But some may recall that in the past, when these discussions have come up before my attitude was that the admins at the time should start a binding poll and decide the issue once and for all. The response was always "we don't have the power to start a binding poll."
Well, folks, guess who's an admin now. And of course, my attitude now is "we don't have the power to start a binding poll."
Nonetheless, I firmly believe that the time has come to decide this issue once and for all. The convention, slow moving though it is, has made real progress. If I can be so bold as to say so, I think we have a particularly strong, solid group of admins. On the other side of the coin, there continues to be virtually daily reminders of this person who's friend can't get in to the board, or that person from TORC who has registered and must be turned away. It is my firm believe that the very survival of board77 requires that it open its doors as soon as possible.
So this is my suggestion. I would like to discuss the possibility of starting a poll that would hopefully give sufficient guidance as to the membership's feelings on this matter to establish a firm goal for when to open. I would propose (as starting point, at least) the following options:
Edit 4/5/05 4:50 a.m. GMT: Here is the revised poll language that I have suggested:
I'm sure that I have terribly confused some (if not all) people (my mind does tend to work in strange ways). But I'll leave it at that, and then try to answer people's specific questions as best I can. It may well be that we can't even reach a consensus on having a vote, or how, but I think it is worth trying.
Quote: "Assuming that any issues regarding what to do about the Thinking of England forum when the board opens, and whether non-members will be able to read the board when it opens, are resolved separately, I would like to see board77 open:
1. As soon as the charter provisions regarding the admins are ratified,
2. As soon as the charter provisions regarding dispute resolution are ratified,
3. As soon as the charter provisions regarding members rights and responsibilities are ratified,
4. As soon as the charter provisions regarding the mission statement, purpose and goals,
5. As soon as the charter provisions regarding the office of the Mayor are ratified,
6. As soon as the charter is completely finished and ratified, including the provisions regarding the ownership of the board.
7 I do not want board77 to open in the foreseeable future."
The purpose of this poll would be to determine at what point a sufficient percentage of the membership to constitute a consensus wants to open. Each successive choice in the poll (or at least the first six) is scheduled to occur after the previious choice and the votes for each choice would carry over to the next choice. I have suggested that 80% would constitute a consensus. So if 50 total people voted, and 10 voted for the first option, and 15 each voted for the second and third options, a consensus would have been reached for that third option, since 40 votes out of 50 is 80%.
What say you?