On Sun, Jan 05, 2003 at 02:21:11PM -0500, Russell Hires wrote:
<snip>
> Even though
> we have a Benevolent Dictator (who I think is doing an excellent job), it
> doesn't mean that things can't change or be changed.
Though I appreciate the compliment, it really isn't a "dictatorship".
What you may not realize is that there is a list called "SLUG Admin", to
which I, Ed Centanni, Tom Ufer, and all the meeting coordinators are
subscribed. On matters of import, we discuss them on that list. For
example, if the group needs to spend money, a vote is made on that list.
We have discussed, for example, the proliferation of SLUG meetings, and
decided that the last meeting place we would sanction was St Petersburg
(since no one had yet started a meeting there in all these years).
I helped found the group, I named the group and wrote the bylaws, and I
happen to be the most vocal of the officers in matters of list
administration and such. However, I took care to ensure that there are
others who have a voice in the administration of this group. I found
early on that getting a majority the 400+ members of this group to vote
on matters of import was nearly impossible, particularly in anything
like a reasonable time frame. So rather than go with a straight
democracy, I chose a "representative republic" sort of structure as a
compromise between full democracy and monarchy/dictatorship. The bylaws
were written to ensure that one guy (like me) couldn't just randomly do
what he wanted without consequences. I have occasionally broken the
rules that I wrote, and in all such cases I've been made aware of, I
have apologized.
Hopefully, the system works. I think so.
Paul
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