[At-Large] [NA-Discuss] Results of the Voting for ALAC Nominating Committee 2008 Appointments

[Alan Greenberg]

I thought it proper that the reply to the NARALO-raised questions 
should come from one of the NARALO-named committee members, but I 
believe that Beau is out of the country and I have not been able to 
make contact with Robert, so I will give my thoughts on this. They 
are solely mine and do not represent Robert or Beau.

At the end of the last NARALO discussion, we were left with Hugh 
Dierker, Michael Geist and Evan Leibovitch, since Wendy was no longer 
a candidate. Michael later withdrew his name. None of the NA people 
on the ALAC personally knew Dierker, and were not comfortable with 
putting his name forward to the rest of the ALAC. That was not a 
statement that we felt he would not make a good rep, just that we did 
not feel comfortable with it. Although this may be troublesome to 
some RALO people, I would find it unconscionable if ALAC members from 
any region would present a name to the committee that none of the 
members personally felt comfortable with, especially if there were 
alternatives available.

Evan has garnered a significant amount of respect in his short time 
working with the ALAC and was thus a definite possibility. But there 
was a feeling that he was not sufficiently familiar with ICANN and 
its component organizational functions, responsibilities and 
personnel requirements to sit on this year's NomCom. There was a 
consensus that another name on the selection list would be a good thing.

Based on past knowledge, Robert suggested that Ross might be a good 
candidate. Although his day-job is for a registrar, he has shown 
significant concern for the needs of end-users. His intelligence 
coupled with his integrity seemed to make him a possible candidate. I 
had has worked with him on the GNSO and had a similar opinion. Ross 
is very familiar with ICANN and its component bodies, but at the same 
time, is not part of the "establishment".

Arguably, we should have more pro-actively informed the NARALO of 
this decision at the time it was taken, and for that I apologize. 
Given the time-frame set by the ALAC for selecting the NomCom reps, 
there was no time for additional consultation.  Although the Wiki was 
the only PUBLIC announcement that was made, there were messages on 
the internal ALAC list which made it evident why we had decided to 
add Ross to the list, and what the possible concerns were regarding 
selecting him (that is, his employment).

The responsibility of the ALAC is to consult with the region, and 
that was done. Moreover, one of the two confirmed names submitted by 
the RALO was a candidate. We deliberately did not anoint Ross as the 
sole NA person for the job, but included both names on the list.

Regarding the process used by the ALAC. Bret is correct that formal 
voting is not called for in the Bylaws. Although I have not been 
present for previous NomCom selections, I understand that in these 
cases, each region proposed one or more names, and the ALAC, through 
some mechanism which I think included face-to-face discussion, came 
to a consensus. I would have preferred such a mechanism this time, 
but partially due to time constraints (and I suspect partly because a 
new voting tool was available), the committee chose to take a formal 
vote. For the record, the only candidates for each slot were those 
proposed by the regional ALAC members, so there is zero probability 
that the rest of the committee could "hijack" the selection and name 
someone not supported by the regional ALAC members.

I will be travelling this weekend, and will have no opportunity to 
read any responses or reply today, and little opportunity for the 
rest of the weekend. I will follow up as necessary when time permits.

Alan