response 50 of 84:

Sep 30 15:04 UTC 1996

I'll be succinct.

Yucko.

response 52 of 84:

Sep 30 15:07 UTC 1996

Yucko slipped in -- and not politely, either! Hi, Mary.

response 54 of 84:

Sep 30 15:50 UTC 1996

This is just a safety precaution.  Suupose a member requested a
vote to open all outbound services.  And brought in a bunch of other
new members to force the issue through.  If the board was required and
did vote on this prior to the member vote, it might influence members
to be pragmatic and vote in the right way.  Its important for members
to know the views of theBoard, that is why the Board was elected.  and
members should have the right to know how theboard would vote.

response 56 of 84:

Sep 30 16:20 UTC 1996

If the membership of Grex voted in favor of offering free POP access
to all users, as both a Board and staff member I would feel compelled
to honor their requests as best I could.  Of course, if they did
decide that, I'd almost certainly resign from the staff rather than
have to deal with that nightmare.

So to answer adbarr's question, I'd say the staff and Board are supposed
to serve the membership's decisions, no matter how f*cked up they may be.

response 58 of 84:

Sep 30 21:08 UTC 1996

Well, the board can annul a member vote, at their next meeting. That would
be the appropriate thing to do if a flood of "one-issue" members showed up
and did something that would have negative repercussions for Grex. The
members could, of course, then turn around and annul the board
annulment....(The Grex bylaws allow this scenario, but the board has a
slight advantage as their meeting and acting is not tied to a somewhat
drawn out procedure as for member votes.) 

response 60 of 84:

Sep 30 22:23 UTC 1996

what's the point?  There's going to be a member vote, anyway.  I was at the
board meeting, as anyone can be, and I *know* how the board members felt. 
If you put it back on the adgenda, the board would table it again in favor
of the member vote.

response 62 of 84:

Oct 1 00:26 UTC 1996

Hey, *I* was also arguing to have the members vote on it.  And I really didn't
care if a member stepped forward to request a vote or not.  I just didn't feel
that it was really a Board issue, and if there wasn't a member vote, then it
should be obvious how the members felt about it.

response 64 of 84:

Oct 1 14:07 UTC 1996

Um, TS, *yes*it*will*.  I'll resent, on John's behalf, your slur on his
integrity.

response 66 of 84:

Oct 1 16:10 UTC 1996

The board decides what is a board issue. Some things they are required
by law or the bylaws or their own prior actions to vote on. Some things
are outside their pervue. The rest they can vote on if they wish and not
if they don't. This is one of these latter things.

response 68 of 84:

Oct 1 19:49 UTC 1996

<birdy is fighting a headache>
Richard...kerouac...*dahling*...  Listen to the bird for a sec.  

If the conf issue didn't directly involve a *HUGE* majority of the members
of Grex, then I could understnad if the board voted on it themselves.  Since,
however, most members read/post to/fw confs on Grex, then it is imperative
that the issues of allowing anonymous reading, which cfs go to BAcktalk, etc,
etc, yadda yadda yadda get put to a member vote.  It would be like Congress
voting on whether or not I can look at other Americans through the window
without *their* input or vote.  That's silly.  The board votes on issues that
are too large, immediate, and heavy to be put to a member vote,  For
example...how the finances are spent throughout the year.  (Scott, Valerie,
etc -- feel free to flame me if this is incorrect).

A member vote is important since it is their system, they help support it,
and this *directly* involves them.  Why are you so opposed to members voting
on things?  If you're concerned about the way things are run, then you should
register to vote as Valerie explained how to.  

response 70 of 84:

Oct 2 16:31 UTC 1996

I think the representative form of Grex as it exists is working well. The
members can vote to change those reps (really at any time if they have the
fire) so the members always, in the final analysis have control.  Elect good
representatives (which Grex has done consistently), put in your two cents,
but trust the judgment of the reps utill they go completely off the wall. Then
you still have recourse, if you are willing to be bold and believe in your
cause. I don't think a lot of ad hoc member votes is wise in the long run.
The members should argue their needs here, the board should listen, judge,
evaluate and act accordin to their bets judgment and conscience.  I am very
comforatable with this even though I don't agree all the time with the
position of the board.  (pardon the typos - correct at will).

response 72 of 84:

Oct 4 02:23 UTC 1996

I would like to point out that a member vote requires weeks of discussion
before the voting starts.  I can assure you that by the time the polls open,
everyone who cares to will know how much (if not all) of the board thinks the
vote *ought* to go.  How?  In the same way that everyone will know who feels
the most strongly about any issue at any time.  Bu stopping by here and
reading what people have to say.  As a board member, I consider it my
responsibility to state my views here at least once during any kind ofmember
vote.

<durned slow connction!  Makes it really hard to edit correctly.>

response 74 of 84:

Oct 4 13:20 UTC 1996

Um, Scott?  This is Grex, remember?  That system where people talk endlessly
about anything, or about nothing at all?