case, I think I have provided all the information I am able to
> provide on this topic.  I recommend that people who want a change to the
> policy take it up with the Board's Governance Reform Working Group when
> that gets off the ground.
>
> Best regards,
>
> A
>
> --
> Andrew Sullivan
> President & CEO, Internet Society
> sullivan at isoc.org
> +1 416 731 1261
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