[ARIN-consult] Reminder: Consultation on Increasing the size of the ARIN Board of Trustees

Wed Jun 7 13:48:44 EDT 2017

I think Mike brings questions worth considering
(either in the positive, or negative as Lee suggests)

I will not address any of these questions here and now, but
rather add another facet of complexity for consideration.

Currently the ARIN numbers community exists a larger
Global numbers community, which in turn exists in a
larger Internet community that converges in ICANN.

RIPE NCC has been looking into diversity:
https://labs.ripe.net/Members/agowland/diversity-discussions-at-ripe-74

Likewise ICANN is considering community accountability, transparency,
and diversity requirements of ACs (Advisory Committees) and
SOs (Supporting Organizations):

https://community.icann.org/display/WEIA/Diversity
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JatGDDEJdNrJb08OAH8at5ZaH7fUbBDNqc9EDxfXT0w/edit

In ICANN terms, an SO is where a community comes together to make
policy.

In the case of Global numbers policy the majority of this policy work
occurs within the 5 region RIRs, and the ASO shepherds the policy
proposal through the ICANN portion where the ICANN board
considers, questions and ratifies (or not) the proposed global policy.

Likewise the community meets within the 5 RIR systems, and
accountability and transparency mechanisms are those within the RIR
system (regional and Global PDP, RIR bylaws, RIR Policy development
meetings, and RIR policy mailing lists).

So if there is a need to meet some standard for community support,
community inclusiveness, transparency, diversity, etc, for the larger
Internet community, it might put some pressure on the standards that
the RIRs have in these areas.

At the very least, we should keep abreast of developments in these areas
in other RIRs and in ICANN, and see if there is anything of value worth
considering here.

__Jason

On Tue, Jun 6, 2017 at 4:01 PM, Mike Burns <mike at iptrading.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
> Can we talk about the problem this change is designed to address?
>
>
>
> Have there been decisions taken in the past by the ARIN board which could
> be said to be a result of lack of diversity on the board?
>
> For example, has the board corrected a mistake because a prior decision
> failed to include the input of a small business owner, or a resident of the
> Caribbean, or a lawyer?
>
>
>
> Do issues like gender or race even impact the decision-making ability of a
> board whose job revolves around number policy?
>
>
>
> Or are we to assume that lack of diversity is itself the problem?
>
> That even if the non-diverse board and a hypothetical diverse board
> reached the same conclusions, there is still a problem with the former?
>
>
>
> Is this an optics problem?  That is, are we addressing not a problem
> related to number policy, but a self-esteem problem of some community
> members?
>
> Or are we saying the ARIN board doesn’t understand Caribbean legal issues
> or network peculiarities, resulting in bad decisions?
>
> The second case is much more interesting to me.
>
>
>
> The problems which will inevitably arise out of this effort should be
> considered, and I haven’t really heard them all addressed.
>
>
>
> First, who decides what groups should be included in the sought-after
> diversity? We have suggestions for gender and regional membership already.
>
> What about LBTQ, black, Hispanic, physically-challenged or poor community
> members?
>
> Can those groups be left out of consideration? What is the process of
> review and revision of these selections? A free-for-all on the ARIN-consult
> list? I am not looking forward to the debate over the last reserved seat-
> does it go to the poor or the Caribbean?  What if a gay, poor Caribbean
> runs for that seat, does he/she check three boxes or only one? Are these
> appropriate discussions for numbers-stewards?  It’s a quagmire.
>
>
>
> Second, once the groups are defined, then what is the mechanism to ensure
> actual membership in the group? How are we sure who is a woman, who is
> poor, who is physically handicapped, or who is gay?  Do we have surplus
> Election committee members itching to verify this information?
>
>
>
> Third, this would further the implicit assumption that even members of a
> small group whose aegis extends only to regional number policy vote
> tribally, and the only solution is to ensure participation of every tribe
> on the board. I think we should instead be focusing on the open-ness of the
> stakeholder model, with open and meritocratic elections being a
> foundational principle.
>
>
>
> Fourth, restricting qualified members from running from some board seats
> due to immutable characteristics like skin color or gender or ethnicity
> could potentially reduce the overall quality of the board.
>
>
>
> Fifth, intra-ARIN tribalism will naturally drive discourse in ways that
> tend to exacerbate differences so as to justify current diversity
> preferences, in my opinion, and that includes introducing
> non-numbers-related issues where we should only care about the numbers.
>
>
>
> Sixth, a larger board makes meetings and communications among board
> members more difficult.
>
>
>
> Seventh, quota-seat members could feel (and be perceived as) inferior or
> junior members.
>
>
>
> I don’t support any change to the number of seats on the board, and I
> don’t think the language that existed which allowed for the appointment of
> an additional member was designed for increasing bland and generic
> diversity. I think it was put there to address any particular unusual
> eventuality which required missing expertise. Maybe expertise in large
> public accounting, or expertise in law enforcement, or in private
> investigation or legislative compliance. The use of the seat to address a
> lack of representation of any particular GROUP removes the intended ability
> of use for a particular EXPERTISE should that be needed.
>
>
>
> As it stands today, the community is free to nominate and vote for any
> member who is qualified. Before that right is removed from the community,
> can we please understand the severity of the problem?
>
>
>
> Can somebody provide an example of a Board decision which would have
> benefitted from more diversity?
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Mike Burns
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* ARIN-consult [mailto:arin-consult-bounces at arin.net] *On Behalf Of
> *David Farmer
> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 06, 2017 3:54 PM
> *To:* John Comfort <john at comfortconsulting.com>
> *Cc:* <arin-consult at arin.net> <arin-consult at arin.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [ARIN-consult] Reminder: Consultation on Increasing the
> size of the ARIN Board of Trustees
>
>
>
> I debated using the word "underrepresented", I couldn't find a better
> word, the english language is lacking, or at least my vocabulary is.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 6, 2017 at 2:17 PM, John Comfort <john at comfortconsulting.com>
> wrote:
>
> To state that women are underrepresented because the board currently has
> no women is a misnomer and only perpetuates the political propaganda
> without any substantive data to confirm the situation even exists.  If a
> particular woman has the appropriate credentials and experience necessary
> to become a member of the board, then there is no reason why she wouldn't
> be elected except that a male or another female candidate has better
> credentials and/or more relevant experience.
>
> The election requirements should be based on merit only.  Do not give
> prejudicial treatment to any person whether male or female to further
> external, irrelevant agendas.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 6, 2017 at 11:58 AM, David Farmer <farmer at umn.edu> wrote:
>
> I agree with Jason and Rob, simply expanding the number of board seats
> without some mechanism to ensure that the new seats actually expand
> diversity is not helpful, and I can not support such a change.  I will note
> it is theoretically possible that, the membership will fill the new Board
> seats with a more diverse set of board members, but it is equally, if not
> more, likely that they will not, and the board will look much as it does
> today but slightly larger.  A slightly larger board that has more diversity
> is a fair trade-off and I support such a change if it includes a mechanism
> to ensure that the new seats actually expand diversity.
>
>
>
> I don't think a regional representation system would be helpful over all,
> it wouldn't necessarily help increasing the number of women on the board,
> and it would formalize a constituency for some board members that isn't the
> whole membership, and I'm not sure that would be a healthy change either.
>
>
>
> As an alternative, I would propose that the board earmark the additional
> seat in each class for candidates with particular divers properties that
> are underrepresented on the board.  Currently, I see the most pressing lack
> of diversity being women in general and anyone from the Caribbean.  So I
> would propose that the extra seat for the 1st and 3rd class of broad
> members be earmarked for women, and the extra seat in the 2nd class be
> earmarked for someone from the Caribbean.  Overtime if the make up of the
> board changes the earmarks could be changed to select candidates with other
> divers properties or if in the future it is felt that sufficient diversity
> can be maintained without earmarks, the earmarks could be eliminated.
>
>
>
> Under this proposal, there would be two(2) general seats with the current
> qualifications, and one special diversity seat per class with the current
> qualifications plus additional diversity qualifications specified by the
> board, maybe with input from the community and/or the nomcom.
>
>
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> ===============================================
> David Farmer               Email:farmer at umn.edu
> Networking & Telecommunication Services
> Office of Information Technology
> University of Minnesota
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> --
>
> ===============================================
> David Farmer               Email:farmer at umn.edu
> Networking & Telecommunication Services
> Office of Information Technology
> University of Minnesota
> 2218 University Ave SE        Phone: 612-626-0815 <(612)%20626-0815>
> Minneapolis, MN 55414-3029   Cell: 612-812-9952 <(612)%20812-9952>
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-- 
_______________________________________________________
Jason Schiller|NetOps|jschiller at google.com|571-266-0006
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