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[802SEC] a new Chair's Guideline: 802 EC private letter ballot process



Geoff, Jon,
 
I have copied Yvette Ho Sang on this email--and will ask her to initiate a review of the proposed policy.  Yvette--please review and have legal review the below proposed policy and respond to Geoff and Jon's concerns.
 
---Chair's Guideline: 802 EC private letter ballot process---
 
0) The 802 EC chair will decide if an 802 EC motion shall be conducted via a private letter ballot process for confidential reasons as defined in
REF:    http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/executive_session_guidelines.pdf
 
1) The motion and duration of an 802 EC private letter ballot shall be made public by the 802 EC chair announcing it to the 802 EC reflector not later than the start of the ballot.
 
2) The discussion and voting shall occur via a private email distribution list in which the participants are limited to EC members and others as determined by the 802 EC Chair as appropriate.
 
3) The 802 EC Chair may conduct of the private email ballot or delegate it to an 802 EC member.  The 802 EC member conducting the ballot is responsible for confirming all parties defined in (2) have visibility to the private email discussion and voting. 
 
4) At the conclusion of the ballot, the vote results shall be tabulated and made public via the 802 EC reflector by the person conducting the ballot.
 
---End-of-Guideline---
 
Regards,
 
--Paul
 
------ Original Message ------
From: "Geoff Thompson" <thompson@ieee.org>
To: "Jon Rosdahl" <jrosdahl@ieee.org>; "Paul Nikolich" <p.nikolich@ieee.org>
Cc: STDS-802-SEC@listserv.ieee.org
Sent: 4/11/2013 1:51:23 PM
Subject: Re: [802SEC] a new Chair's Guideline: 802 EC private letter ballot process
Paul/Jon-

I seemed to have missed something here.
I have not seen any previous mention of a an e-mail from Dave Ringle,
nor have I seen that e-mail.
I specifically asked for a legal review of Paul's proposed policy.
That request still stands unfulfilled.
No disrespect, but Dave Ringle's opinion is not relevant to this issue and does not discharge my formal request.

Conducting "an executive session" by e-mail destroys the very essence and legal protections of an executive session.
To wit:
    - Very close control of, and limits to written records.
    - Severely limit material that would be subject to discovery.
    - Give the person in charge of the session the ability to limit the parties to whom meeting material is visible.
The entire purpose of an executive session in a corporate setting (that's us) is not to protect people's feelings.  It is to limit liability by limiting the availability of discoverable evidence.  An "e-mail executive session" (an oxymoron if there ever was one) completely undermines the process.

Geoff

On 4/10/13 11:12 AM, Jon Rosdahl wrote:
Paul,
  I think you have missed the mark on this guideline.
The point of holding an Executive Session is spelled out in the superior documents.
The concept of having the Executive Session be a virtual meeting via e-mail is what I believe you are trying to document here, but then the same rationale for holding and the amount of "public" material should be the same.
 
It has been my experience that when a group holds an Executive Session, that they group deliberates and votes in private, and then decides what is to be reported out to the public.
 
I can see that to help ensure openness that there is a specific topic that is being discussed amongst the EC in private can and may be ought to be recorded on the reflector, but the specific results of any voting, any intermediate motions, or dialog should remain private.
 
At the end of the Executive Session or Private Letter ballot, there should be a resolution that is provided to spell out the decision.
It may be that nothing was decided, or that something specific was decided, but it may or may not be the specific final motion.
 
I think that we do not need to dictate all behavior, and professionalism should be allowed to be the guiding thought we should be using.
I think that the E-mail that David Ringle sent you summed it up well...
FWIW,
Jon
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 9:41 AM
Subject: [802SEC] a new Chair's Guideline: 802 EC private letter ballot process

Dear EC members,
 
As a result of the recent deliberations that the 802 EC has been engaged in it is my opinion the IEEE P&P is vague and/or silent regarding a 'private letter ballot' process.
 
Yet it is important for us to have such a process in order to make the occasional confidential decision outside our normal face-to-face meeting opportunities.  Therefore, I have defined the mechanics for the 802 EC to use in a private letter ballot process.   
 
The intent is to have this shall serve as a '802 Chair's Guideline' until our 2nd vice chair leads a more formal incorporation of a 'private letter ballot process' into the 802 set of rules. 
 
---Chair's Guideline: 802 EC private letter ballot process---
 
0) The 802 EC chair will decide if an 802 EC motion shall be conducted via a private letter ballot process for confidential reasons as defined in
REF:    http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/executive_session_guidelines.pdf
 
1) The motion and duration of an 802 EC private letter ballot shall be made public by the 802 EC chair announcing it to the 802 EC reflector not later than the start of the ballot.
 
2) The discussion and voting shall occur via a private email distribution list in which the participants are limited to EC members and others as determined by the 802 EC Chair as appropriate.
 
3) The 802 EC Chair may conduct of the private email ballot or delegate it to an 802 EC member.  The 802 EC member conducting the ballot is responsible for confirming all parties defined in (2) have visibility to the private email discussion and voting. 
 
4) At the conclusion of the ballot, the vote results shall be tabulated and made public via the 802 EC reflector by the person conducting the ballot.
 
---End-of-Guideline---
 
I believe the above complies with the IEEE 802 EC's openness and transparency requirements for conducting business related to confidential matters.  If I missed something--please feel free to suggest improvements.
 
 Regards,
 
--Paul
---------- This email is sent from the 802 Executive Committee email reflector. This list is maintained by Listserv.
---------- This email is sent from the 802 Executive Committee email reflector. This list is maintained by Listserv.
---------- This email is sent from the 802 Executive Committee email reflector. This list is maintained by Listserv.