New subject: [ncc-announce] [GM] Executive Board Meeting to Discuss Charging Scheme Input from Members

7 May 2024

      Please allow me to summarize this long email.

"We hear you members, but we disagree, so we are still going to do what 
we want to do".

Since they will not listen to the proposal voted upon, I move that we as 
a membership recall all standing board members and hold new elections 
for all seats. It is clear that the board is NOT listening to it's members.

We can certainty do that with a proposal can we not Ondřej?

Daniel~

On 5/7/24 8:54 AM, Ondřej Filip wrote:
...
Dear members,
On 6 May, 2024, the Executive Board held a meeting to discuss the 
input we received from members regarding the Board proposal for the 
RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2025. We will publish the minutes as soon as 
possible, but I want to first give you a summary of the discussions 
and the outcomes from the meeting.
Since we started engaging with the membership on the charging scheme 
this year, we have received over 400 emails on the topic. For the 
first time, we also have a member proposal for a GM agenda topic that 
has received the required number of expressions of support to be added 
to the GM agenda. Therefore, we felt it was important for the Board to 
have this extra meeting, review the various points that were brought 
forward, and consider the next steps in this process. There were many 
important points to discuss at this meeting, and although the outcome 
might not please everyone, the Board was fully aligned on how it 
should move forward.
First, we considered again what we had decided upon at the Board 
meeting in March. The Board consciously did not put forward a proposal 
to keep the charging scheme as it is because we don’t believe that it 
would be good governance to make a proposal that leaves us with a 
large deficit, and good governance is what is expected from us by the 
members who elect us.
Furthermore, some of the suggestions from members would change the 
funding model in a way that would put the organisation at risk, and 
while the Board represents the members, it also has legal and 
fiduciary responsibilities towards the organisation. It is clear that 
one of the main responsibilities of the Board is to propose a charging 
scheme that will properly fund the association, and the charging 
scheme options we put forward will do that for 2025 and 2026. So we 
will put forward the three options as proposed on 24 April 2024 for 
members to vote on at the GM[1].
There were many proposals to provide that funding in alternative ways. 
However, we believe that this is not the right time to make 
fundamental changes to the charging model. We are about to embark on a 
full review of the organisation and its structures, and that will take 
some time. For us to implement that review and any resulting actions, 
we need stable funding. All three of the proposed options offer us 
this. We also note that the redistribution mechanism allows us to 
return any surplus made to the membership in the following year should 
members vote to do so. The Board and the Managing Director will also 
continue to work to improve efficiency and identify areas for cost 
savings.
We did consider moving this vote to later in the year, but this would 
negatively impact our planning for 2025, and it would also distract 
from the very important discussions we need to have with members 
during the Activity Plan and Budget process this Autumn. During that 
discussion, we do expect that the members who are convinced that the 
RIPE NCC needs to reduce its budget will tell us which services need 
to be reduced or cut in order to accommodate such a reduction.
At our meeting, the Board also discussed the structural review that 
will take place. This will begin at the RIPE 88 Meeting in two weeks 
with a BoF on how to build a stable future for the RIPE NCC. We expect 
that there will be a productive discussion on many issues that need to 
be resolved so that the RIPE NCC can move forward stably and with a 
funding model that has the support of its membership. We will keep the 
membership updated on the outcomes of those discussions and how the 
members can contribute to the work that will surely emerge from them.
Regarding the membership proposal[2], we acknowledge that the 
threshold was met to add the GM agenda topic “Keep current billing 
scheme for the next year”. We will add this as a topic to the agenda 
as required by the Articles of Association. However, this will not be 
added as a proposed resolution for members to vote on. Articles 15.4, 
15.5 and 15.6 of the RIPE NCC Articles of Association do not allow 
members to propose a Charging Scheme, as reaffirmed by the external 
law firm that gives us expert advice on Dutch corporate law.
This legal framework ensures that a Charging Scheme may only be 
proposed by those who were elected to serve on the Executive Board, 
who have better insight into the financials and the operations of the 
organisation, and who have a duty of care for the well-being of the 
organisation and are liable in case of mismanagement. Parties without 
such insight, responsibility and liability may not put forward 
charging schemes for voting that - although appealing for individual 
members - may be inappropriate for the sustainability of the 
organisation.
To summarise, the Board recognises the member sentiment and we are 
committed to addressing it for the long term. However, we must do what 
we believe is best for the stability of the organisation and its 
membership, even if it is not an easy or popular thing to do. This is 
what is required of us when we legally commit to be Board members, and 
we will faithfully execute on our commitments in this regard.
We listen to your feedback and ideas, and on behalf of the Board I 
thank you for engaging in these important discussions and look forward 
to seeing them continue as we work towards a sustainable outcome for 
the RIPE NCC.
The RIPE NCC Executive Board
Ondřej Filip, Chair
Raymond Jetten, Treasurer
Piotr Strzyżewski, Secretary
Maria Häll, Member
Remco van Mook, Member
Job Snijders, Member
Harald A. Summa, Member
[1] 
https://www.ripe.net/membership/meetings/gm/meetings/may-2024/documentation-...
[2] https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/gm/member-proposals/

Re: [members-discuss] [ncc-announce] [GM] Executive Board Meeting to Discuss Charging Scheme Input from Members