• Sponsor: B. Adams
• Co-Sponsor:
• Status: Approved

The board adopts the following practices for BOARD email voting and proposal discussion.

In order to provide for a transparent and consistent process for the consideration and adoption of board proposals via email the following practices shall be adopted. Note, this procedure only applies to BOARD measures/proposals.

Board proposals shall progress through three stages of consideration:

• DRAFT
• DISCUSS
• VOTE

Board members should share initial drafts of proposals with the general mailing list as soon as possible. This phase of a proposal is not time limited or time required, but should allow adequate time for members and board members to make suggestions for amendment/modification of a proposal before it moves on to the formal DISCUSS status. The draft version should be made available on wiki for a consistent place of reference.

Those suggesting changes are encouraged to suggest actionable modifications whenever possible:

• GOOD:

  I suggest changing the language at X to Y because of Z.

• NOT AS HELPFUL:

  The wording at X should be changed because of Y

• EVEN LESS HELPFUL:

  X is problem

The DISCUSS stage begins the formal discussion period for a proposal. Any board member may initiate DISCUSSION on a proposal for consideration by the board. The proposal should be drafted and on the wiki before being initiating discussion. The email requesting feedback should make clear whether the submitter intends the proposal to be voted on by email, added to the agenda of the next regular meeting, or by a special meeting of the board.

Modifications made to a proposal during the DISCUSS stage should be reflected in the wiki version of the proposal.

Board proposals should remain open for discussion for a minimum of five days.

Any board member, OTHER THAN THE MEMBER THAT INITIATED DISCUSSION, may request a vote via email on a proposal after the DISCUSS stage. (This is akin to process of “seconding” a motion.)

Once the voting period has begun no further changes should be made to the wiki version of the proposal until the vote is completed. The vote is a motion to approve the proposal as it reads on the wiki.

The VOTE stage shall remain open for a minimum of five days.

Votes will be tallied by the secretary, and recorded as:

• “+1”: Yea
• “-1”: Nea
• “0”: Abstention (But still counting toward quorum.)
• Board members who refrain from replying to the vote thread will be counted as “Not Present”

The secretary will announce when voting is complete, taking into account requirements for quorum as outlined in the bylaws.

An email vote not reaching quorum within seven days shall be closed by the secretary, and is considered tabled until the next regular board meeting.

Proposals failing to pass should not be brought up for an email vote without substantial modifications to address concerns.

In order that members and board members are able to readily identify board proposal messages:

• DRAFT stage messages should begin with the subject tag “[DRAFT]”
• DISCUSS stage messages should begin the subject tag “[DISCUSS]” and should include the following text:

This thread serves as our discussion period before the proposal goes to vote.  It will be open for no less
than 7 days.  Everyone (members, board members and the general public) is invited and encouraged to comment 
or critique this proposal. This proposal is intended for consideration [via email, at meeting on 
MM/DD/YYYY, etc].

• VOTE stage messages should begin with the subject tag “[VOTE]” and should include the following text:

This is a vote thread intended to allow board members to vote on [Board Proposal #XX] in regards to 
[topic].  While everyone is welcome to  place a vote, only board members of Lansing Makers Network will 
be counted.  A previous DISCUSS topic has already been made available on this mailing list.  Please limit 
discussion and comments on this proposal to the discuss topic.
  
Please review the board proposal at the following URL : [WIKI LINK]
  
If you wish to vote to pass the proposal, please reply to this email thread with a +1
If you wish to vote to dismiss the proposal, please reply to this email thread with a -1
If you wish to abstain (and still be counted as part of the quorum) from voting on the proposal, please reply to this email thread with a 0
   
Board members not replying to the thread will be counted as "Not Present"
 
The vote will remain open until [MM/DD/YY]

From time to time it will occur that matters come up that need to be addressed urgently by the board. In these cases, messages should include the email subject tag “[URGENT]” and include an alternate timeline for the VOTE stage. The DISCUSS phase may be omitted, IF the timeframe requirements demand it.

Note: Amended to adjust voting and discuss periods to 5 full days.