17-05-2016, 10:17 AM
Gerald, in your most recent post you say (inter alia) that
"Between General Meetings, Council is the voice of the membership and needs to reflect this" ... But is this really true?
Surely the elected President + Management Board are (at least) as much a 'voice of the membership' as COUNCIL? Such phrases are awfully vague and potentially open not just to misunderstanding but possible (even if unintended abuse) ... by either body and/or members.
The elected President + Management Board are surely intended to embody the organisation's EXECUTIVE power 'between AGMs'. COUNCIL are surely intended to embody limited powers to draw President + Management Board to account on certain matters, principally an approval check on the Budget around March each year.
While the proxy issue is indeed important (and is best dealt with separately), I do think that the nature of the relationship between the EXECUTIVE power and COUNCIL, with its more limited (but important!) power to draw the EXECUTIVE power to account in certain ways needs to be clarified a little more than at present.
This would actually be quite easy to do, simply by adding a brief sub-clause in the early para 3 (from memory) to the effect(not final drafting):
'Through its membership (and as described in the remaining clauses of this constitution), CS empowers an elected President and Management Board of Directors to carry out the executive management of the organisation between AGMs. Members have also empowered a COUNCIL to act between AGMs as an accountability check on the exercise of these executive powers within certain prescribed limits, principally on annual budget approval.'
Then para 4 which currently starts quite abruptly 'COUNCIL', not to mention the rest of the draft constitution reads a lot more understandably and is a lot more clear about the correct interpretation of the relative powers of members/Pres and Man Board/Council.
"Between General Meetings, Council is the voice of the membership and needs to reflect this" ... But is this really true?
Surely the elected President + Management Board are (at least) as much a 'voice of the membership' as COUNCIL? Such phrases are awfully vague and potentially open not just to misunderstanding but possible (even if unintended abuse) ... by either body and/or members.
The elected President + Management Board are surely intended to embody the organisation's EXECUTIVE power 'between AGMs'. COUNCIL are surely intended to embody limited powers to draw President + Management Board to account on certain matters, principally an approval check on the Budget around March each year.
While the proxy issue is indeed important (and is best dealt with separately), I do think that the nature of the relationship between the EXECUTIVE power and COUNCIL, with its more limited (but important!) power to draw the EXECUTIVE power to account in certain ways needs to be clarified a little more than at present.
This would actually be quite easy to do, simply by adding a brief sub-clause in the early para 3 (from memory) to the effect(not final drafting):
'Through its membership (and as described in the remaining clauses of this constitution), CS empowers an elected President and Management Board of Directors to carry out the executive management of the organisation between AGMs. Members have also empowered a COUNCIL to act between AGMs as an accountability check on the exercise of these executive powers within certain prescribed limits, principally on annual budget approval.'
Then para 4 which currently starts quite abruptly 'COUNCIL', not to mention the rest of the draft constitution reads a lot more understandably and is a lot more clear about the correct interpretation of the relative powers of members/Pres and Man Board/Council.