Branden as DPL

Hi all,

First, I want to extend my congratulations to SPI director and Deputy
Treasurer Branden Robinson on his election as the next Debian Project
Leader. Branden, I'm sure you'll do a great job in that role, and I'm
glad that your several repeated DPL candidacies finally paid off.

This does, however, bring up one question about the interaction between
his several positions. Unlike previous DPLs, Branden will at the same
time be a voting member of SPI's board of directors, as well as Deputy
Treasurer. As a simultaneous director and DPL he has the ability to
directly affect SPI's relationship with Debian from both perspectives at
once, and as Deputy Treasurer he has direct access to SPI/Debian bank
accounts and frequently processes both donations to and disbursements
from them. (However, do note that I am Treasurer and not Branden.)

I trust Branden a good deal and have no reason to doubt his integrity,
but this new situation raises the possibility of a conflict of interest,
or at least the possibility of the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Even if this is determined not to be a problem in the present situation,
there is still the issue of whether Branden will have the time to
simultaneously be DPL, Deputy Treasurer, and an SPI director, in
addition to his day job of working for Progeny. Personally, if all of
these questions can be resolved in a favorable way, I am happy to have
Branden continue on in all of these roles, but it is important to have
this discussion now.

Branden, the board, and the rest of -general's readership: what are your
thoughts on this?

- Jimmy Kaplowitz
jimmy(at)spi-inc(dot)org