IIP: [92]
Title: MetaGovernance Committee 2.0 - Election Structure
Status: proposed
Author: Lavi (@lavi), David (@oneski22)
Discussions to: IIP-51 & IIP-91 (old)
Created: October 8th, 2021
Simple Summary
Re-authorize the Meta Governance Committee and transition into a long term structure with regular elections to easily allow for the cycling of members.
Members serve 1,200,000 block (~6 month) terms, with a 3-consecutive term limit elected via ranked-choice voting using Snapshot (voting with $INDEX tokens).
Recall election can be triggered by signaling with 5% of the circulating INDEX supply, standard IIP quorum will apply on the recall.
Abstract
We propose to change the MGC terms from three months to 1,200,000 blocks, which is roughly six months, and that anyone can nominate new MGC members. Seats open up in a staggered approach, i.e. on a quarterly basis (every quarter either 2 or 3 seats open up). A single term is set to last 1,200,000 blocks (with max 3 consecutive terms), meaning that each seat goes up for election roughly every six months.
Elections take place via multichoice voting on Snapshot before the previous term ends. This limits the time a member can consecutively be on the MGC to a max of roughly 18 months.
Motivation
Members of the Meta-Governance Committee (MGC) were elected for 3 months, as agreed in IIP-51. The first term ends on October 9th, 202. This proposal is a means to specify the structure for MGC elections going forward, which are going to take place on a recurring basis.
We propose to establish a standard process to elect new committee members, which can easily be repeated for future elections. Further, this proposal also covers the transition phase by proposing term length and Penn Blockchain Club as a new member.
Specification
Overview
This IIP will solve two things. First, proposing a new structure for how members of the MGC will be elected going forward. And secondly, proposing the transition process, which inherently is an election of the members for the MGC for the next immediate term, starting on October 8th.
Nomination of MGC Members
- 1 week prior to the next election, a forum post will go up calling for candidates. Any candidate can nominate themselves (internal or external)
- All candidates are encouraged to attend a community call to introduce themselves and explain why they should represent the coop
- For this first iteration, the nominations are done by the current MGC (see below). However, starting one month after implementation of this IIP, nominations are open to anyone
- A candidate can only serve max 3 consecutive terms, after which they have to take a break of at least three cycles (600,000 blocks or roughly 3 months)
Election of MGC Members
- All nominated candidates will appear on a Snapshot vote, using ranked-choice voting (example here). The winning candidate will serve a full 1,000,000 block term, unless removed via recall or resigned. The snapshot vote will start on the Monday before the term is set to expire and run for 72 hours.
- If a committee member does not fully complete their term (either by recall or resignation), their seat will go up for a special election alongside the next regular election. The winner will serve the remainder of the allocated term, and it will count towards the 3-consecutive term limit.
Transition Process
We recommend not to replace the whole MGC at once, and that previous members do the on-boarding of new members.
Therefore, we propose to use a staggered approach, that is electing a full MGC via this IIP, and explicitly setting the length of their terms to create a 1,200,000 block turnover cycle.
The interim proposed members and their term lengths are as follows:
- Seat 1 → @Lavi: 2nd term expires on Block 14300000 (~February 28, 2022)
- Seat 2 → @ncitron: 2nd term expires on Block 14300000 (~February 28, 2022)
- Seat 3 → @kiba: 2nd term expires on Block 14300000 (~February 28, 2022)
- Seat 4 → Penn Blockchain, trial-term expires on Block 13720000 (~November 31st, 2021)
- Seat 5 → @oneski22 , term expires on Block 13720000 (~November 31st, 2021),
This means that David’s seat, as well as Penn Blockchain’s seat, will be open for voting at the end of October/beginning of November. Since Penn Blockchain only just joined, they will be re-nominated automatically. However, they still need to be confirmed through a vote. The person/group winning seat 4 and 5 will serve 1,200,000 blocks, which is until block 14730000 (early May).
In January, 3 seats will be up for vote. Same as above, the elected group will serve 1.2M blocks, which is until block 15320000 (early August). This way we ensure that votes are held quarterly, and that either 2 or 3 seats are open for election.
Budget
As defined in IIP-51, MGC members will be rewarded with a monthly stipend of $1,500 to compensate for time and attention to Meta Governance votes. Consequently, we request to continue the funding of $7,500 per month for all five members, until revoked or changed via IIP otherwise.
For reference: 32 Meta-Gov votes went live since the inception of IIP-51 on July 8th.
Example
Looking at @kiba, @ncitron and @Lavi, their second term will end on January 31st. They can nominate themselves again. However, since this will be the third term in a row, they have to take a break of at least three votes, before being eligible for nominations again.
Looking at Penn Blockchain, their term will end in ~187,700 blocks (in 24 days). Since this is an exception, and they are directly replacing Cedrick, they will automatically be nominated again. If they win the multi-choice Snapshot vote, they will serve another 1,200,000 block term (which will then officially count as their first term). At the same time, David’s seat will also be open for new nominations.
Voting
FOR
Move to staggered approach and quarterly MGC election, as proposed above and add Penn Blockchain to MGC as new member.
AGAINST
Do not move to a staggered approach and use 3-month terms with internal elections, i.e. effectively no change to current status
