MOTU Leadership Teams - Membership Policy

[Emmet Hikory]

Scott Kitterman wrote:
> Is there a maximum term before one must stand for election again or is it
> until one quits/some MOTU asks to have you out?

    I proposed no maximum.  If someone remains interested, is not
asked to resign, and is able to continue to be one of the winners for
any elections forced by the team size limit, I don't see why they
oughtn't remain on the team indefinitely.  Further, I expect that the
experience gained over a long term, if appropriately combined with
both interest and peer support, ought make one better at the tasks
handled by the team.

    This is roughly the same as asking the question: if someone wants
the job, hasn't been making mistakes, and remains preferred by MOTU
over other volunteers, why wouldn't we wish that person to continue
regardless of any arbitrary procedural deadline?

Luca Falavigna wrote:
> If I understand this rigth, a single MOTU can veto a candidate.
> Shouldn't this be granted only if several MOTUs disagree with the
> application? Having a single person blocking a election can lead to
> deadlocks: if I'm against a given candidate, he/she won't be able to be
> elected as long as I oppose to it.
> I think this will never happen in real world, though.

    I agree with your thought.  Essentially, I trust all MOTU to
exercise their right of objection only when they have specific
credible reasons to do so.  During the discussion period, I would
expect those MOTU who are uncertain to ask questions of the candidate
(which if unanswered may well lead to an objection) to ensure their
concerns are met.  In the case where there is an objection that other
MOTU feel is inappropriate, this can be discussed, and perhaps the
objector will retract the objection.  In the extreme case where the
application of a candidate led to strong arguments for and against, I
would expect escalation to MOTU Council under dispute resolution to
resolve the dispute (although except in the case of excessive
recalcitrance on the part of a difficullt objector, I would expect the
candidate to withdraw first, as few remain motivated while the topic
of a heated debate).

    Note that regardless of my opinions, with such a model it is
indeed possible for any single MOTU to completely block the selection
process (by objecting to all volunteers regardless of qualifications).
 Rather than considering this to be a fault of the process, I would
rather question why that MOTU feels it necessary, and if this cannot
be resolved, whether that individual should be MOTU if they are unable
to work with the team (assuming the remainder of MOTU would rather
proceed).  I don't expect this to happen, and if it does, I don't
expect the issues causing the repeated groundless objections to be
insoluable.

-- 
Emmet HIKORY