[council] Policy development process without a task force

["Bruce Tonkin" <Bruce.Tonkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All,

During the call today there were some questions raised about the policy
development process should a task force not be appointed.

The bylaws in this regard state:

"a. If the Council decides not to convene a task force, the Council will
request that, within ten (10) calendar days thereafter, each
constituency appoint a representative to solicit the constituency's
views on the issue. Each such representative shall be asked to submit a
Constituency Statement to the Staff Manager within thirty-five (35)
calendar days after initiation of the PDP.

b. The Council may also pursue other options that it deems appropriate
to assist in the PDP, including appointing a particular individual or
organization to gather information on the issue or scheduling meetings
for deliberation or briefing. All such information shall be submitted to
the Staff Manager within thirty-five (35) calendar days after initiation
of the PDP.

c. The Staff Manager will take all Constituency Statements, Public
Comment Statements, and other information and compile (and post on the
Comment Site) an Initial Report within fifty (50) calendar days after
initiation of the PDP. Thereafter, the PDP shall follow the provisions
of Item 9 below in creating a Final Report."


With respect to the process above, it covers the step of gathering
constituency statements, but doesn't give the opportunity for discussion
of the statements amongst the constituencies prior to completing the
initial report.

I recommend that under (b) above ("Council may also pursue other options
that it deems appropriate to assist in the PDP"), that the Council
augment the process described above by forming a committee of the whole
council with the objective of working closely with the ICANN staff
manager to develop an initial report that is close to a consensus
position (e.g via fortnightly meetings).  This may require the staff
member to organise the constituency statements into a consistent report,
and organise a teleconference amongst council members to discuss these
positions and attempt to identify where areas of consensus emerge.  It
will also be an opportunity for a dialog between the council members and
the ICANN staff to ensure that a proposed policy is implementable by
ICANN staff.  This avoids large gaps in time between when the council
formally initiates the PDP and the Council receives an initial report to
consider.

I would separate the roles of "committee of the whole council" as a
forum where views are shared with the objective of iteratively reaching
a consensus position and a forum where guidance can be provided to the
staff manager during the preparation of reports, and a formal meeting of
the council to approve a particular policy.  A separate public mailing
list can be created for the purpose of discussion of a particular policy
area independent from the main council mailing list.


Regards,
Bruce Tonkin