Re: NomCom 2017: Call for nominations (IAOC mid-term replacement)

[Ted Hardie <[e-mail]>]

Greetings,

A few observations in-line, as an individual.

On Thu, Sep 20, 2018 at 11:57 PM, NomCom Chair 2017 <
[e-mail]> wrote:

> Greetings from the 2017-2018 NomCom!
>
> No, you have not entered another one of our time loops.  The 2017-2018
> NomCom continues to exist for special needs until the end of the Bangkok
> IETF meeting.  And we find ourselves in one of those special needs
> situations at the moment.  As you are probably aware, Andrew Sullivan has
> stepped down from his NomCom-selected position on the IAOC.


Just to note that Andrew's new position as ISOC CEO makes him an *ex
officio *member, so he remains on the IAOC. Kathy Brown, the previous CEO,
is the member who has actually dropped.  It is the shift in role which
means it is the NomCom's job to consider how to fill the position.


> RFC 7437 indicates that mid-term vacancies are the responsibility of the
> previous NomCom (i.e., not the 2018-2019 NomCom), so that’s why you are
> hearing from me.
>
> Now you will be aware that the IETF LLC Board will supplant the IAOC
> sooner or later.  Hopefully sooner.  The IETF Trust draws its trustees from
> the IAOC, but going forward that will obviously change since there will no
> longer be an IAOC.  Until then, the replacement of IETF Trust trustees is
> done through the replacement of IAOC members.  Thus, the 2017-2018 NomCom
> needs nominees who are willing to serve on the IAOC (and IETF Trust) for
> what will likely be an abbreviated period.


And to be clear on just how abbreviated, the LLC board is already meeting
and the document which shifts the Trustee selection algorithm is in IETF
Last Call.  There is a race condition here that could result in this
selection never actually serving.



> To be very clear, this call for nominees is distinct from the on-going
> efforts of the 2018-2019 NomCom.  That NomCom is already hard at work to
> fill IESG, IAB, and LLC Board positions.
>
> This is a call for nominations to the IAOC.  We need one person to fill
> out the remainder of Andrew’s appointment to the IAOC and the corresponding
> service to the IETF Trust.  The role will exist until both the IAOC is
> ended and the IETF Trust is placed under the IETF LLC with the new rules
> that are being drafted for the selection of trustees.
>

The Trust is not going under the LLC.  The Trust will have a new selection
method for its members, rather than re-using the IAOC as a pool, but it is
and will remain a distinct legal entity.  I'll also point out that Andrew
remains a Trustee, since he remains on the IAOC because of his new role.
It is Kathy Brown who is no longer a Trustee.



> While it may seem like a fair amount of effort to seat a replacement for
> Andrew on the IAOC, I believe this is the prudent move to make.  I do not
> wish to set a precedent that the IETF NomCom selectively submits to its
> responsibilities under RFC 7437 by choosing whether to make a selection.
> And if the new handling of trustee selection takes longer to put into place
> than projected, it would be a good if not critical thing to have a full set
> IETF Trust trustees available.  I’ve conferred with the members of the
> NomCom and we are prepared to make the effort to select a new IAOC
> candidate.  We are aware that this is a heavyweight process for
>  what is a fairly lightweight need, so we appreciate the community’s
> support in completing our work.  I do realize that there are those in the
> community who advocate dispensing with the rules and not making the
> appointment, but I prefer to take a conservative approach and follow the
> ratified directions of the community in this matter by adhering to RFC
> 7437.  As always, the IETF mailing list is available to debate the matter,
> perhaps with an eye towards a future revision of RFC 7437.
>
>
That very RFC 7437 complicates the matter by giving a 6-week time frame in
> which the replacement must be made.  (A discussion of amending RFC 7437 in
> that regard would be interesting after we are done here, but is outside of
> the NomCom’s jurisdiction.)  The timer started when we were notified of
> Andrew’s resignation – that notification came on September 11, 2018 and it
> has taken us a while to determine and prepare for our next steps.  Those
> next steps are to find a replacement for Andrew as expeditiously as we
> can.  We have a deadline of October 23rd for completion of the selection
> and confirmation process.
>
> I appreciate the NomCom's fidelity to its duty and I thoroughly understand
why they do not wish to selectively assume their responsibilities.  But
I'll point an option here that can be taken by the community to avoid the
bureaucratic hassle of actually adding someone to the IAOC for a term that
may be minutes long:

No one volunteers.

If there are no volunteers, the section 5.1 of RFC 7437 quite clearly
applies:

5.1 <https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7437#section-5.1>.  Discretion

   All rules and special circumstances not otherwise specified are at
   the discretion of the committee.

   Exceptional circumstances will occasionally arise during the normal
   operation of the nominating committee.  This rule is intended to
   foster the continued forward progress of the committee.

   Any member of the committee may propose a rule for adoption by the
   committee.  The rule must be approved by the committee according to
   its established voting mechanism.

   All members of the committee should consider whether the exception is
   worthy of mention in the next revision of this document and follow-up
   accordingly.

I believe that if no one volunteers, the NomCom gains the discretion to do
nothing, which is the sensible thing to do when faced with a bureaucratic
necessity of no practical impact and of our own making.

So, my personal advice to those considering volunteering:  you serve the
community better by giving the NomCom the discretion to do nothing at all.

Ted




> To that end, the 2017-2018 Nominating Committee is seeking nominations
> from now until September 26, 2018.  We are aware that is not a lot of time
> for interested parties, but the overall timeline is highly compressed.
> Details for the timeline can be found on the NomCom’s home page:
>
> https://datatracker.ietf.org/nomcom/2017/
>
> Nominations may be made by selecting the Nominate link at the top of the
> NomCom 2017 home page, or by visiting the following URL:
>
> https://datatracker.ietf.org/nomcom/2017/nominate/
>
>   {Note that nominations made using the web tool require an ietf.org
>    datatracker account. You can create a datatracker ietf.org account
>    if you don't have one already by visiting the following URL:
>    https://datatracker.ietf.org/accounts/create/ }
>
> If you are unable to use the web form, nominations may instead be made by
> email to nomcom-17 at ietf dot org. If using email, please include the word
> "Nominate" in the Subject and indicate in the email who is being nominated
> and their email address (to confirm acceptance of the nomination).
> If you are nominating someone other than yourself, please tell us if we
> may tell the nominee that you were the one who made the nomination.
>
> Self-nomination is welcome!
>
> Desired expertise for this position is the same as for any other IAOC
> member selection.  The write-up for the desired expertise can be found at:
>
> https://datatracker.ietf.org/nomcom/2017/expertise/#iaoc-short-term-member
>
> Willing nominees are asked to fill out a questionnaire.  The questionnaire
> is available now and is due back to the NomCom by October 3rd.  We realize
> that NomCom questionnaires are fairly lengthy.  Nominees are simply asked
> to fill it out as best as can be done.  Since we may not have enough time
> to interview nominees (there being little time as it is and interviews
> possibly being difficult to coordinate), we will be relying heavily on
> community feedback and what can be gleaned from the questionnaires.
> Feedback may immediately be submitted for all nominees who accept their
> nomination.  While NomComs generally prefer to open feedback at a specified
> point in time after nominations are closed, our tight schedule does not
> permit this luxury, and therefore we are taking immediate feedback.  The
> deadline for feedback is also October 3rd.
>
> NomCom 2017-2018 follows the policy for "Open Disclosure of Willing
> Nominees" described in BCP 10/RFC 7437.  As stated in RFC 7437: "The list
> of nominees willing to be considered for positions under review in the
> current NomCom cycle is not confidential". Willing nominees for this
> position will be listed in a publicly accessible way, e.g., anyone with a
> datatracker account may access the lists.  Additionally, the nomination
> form asks if we may share your own name with the nominee. In all other
> ways, the confidentiality requirements of BCP 10 remain in effect.  All
> feedback and all NomCom deliberations will remain confidential and will not
> be disclosed.
>
> There is a field on the form you can mark in order to allow the NomCom to
> tell the nominee that you were the one who made the nomination. This
> defaults to “no” - so if you don't mark the field we won’t tell.
>
> In order to ensure time to collect sufficient community feedback about
> each of the willing nominees, nominations must be received by the NomCom on
> or before September 26, 2018.
>
> Please submit your nominations as early as possible for the sake of your
> nominees. Note that nominations should not wait for management permission,
> as it is easier to decline the nomination than put one in late.
>
> You are welcome to contact the entire NomCom at nomcom-17 at ietf dot org
> with your input and questions.  If you are having troubles with the NomCom
> website such as nominating someone, filling out a questionnaire, or
> providing nominee feedback, please let me know directly at the addresses
> given below.
>
> Thank you for your help in identifying qualified nominees!
>
> Peter Yee
> NomCom Chair 2017-18
> nomcom-chair-2017 at ietf dot org
> peter at akayla dot com
>
>