[council] Re: standing for board

[edyson@edventure.com (Esther Dyson)]

Dennis, 

As a board member, let me add my voice to Joe's.  I was very impressed not
just with Carl Bildt's resume but with his letter, and I think he'd make a
great addition to the board. However, it would be against our rules, and the
purpose of rules is to provide a guide in tough cases such as this.  I was
planning to write a letter later  to express our regrets, but I am writing
to you now more quickly simply to make it clear that I regretfully support
the position Joe outlined so well.

Esther


At 07:16 am 10/06/1999 -0400, Joe Sims wrote:
>
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>Dennis:
>
>The relevant language from the bylaws is as follows:
>
>"Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, no official of a national
>government or a multinational entity established by treaty or other
>agreement between national governments may serve as a Director. As used
>herein, the term "official" means a person (a) who holds an elective
>governmental office or (b) who is employed by such government or
>multinational entity and whose primary function with such government or
>entity is to develop or influence governmental or public policies."
>[Article V, Sec. 5]
>
>Thus, there are two questions:  is a paid UN Special Envoy "employed by"
>the UN; and is Mr. Bildt's position one whose "primary function is to
>develop or influence governmental or public policies?"
>
>After consulting internally, and thinking this through, I think the answer
>to both is yes.  A consultant is a temporary employee, hired to do a
>specific task.  Section 5 was intended to prevent service on the Board by
>governments or multinational bodies or their representatives; the proviso
>was intended to not exclude, for example, an academic who was a professor
>at a state-owned university, or (albeit a government employee) was
>primarily a technical, not a policy, person.  Thus, without debating the
>wisdom of this language, as written I would interpret Section 5 to cover a
>UN Special Envoy, as that position was explained by Mr. Bildt.
>
>On the second point, without knowing exactly what Mr. Bildt's charge is, I
>have to assume that his role is to develop or influence policy.  In any
>event, it certainly is not technical, which was the intended exclusion.
>
>Thus, my opinion is that Mr. Bildt currently is not eligible, under this
>provision, to serve as a Director.  While in fact he might well be a
>splendid addition to the Board, and would certainly bring a unique
>perspective, it does not appear that he is currently able to serve.
>
>Please feel free to let me know if you see a flaw in this reasoning or have
>other questions.
>
>
>
>                                                                  
> (Embedded                                                        
> image moved   Dennis Jennings <Dennis.Jennings@ucd.ie>           
> to file:      10/05/99 04:29 PM                                  
> pic12773.pcx)                                                    
>                                                                  
>
>
>Extension:
>
>To:   "Joe Sims (E-mail)" <Joe_Sims@jonesday.com>
>cc:   "Andrew McLaughlin (E-mail)" <mclaughlin@pobox.com>, "Dennis Jennings
>      (E-mail)" <dennis.jennings@ucd.ie>,
>      "'carl@bildt.net'"<carl@bildt.net> (bcc: Joe Sims/JonesDay)
>Subject:
>
>
>
>
>Joe,
>
>I wonder could you assist me.
>
>Some Names Council people have raised a query on the eligibility of Carl
>Bildt for election to the ICANN Board, given his previous government
>activities and his current relationship with the UN.
>
>To clarify - Carl has retired from politics and is no longer a Swedish
>politician.  Carl is a consultant under a short term contract with the UN.
> This will end later this year - but may be followed by further short term
>consultant contracts.
>
>As I read the ICANN By Laws, there is nothing to exclude ex-politicians who
>are consultants to the UN (not employees of the UN).
>
>Is this reading correct ?  Please advise.
>
>Many thanks
>Dennis
>
>
>Attachment Converted: C:\EUDORA\pic12773.pcx
>


Esther Dyson			Always make new mistakes!
chairman, EDventure Holdings
interim chairman, Internet Corp. for Assigned Names & Numbers
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