Re: [council] Non-Council Member Participation

["Milton Mueller" <mueller@syr.edu>]

Good questions, Philip. Here are my answers:

General comment: This added participation is
necessary, both for workload reasons and for 
broadening participation and including expertise.

>>> "Philip Sheppard" <philip.sheppard@aim.be> 06/22/01 05:16 AM >>>
Voting
Committees and task forces vote on recommendations. Is an unelected non NC member empowered to represent 
constituency opinion in this way?

MM: YES, because that person will have been designated
by the elected NC members.

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Process management
Who reports from a committee of non NC representatives to the NC ? Where is the responsibility to the NC ? Would we allow a whole NC task force of 7 NC non members?

MM: Whoever we tell to report, reports. A whole task
force of non-NC members? Why not, as long as they are
chosen by duly elected NC members. We can make the
NC reps who selected a non-NC person secondarily 
resposible for their performance. If a person
doesn't perform, we have more latitude to throw them
out precisely because they are not NC.  

==========
Information
Example: Constituency X has a non NC member on an NC committee and opposes a committee recommendation. Every one else supports it.  At the next NC
meeting the NC Chair asks for clarification on Constituency X's position. The 3 NC reps for Constituency X have no idea. Does the NC ignore the
opposition or delay a month while we find out about it?

MM: This problem seems unrelated to the question
of whether the missing person is NC or not. You 
have to ignore the opposition. If participants don't 
have their act together enough to get their position
represented in the right place at the right time
(assuming of course proper notification and procedre
has been followed), it must be ignored, unless
there is such a close division that we decide not
to decide. 

===========
NC meetings
Do all non NC committee members attend NC meetings? Why not if they are part of the process. (Theoretical maximum based on current NC task forces is therefore an NC meeting of 55 people +ICANN+DNSO sec).
Food for thought.


MM: Simple answer here. NC meetings are restricted to
NC members. 

Non-NC participants in committees are responsible to 
report through their elected representatives. 

If NC members and their selected helpers bungle that
relationship, and they might once in a while, it's
too bad. But the alternative is simply that they will
not participate at all. I've been in three NC TFs
so far, and in all but one of them it's been me
talking to the TF chair. Better to have someone
who will actually show up.