If Voronwe tells us we have no choice about something, then rather than argue further because it ought to be different in any rational world, we will simply say, "Yes, Imperious Leader," and allow the discussion to move to the next point.
But I will certainly do my best to explain WHY we may not have a choice. I would much prefer that people understand what I am proposing and are comfortable with it. So, here are my attempts to answer people's questions (and in the course of doing so flesh out my proposal a bit more).
I'm wondering what these roles are - what does one actually have to do in these capacities? It sounds terribly daunting to me - it's one thing to keep a few files, but it seems quite another to be President, Secretary, Director and whatnot of an organisation all in one.
Great questions, Hobby! In theory at least, it is the duty of the Board of Directors to set the direction of the corporation, and to direct overall policy. It is the duty of the Chief Exectutive Officer to oversee the day to day operations of the corporation. The secretary's job is basically one of record-keeping (sound familiar?). One job of the secretary would be to keep minutes of Board meetings (more on this in a bit). The CFO, of course, is responsible for the corporations finances.
In practice, how the Mayor would conduct these various tasks is almost entirely laid out already in the Charter. The direction of the community is what we are agonizing over now in the Mission Statement discussion. Basic policy is also set by the charter. As I discussed above, we would specify that the Mayor would have no power to change any of this on her own; the most she could do would be to suggest changes, which any other member would have an equal power to do (we still need to discuss exactly what the process for amendments to the by-laws will be, but obviously it will require approval by the members).
Most of the day to day operations of the board would be delegated to the Rangers, as is appropriate (after all, how many CEO actually do the hands on work at a company). Other tasks would be delegated as needed by the Mayor to people to act as spokespersons or as Loremasters overseeing the procedure of any hearings if a jury so requests.
Most of the Mayor's day to day tasks would really come under his role as the secretary, since most of those tasks are recordkeeping in nature. Which brings us to the issue of of Board meetings and minutes thereof. One of the things that the law requires is that the Board of Directors hold regular meetings, and that minutes be kept of those meetings. That sounds onerous at first until you think about the possibilities.
These meetings (perhaps held quarterly) would be an opportunity for the Mayor to report to the membership on what has been going on with the board, and any decisions that may need to be made. It would also give the members an opportunity to inform the Mayor of anything that he needs to be aware of (such as a situation where a spokesperson might be needed). And it would give the members in general an opportunity to keep other members informed of concerns they have, etc.
And here's the beautiful part about it that keeps it from getting to onerous: the thread in which such a meeting occurred would then automatically become the minutes of the meeting, without any further work being necessary!
The final item of keeping track of the board's finances also should not be terribly onerous under the proposal as I have outlined it. Which leads to your other question,Hobby:
we'd have to do taxes?
I am not yet sure whether we would be able to file for tax-exempt status. But I'm almost certain that it would not even be necessary for us to do so, and that we would have so little money going through us that we would not need to pay any taxes (although we would likely need to file tax forms anyway).
Do you forsee any record keeping complications related to ownership?
Idylle, I think I have already answered this question as much as I am able to do at this point.
What are the legal requirements for notice to owners of official actions?
I'm afraid I'm not sure I understand this question. Notice from whom, and to whom? Of official actions by the corporation, or by officials outside the corporation?
With me around? Are you kidding?
My motto in life is "Question Authority". I hope the V man is prepared to be put under the microscope.
Legally speaking, can you detail for me the difference between what we are now and what we hope to become? Meaning is there really a positive to this? Aren't we now as liable as we will become? If not then are you saying that Phbb is now liable? If so then why not keep them liable instead of us?
Holby, please do question anything that you think needs questioning. I think that is very helpful.
As for your specific question, Jn has already answered it. If in fact we intend to stay here at phBB then all of this is academic. My understanding is that it is generally accepted that the desire is for us to move to our own site. We would certainly have more options to do different things, and to grow into whatever it is that we are going to grow into.
This whole idea stemmed out of the thought that I had that Lidless should not be saddled with the responsibility of being the "owner," something that he agreed with fully. And it seemed to me to be the natural progression from this democratically governed messageboard community that we are trying to create.
As Idylle pointed out, ownership that is this dispersed is unusual to the point of uniqueness. But it is ownership of a different kind then that which is normally associated with that word. It is not ownership in a material sense. It is not even intellectual property in the legal and economic sense of that term. Instead, it is common ownership of a common idea, of an amorphous, undefined vision (yes, dammit, the dirty word itself!) that we would each doubtless define differently and yet which we nonetheless all share.
*
swoons theatrically*