Post election IrcTeam/IrcCouncil changes

[Nathan Handler]

On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 9:45 AM, Mark Shuttleworth <mark at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 9:55 AM, Nathan Handler <nhandler at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>
>  * The Council will have a chairman with a casting vote, appointed by
> the Community Council
>
>
> The IRCC can have this position if they want and request that the CC
> appoint someone, if not they can remove it from the document. Just let
> us know.
>
>
> No, this is standard policy in CC and TB and I would prefer to leave it in
> place for the IRCC and other delegated boards. If it's not in the delegation
> guidelines, it should be. In general, we'll appoint the chairman that the
> council prefers, but we reserve the right to do otherwise if needed.

In that case, would you be willing to explain the details of the
position? A few days ago, I had contacted a few CC and IRCC members
about the position. Most of them though that the chairman referred to
the CC member that will be sitting on the IRCC. However, upon
contacting Jono, he explained that the purpose of this position is to
break ties that come up during votes. On a 5 person council, if we
implement Joseph's suggested change for how to handle voting, we would
need at least 3 people to vote the same way for a decision to pass. As
a result, there would not be a tie. If 4 members attend a meeting and
there is a tie (2 +1's and 2 -1's), I think that the fifth IRCC member
should be able to break the tie. Someone else that I contacted said
that the chairman was also for situations where there is not a
complete IRCC. I would hate to see one person (the chairman) be able
to make decisions for the IRCC himself or with only one other person
supporting him.

Could you please clarify exactly what the chairman position is and why
it is necessary?

Thanks,
Nathan