[ripe-chair-discuss] The RIPE Chair Selection Process - v0.4

> On 20 Mar 2019, at 10:27, Brian Nisbet <brian.nisbet at heanet.ie> wrote:
> 
>> It might also be an idea to insert some text after the bit about the WGCC
>> appointing an interim Chairman, say that stuckee’s term only lasts long
>> enough for the selection procedure to run and appoint a repalcement.
> 
> However here you have a procedural issue. If we've said that the Chair and Vice-Chair terms must be linked, either the stuckee is in place until the existing term ends, or the Vice-Chair term is truncated.
> 
> I would suggest that maybe this decision can be made by consultation between the Chair, Vice-Chair and WGCC

I don’t like that at all Brian. It smells too much of secret deals in smoke-filled rooms.

> but we need to have something in place or we may end up with non co-terminating terms, which would be unnecessary complication?

My intention was to ensure there was a clear (and prompt) cut-off to the term of whoever got appointed on an interim basis. And a fairly quick invocation of the appointment procedure to install their “permanent” replacement. ie The interim appointee doesn’t get to stick around for more than a year or so.

Strawman suggestion: If the next scheduled run of the appointment process is (say) 4 years away, we run it immediately. Whoever replaces the WGCC stuckee then serves for 4 years to keep things in sync and the interim appointee serves until the appointment process finds their successor. If an interim appointment gets made (say) 2 years before the next scheduled run, they could stay in post until then.

We should be careful not to end up with a process which could mean the WGCC decides (in secret?) and appoints RIPE Chairmen who could essentially serve indefinitely. FWIW I could live with an interim appointment lasting until the next scheduled run of the process provided that short-term stuckee was not available for selection at that point.