JCPNEXT4-4: Revise Executive Committee Policies and Procedures

[apastsya]

Jira issue originally created by user heathervc:

Revise Section 6. Executive Committee Policies and Procedures, of the JCP Process Document to allow more flexibility around schedule of the Elections, include that Partner Members can run for EC seats, Section 6.4, the EC Selection Process for Community Seats (Affiliate Members vote for Community Seats), and the selection process for seats in Section 6.4.4.

[apastsya]

Comment created by brunos:

Affiliate members vote for community seats is a pretty broad subject, and maybe it deserve its own issue... But, on the meeting we discussed if several affiliates employed at the same company could all vote and if each would receive a vote.

• Since anyone can sign in as an affiliate, several employees can sign in, and then vote for their employer. This would allow for ballot stuffing.
• Opens up the possibility of an employer to mandate several employees to sign, to get a seat in the EC

This raises some questions:

• Should we allow employees of JCP Full Members to become JCP Affiliates? This is one way to prevent that scenario. After all, an employee of a full member already have access to the JCP (their employer signed the JSPA). That should allow him to contribute to the JCP without the need to become an affiliate. I think there is value in employees of full members joining as Affiliates.

• Affiliates already have a reasonably limited "power", that is, to vote for 2 community seats. And they can't run for those two seats (only full members can run for elections). Is this balance enough already? I think so.

Note: Should we allow employees of JCP Full Members to become JCP Affiliates? No, agreed not to allow employees of Full Members to become Affiliates--they should associate with the Full Member.

• In regards to the JCP, There is a loose relationship between Affiliates and their Employer. Anyone can sign in as Affiliate, even if their employer knows nothing about it. By design, there is no need for an employer to get involved in the Affiliate signing process. Should we change that? I think not.

I think that:

• There are several large, reputable communities that can run for the limited seats available. And they have large number of members that can become affiliates.

• I have the impression that there is a small benefit of getting an EC seat. Add the large potential competition and the community focus of those seats. This should be enough to prevent any reason for ballot stuffing.

• I think that trying to restrict Affiliates in corner cases kind of defeats the simplicity of the Affiliate role. Having all employees of a full member voting "together" in a single vote, or tracking who is employed where, etc. will just create a more complex process, with little value.

I'm not against giving the power to the PMO to notice probable ballot stuffing activities, and taking some actions. But I would prefer that this be something that does not involve a heavier process, because I think it futile.

[apastsya]

Comment created by heathervc:

We will discuss this issue and proposals at the May 2014 JCP EC F2F Meeting in London. Note: We will be asking Affiliate members to identify their employer, but we are not requiring their employer to sign anything to enable Affiliate members to join. There are two Community seats open for Election. If there is more than one Full Member with the same employer (have signed Exhibit B by the same employer), the Full Members will need to decide on a proxy and have one collective participation in the Elections - both to nominate and to vote. Add 'proxy' term to definitions (Issue #2).

[apastsya]

Comment created by mikedn:

Affiliate Members from the same organization are restricted to one vote from that organization. If there are multiple Affiliate Members from the same organization, they must decide among themselves who shall cast the vote for that organization and notify the PMO who will cast the vote. Failure to notify the PMO prior to the balloting, will result in none of the Affiliate Members from that organization having a vote on that ballot.

We decided that we would not limit Affiliate Members votes to one per organization at the 3 June EG Meeting.

[apastsya]

Comment created by heathervc:

Should we require the candidates running for the elected seats or the community seats to specify in advance which type of seat they wish to run for in advance? Or should they be able to appear on both ballots at the same time? What happens if they win on both seats? How do we decide which seat they take if they win both? We will recommend that we do not allow candidates to run for both types of seats.

We will also recommend that we will not restrict the Affiliate Members votes based on employer. We will recommend that for Full Members, if they are Individuals with a signed Exhibit B, they will have one collective vote to participate in the Elections--both nominating and voting (Scott Stark suggested adding the term of 'proxy' in this case).

Remember that only Full JCP Members or Partner Members may run for EC seats.

[apastsya]

Comment created by heathervc:

6. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES 6.1. SCOPE The Executive Committee (EC) oversees the development and evolution of the Java technologies within the JCP. 6.2. MEMBERSHIP The EC is composed of 25 Java Community Process Members. Oracle America, Inc. has a permanent voting seat on the EC. (Oracle's representative must not be a member of the PMO.) The EC is led by a non-voting Chair from the Program Management Office. No Member may hold more than one seat on the EC. Therefore, should a Member on the EC acquire a majority ownership of another EC member, one of those members must resign his or her seat by the effective date of the acquisition. Full JCP Members and JCP Partner Members can run for EC seats. Affiliate JCP Members cannot run for EC seats. 6.3. EC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
7. Select JSRs for development within the JCP.
8. Review and provide guidance on proposed licensing terms of proposed JSRs.
9. Approve draft Specifications after Public Review.
10. Ensure that publicly expressed issues/concerns with a JSR are addressed by the Expert Group.
11. Give final approval to completed Specifications and their associated RIs and TCKs.
12. Decide appeals of first-level TCK test challenges.
13. Review proposed maintenance revisions and possibly require some to be carried out in a new JSR.
14. Approve the transfer of maintenance duties between Members.
15. Decide when JSRs that have not made sufficient progress through the Process should be withdrawn.
16. Provide guidance to the PMO and JCP community to promote the efficient operation of the organization and to guide the evolution of Java platforms and technologies. Such guidance may be provided by mechanisms such as publishing white papers, reports, or comments as the EC deems appropriate to express the opinions of one or both Executive Committees.
17. Members of the Executive Committee shall be dedicated to the principles of full and open competition, in full compliance with all applicable laws, including all antitrust laws of the United States and other nations and governmental bodies as appropriate. Violations of such laws can result in criminal as well as civil penalties for individuals as well as employers, depending on the jurisdiction. In particular, any discussion related to product pricing, methods or channels of distribution, division of markets or allocation of customers, among other subjects, should be avoided. 6.4. EC SELECTION PROCESS AND LENGTH OF TERM

EC members serve two-year terms, which are staggered so that half of the seats are up for election each year. On the EC there are two Ratified or Community Seats for every Elected Seat (hence 16 Ratified Seats, 6 Elected Seats and 2 Community Seats) plus one permanent seat held by Oracle America, Inc. Full JCP Members and Partner JCP Members vote for the Ratified and Elected seats. Affiliate JCP Members vote for the Community Seats. 6.4.1. RESIGNATION OF EC SEATS EC members may resign their seats at any time during their term. EC members who fail to remain JCP Members forfeit their EC seat. Seats may also be forfeited due to non-attendance at EC meetings, as specified in the EC Standing Rules. Vacated seats are normally filled for the remainder of their term by a special election ballot that will be held no later than two months after the resignation (unless the resignation is less than six months before the next scheduled annual election ballot.) 6.4.2. ELECTION PROCESSES All JCP Members are eligible to vote in ballots for Ratified and Elected Seats subject to the provision that if a Member has majority-ownership of one or more other Members, then that group of Members shall collectively have one vote and nomination in the Elections, which shall be cast by the person they designate to be their representative for the ballot in question. Similarly, if there is more that one Full JCP Members Individual employed by the same Employer, they will collectively have one vote and nomination, which shall be cast by the person they designate to be their representative for the ballot in question.
If the PMO has reason to believe that an organization is attempting to influence the outcome of an election by instructing its Agents how to vote the PMO should take all necessary corrective actions and then report the matter to the EC for approval. Annual elections for Ratified, Elected and Community Seats shall be held simultaneously. Voting in these elections shall start in the last quarter of the calendar year (October - December). In the interest of promoting transparency and participation in the election process the PMO shall organize teleconferences at which the Members have an opportunity to hear from and to ask questions of the candidates. If a suitable venue such as JavaOne is available the PMO shall also organize a public meeting with the same purpose. 6.4.3. SELECTION PROCESS FOR RATIFIED SEATS Members are selected for the Ratified Seats using a ratification ballot which is carried out as follows: • The PMO nominates Members to fill the vacant Ratified Seats with due regard for balanced community and regional representation. • Eligible Members will vote to ratify each nominee over a 14-day ballot period. • A nominee is ratified by a simple majority of those who cast a vote. • If one or more of the nominees are not ratified by the vote, the PMO shall nominate additional Members as needed and hold additional ratification ballots until the vacant seats are filled. 6.4.4. SELECTION PROCESS FOR ELECTED SEATS Members are selected for the Elected Seats using an open election process that is carried out as follows: • Four weeks before the voting period the PMO shall post on the public JCP site a complete description of all materials that candidates will be expected to provide (e.g. any candidate statements, position papers, etc. that will be posted during the election.) • Six weeks before the ballot period the PMO shall accept nominations for a period of 14 days. Any Full or Partner Member may nominate themselves except that Agents of JCP Members cannot run for Elected Seats as individuals and the PMO shall reject such nominations. Members must chose whether to run for an Elected seat or a Community seat in advance. • Eligible Members may vote for as many nominees as there are vacant Elected Seats over a 14-day ballot period. • The nominees who receive the most votes shall fill the vacant Elected Seats. • If there is only one nominee for an Elected Seat voters shall be given the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” for that candidate. To be elected, the candidate must obtain a simple majority. • If there is no candidate for an Elected seat, the EC may choose to hold this seat open until the next election. • Ties shall be decided by following the procedure defined in http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2777.txt and using the calculator provided by W3C in http://www.w3.org/2001/05/rfc2777. 6.4.5 Selection Process for Community Seats Members are selected for the Community Seats using an open election process that is carried out as follows: • Four weeks before the voting period the PMO shall post on the public JCP site a complete description of all materials that candidates will be expected to provide (e.g. any candidate statements, position papers, etc. that will be posted during the election.) • Six weeks before the ballot period the PMO shall accept nominations for a period of 14 days. Any Full or Partner Member may nominate themselves except that Agents of JCP Members cannot run for Community Seats as individuals and the PMO shall reject such nominations. Members must chose whether to run for an Elected seat or a Community seat in advance. • Eligible Members may vote for as many nominees as there are vacant Community Seats over a 14-day ballot period. • The nominees who receive the most votes shall fill the vacant Community Seats. • If there is only one nominee for a Community Seat voters shall be given the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” for that candidate. To be elected, the candidate must obtain a simple majority. • If there is no candidate for a Community seat, the EC may choose to hold this seat open until the next election. • Ties shall be decided by following the procedure defined in http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2777.txt and using the calculator provided by W3C in http://www.w3.org/2001/05/rfc2777.

[apastsya]

Comment created by pcurran:

Suggested text has been incorporated into version 2 of the revised Process Document.

[apastsya]

Comment created by jpampuch:

This item should be considered complete, except I note a minor issue with the document. On line 877, there is a capitalized "Eligible Members" reference that may merit a line item in the Definitions section.

[apastsya]

Comment created by pcurran:

The capitalization of Eligible is an error. The term was meant informally.

I'll open another issue to address this.

[apastsya]

Comment created by pcurran:

Given that the "Eligible Members" matter will be addressed in Issue 48, I'm closing this.

[apastsya]

Issue was closed with resolution "Fixed"