[ripe-chair-discuss] Chair nomination process

On 13 May 2020, at 03:41, Sander Steffann <sander at steffann.nl> wrote:

>> - the chair of the nom-com is a current employee of the RIPE NCC.
> 
> Do note that the chair is a non-voting seat, so a properly neutral chair in the tradition of RIPE Working Groups. And as a member of NomCom I can say that Daniel has chaired the NomCom properly and neutrally.
> 
> So I understand your concerns about governance, but in terms of neutrality of NomCom everything is sound. The voting members of NomCom are randomly selected, the RIPE NCC Managing Director does not have any influence and the chair performs perfectly and neutrally (and is non-voting).

I am also a current nomcom volunteer.

I take Daniel's and Sander's messages to be confirmation that the nomcom process is being followed accurately, and I agree with that assessment. I think that's an important thing for the community to know.

However, I think Nick's message highlights some deeper questions about whether the process is the right one for the community, and asks if there are governance concerns that people feel are not adequately addressed in the process we are following.

Following the process accurately is a separate question from whether the process is the right one.

The nomcom process that we are following is brief and leaves plenty of discretion in its implementation. The nomcom has not yet made a decision and in fact decided not to start substantive discussion about candidates until after RIPE 80. So while it's difficult to imagine that the process can be changed in all the aspects that Nick highlights without the benefit of time travel, never mind the associated question of whether it should, the outcome of the current process is still very much an open question.

In other words, there is still plenty of opportunity for people who have governance or any other concerns to make their voices heard and help the nomcom make the best choice for the community.

The nomcom is available this week on zoom and all the time by e-mail, details here: 

  https://ripe-nomcom.org/office-hours-during-ripe-80/
  nomcom at ripe-nomcom.org

I know several if not all of the nomcom volunteers are also following this list.

If you care about this (or any other) aspect of the process, please speak up.

Nick, thank you for starting this conversation.


Joe