RE: [council] Regarding voting rules for conflict of interest - proxies
I agree that it is an issue that should be addressed when the current
workload abates.
I think it's important that we consider this from an another angle,
namely, avoiding the appearance of impropriety. The appearance - or
perception of the appearance - of impropriety can be just as damaging as
the actual existence of impropriety. From a conflicts perspective, it
seems to me that allowing a Councilor who has a conflict to vote, albeit
not in a personal capacity, can certainly create the appearance of
impropriety - here, a conflict. It's certainly possible that some could
attribute that perception not only to the Councilor, but also to her/his
constituency and the Council itself. I think Bruce's suggestion of a
mechanism for temporary appointments of councilors is a good one. It
certainly would address the appearance of impropriety issue.
K
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Bruce Tonkin
Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 12:01 AM
To: Council GNSO
Subject: RE: [council] Regarding voting rules for conflict of interest -
proxies
Hello Chuck,
>
> I agree with you that we should consider additional special situations
> with regard to voting, but we will probably have to deal with them
> after we get finished with the huge current workload.
Sounds fair to me - just thought I would mention it, while we are
considering voting rules.
> It
> doesn't seem to me that a constituency (or in the future a stakeholder
> group) should lose a vote because their elected councilor has a
> personal conflict of interest.
Agreed. But at the same time I do think the issue of personal
conflicts of interest need to be taken into account. So I think a
mechanism that allows a constituency to retain their votes, but prevents
an individual from being put in a difficult situation is worthwhile.
Another example in the past is how to handle elections to the Board,
where a candidate is a sitting Council member. There has been a
mechanism used in the past where the constituency can appoint a person
to vote on behalf of the constituency, in place of the Council member.
Regards,
Bruce Tonkin