This text is taken from A C Proposal and is an extract from the minutes of ImcPortlandDec16th2001Minutes

[ Final version of AC proposal ] The revised Autonomous Committee proposal accepted by full consensus reads as follows:

We propose that the Portland IMC General Collective creates working committees empowered to carry out the mission of the Portland IMC. As such, it has just a few decision-making powers.

Autonomous Committees (AC's) can be created or dissolved by the general collective (GC), according to the consensus with fallback model originally adopted by the GC. Autonomous Committees draft a mission statement and a set of operational guidelines, which is approved by the collective during the committee creation process, but need not include specific procedural mandates (such as say, how to post a feature).

An existing committee can create a sub-committee or steering committee to fulfill functions within the existing committee's mission statement.

PDX IMC committees may use whatever consensus-based decision-making process they agree on.

The GC meeting still holds some important functions: to coordinate AC actions and resolve issues that fall outside the approved mission of a given committee, such as:

• proposals which modify the mission statement of a

given AC

• finance committee proposals (or others) which

modify the allocation of funds to various committees

• proposals which seek to alter the nature of PDX IMC

(such as rewrites of the GC deciskion-making process, the nature of the relationship between the GC and its ACs, or modifications to the mission statement)

• discussion of broader philosophical issues of the

purpose and direction of PDX IMC, and the effectiveness of various committees.

• The GC may propose committee recommendations,

which must be addressed by a member of the committee via the list-serve; and may request open discussion at the next GC meeting. A contact must be designated to respond to concerns or recommendations by GC.

• Committees may dissolve voluntarily, or by the

action of the general collective if their actions violate the mission statement of GC or AC, or Global. Remember, recommendations can be enforced upon an AC by the Gc following the normal decision-making model.

• resolution of conflict within or between various

committees

• sponsorship of events or activities, especially

those which involve financial obligation or repercussions with respect to the reputation or goals of PDX IMC

Committee Restrictions and Responsibilities

• a) ACs must adhere to the following four principles of

Global Indymedia: open publishing, open membership, open source, non-profit.

• b) ACs must adhere to their mission statemtn, as

defined in the committee creation process.

• c) ACs may set up their own quora rules and

definitions of a meeting.

• d) Any procedural decision must be communicated to the

GC via the GC imc-portland@indymediaSTOPSPAM.org discussion listserve.

• e) ACs must keep the GC informed of their activities

via imc-portland discussion listserve as well as providing a report for anyone to read at meetings. A report must be read at collective meetings. The AC is responsible to be sure someone reads their report. We're all supposed to be working together.

• f) An AC may choose to throw any decision back to the

GC if it wishes, and is encouraged to do so when irreconcilable conflicts arise.

6 Month Revision Rule:
After 6 months the whole process is re-evaluated to see if everything is going well and to address any concerns.

Four principles of Global Indymedia: open publishing
open membership
open source
non-profit

For clarification, see global indymedia at www.indymedia.org

-- RovinNZ - 01 Oct 2002
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