[ALAC] Public Comment on Board Liaison compensation

[Carlton Samuels]

Thanks for this Alan.  Closely reasoned and entirely rational and
reasonable.

I just had a situation with an At-Large outreach trip to Suriname - I've
been going to the damn place back when what passed for a classy hotel had a
caiman come up from the ditch running alongside sumbitch so familiar he had
a name, just sitting there, lollygaging in the sun on the path separating
me from the bungalow and dining! - that makes me seethe with irritation!
 There seems to be an apprehension I was looking for a handout, on account
it is such a salubrious la-de-da destination, maybe like say, Paris in the
springtime (which I don't much like anyways)!

You have my support and I'd be honoured to sign this with you.

-Carlton


==============================
Carlton A Samuels
Mobile: 876-818-1799
*Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround*
=============================


On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 10:58 AM, Alan Greenberg
<alan.greenberg at mcgill.ca>wrote:

> Regarding: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/bylaws-amend-
> compensation-2014-05-02-en
>
> As discussed on the ALAC call today, I will be posting the following
> statement (subject to minor editing) to the ICANN Public Comment.
>
> I encourage anyone who supports this to submit a comment to <mailto:
> comments-bylaws-amend-compensation-02may14 at icann.org>Submit Comment to
> Forum. I also understand that the ALAC is itself may submit a statement as
> well (either support or a separate statement).
>
> ------------------
>
> I am a member of the ALAC and the ALAC Liaison to the GNSO, but I am
> making this comment purely in my own capacity.
>
> I believe that, subject to a number of related considerations, it is
> reasonable to compensate Board members, including Liaisons, and the level
> of compensation suggested is reasonable.
>
> I do note that in the name of simplification, the report suggests an
> increase for Board members who are not Board Committee Chairs by as much as
> 29%.
>
> However, the related considerations mentioned above, in my mind, cannot be
> ignored.
>
> - One of the reasons always sited for such compensation is that having no
> compensation limits the available candidates who will make themselves
> available for the ICANN Board. Given that there has never been an AC/SO
> seat vacant due to lack of candidates, there is often competition for such
> seats, and the Nominating Committee regularly says that it has had to make
> very difficult decisions in selecting Board members since there was a
> surplus of eminently qualified candidates, in the name of transparency and
> accountability, it would be good to see hard evidence of the rationale.
>
> - The introduction of Board compensation widened the gulf between Board
> members and other volunteers within ICANN. The proposed change widens that
> gulf further. There is no question that many Board members work very hard
> on behalf of ICANN, and that dedication eats into their other professional
> activities and personal life. However, the same can be said for many ICANN
> volunteers. There are many in the community who work equally hard and
> dedicate the same kind of hours as Board members. Indeed, it has been
> claimed that many in the community put in far more time and effort than
> some Board members. I believe that this claim is accurate.
>
> SO and AC Chairs have been identified as meeting the above levels of
> commitment, and indeed many or perhaps all do. However, there are others
> who do not receive the existing benefits given to Board members and AC/SO
> Chairs who also dedicate unending hours and effort to ICANN.
>
> Board and now Liaison compensation without any new consideration of the
> contributions of others denigrates the efforts of the rest of the ICANN
> volunteers. Such acknowledgment for non-Chairs need not be financial
> compensation - there are a host of other benefits that Board members get
> that other volunteers (and Chairs) would really appreciate.
>
> Although I understand the difficulty of identifying those who put
> Herculean efforts into ICANN from those who are lower level contributors,
> we cannot continue to widen the gulf between the privileged few and the
> rest of volunteers and expect there not to be repercussions.
>
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