Bylaws Update

Hello,

[ I speak only for myself in this message ]

In the Board membership election resolution 2003-10-14.iwj.6 passed on
October 14, the Board committed to working on improving our bylaws. Now
that the board election is passed, this activity is imminent.

As you may be aware, all bylaws changes must be approved by the SPI
membership. Right now, we have a problem in that inactive people on the
SPI membership rolls are diluting them, meaning it may be impossible to
reach quorum on a vote. The membership committee is investigating this
issue right now.

Simultaneously, the bylaws committee will be doing some work based on
our proposals from last July. Specifically, requests have been received
to provide the proposals in separable chunks so that important and
non-controversial changes will not be stalled due to more controversial
topics. We will be addressing this question. We will also be reviewing
the work contained in those proposals (considering the comments that
have been received to date), as well as the areas we had identified for
work but not yet advanced proposals. The goal is to provide the board
the best possible place to start.

As chairman of the bylaws committee, I'll be posting a tentative
schedule for the next weeks on spi-bylaws tomorrow. Your input is
welcome; please subscribe today.

The next Board meeting occurs on January 6. My goal is to have things
ready to go by that date.

The charter for the Bylaws committee expires January 15. We will
presumably wish to consider at the January 6 meeting whether to extend
the charter, and if so, whether modifications are necessary.

-- John