[ALAC] ICANN Board Meeting tomorrow

[Evan Leibovitch]

Wendy Seltzer wrote:
> ICANN's board will meet tomorrow, with an agenda including substantial
> discussion of the GNSO Council Restructuring.  If there are points to be
> added to that discussion, beyond those already raised regarding the
> importance of making room for Internet *users* on the Council (which I
> will re-emphasize), please let me know.
>
> Please also share any comments on other topics. I will bring the ALAC's
> concerns about the travel policy and support for RALO participants to
> the table, if that is desired.
>   

While there are massive concerns about the travel policy, my personal
inclination would be to leave that off the table at this meeting as an
explicit item. I would prefer for At-Large to have concrete
counter-proposals, perhaps backed by some of Alan's excellent analysis.
I feel it is important not to simply be reactive and negative.

I would also like to say that we continue to work with Staff on
good-faith efforts to refine the policy before going to the Board;
however I am not encouraged by the lack of timely clarification of vague
Staff statements regarding the policy. It is now more than one week
since the "clarification" conference call, and we still are left with
potentially misleading comments regarding the maintenance of the status
quo pending ongoing discussions.

OTOH, I agree with Cheryl and Jacqueline about the larger issue of the
Board failing to heed (or maybe even read) what ALAC sends it. That is
far more fundamental than the travel policy. I am extremely concerned
about the last-minute, and undiscussed, travel policy rider on the
Summit resolution, as much by the process as the product. That the ALAC
liaison appears to have been shut out of the method that brought
something to the Agenda that directly affected At-Large, is just astounding.

- Evan