CUIP-037 - Governance Council Activation [Pass]

Live Proposals
1

Summary

Over the past three seasons, our governance system has evolved through learning from our community’s distinct needs, leading to improvement in our governance framework. The governance council, initially established to “ensure that the community has a voice today while preparing for a future when the community takes over the majority of voting power,” has encountered several challenges:

  • Insufficient participation in forums by the governance council.
  • Insufficient communication to the community regarding the rationale behind decisions.
  • Low engagement in review processes.

This proposal aims to comprehensively improve the operations related to the governance council by employing a more merit-based approach and relying on social proof. Adopting this proposal would effectively supersede the provisions of CUIP-004.

Motivation

  • To enhance the existing governance framework
  • To prepare the council for the next step into our path to decentralization

Details

A. Structure of the Governance Council

The council will comprise of 11 members elected by the community, meeting the specified eligibility criteria below. Their responsibilities include ensuring the accuracy and completeness of proposals, identifying potential risks, and recommending corrective measures to proposal authors before Snapshot voting.

B. Eligibility Criteria

Candidates must:

  • Have been an active member of the DAO and community for over two months*.
  • Maintain their membership status during their term.
  • Have participated in at least 50% of the previous term’s votes.**
  • Not have served on the council for two consecutive terms before the current one.
  • Not have been previously removed from the council.

*DAO membership is defined by sRBW/lsRBW holding, whereas community membership will be identified using Discord handles, subject to future changes if the DAO adopts different tools for monitoring social proof and participation.
**New DAO members’ vote count will start only from the first stake.

C. Council Responsibilities

Councilors are expected to:

  • Conduct a Preliminary Review by publicly commenting their positions on new proposals on the forum within 48 hours of their posting.
  • Perform an Official Council Review, stating their positions on proposals and the rationale behind. If a proposal is rejected, they must provide recommendations to the author.
  • Participate in bi-monthly meetings to review the proposals and any other important topics related to the DAO. Eligible proposals are forwarded via the governance facilitator in accordance with the proposal funnel.
  • Engage in ad-hoc meetings to review urgent proposals.
  • Express clear positions on agenda items during meetings; abstentions are not permitted.

D. Transparency Measures

The Council must publish reports detailing deliberations, providing insights into individual views on proposals and other relevant matters. Once completed, these reports are to be shared with the governance facilitator for dissemination through the official governance channels.

E. Term Duration

Councilors will serve a six-month term, with a maximum term limit of 2 consecutive turns. Elections are held in the final month of the preceding term.

F. Election Process

The election involves four stages: candidacy filing, qualification checking, campaigning, and the actual election.

  • Candidacy Filing: Filing of candidacy happens over a period of 3 days. Candidates must file their candidacy by submitting the following information on the designated channel - to be announced prior to the election period.
    • Discord handle/the handle the candidate is known within the DAO
    • statement expressing the intent to run for the position
    • attestation of having read the responsibilities expected of a councilor and a declaration of willingness to abide
    • number votes participated in in the last term
    • number of proposals authored and the links to them (if applicable)
    • existing project/s within the Crypto Unicorns ecosystem and the links to them (if applicable)
    • existing project/s within the space and the links to them (if applicable)
    • any other relevant qualification (if applicable)
  • Qualification Checking: For a period of 24 hours, the Governance Facilitator verifies candidates’ eligibility based on Section B. Eligibility Criteria. This may take longer than 24 hours depending on the number of candidates.
  • Campaign Period: This stage lasts three days, allowing candidates to campaign without causing inconvenience or spamming other DAO members.
  • Voting: This stage takes place over five days using Quadratic Voting. The top 11 candidates will be elected for the term. Ties for the 11th position will be resolved through a DAO vote using the same voting method.

G. Vacancies:

In the event of a vacancy due to resignation, loss of eligibility, impeachment, or other reasons, a special election following the term election process will be initiated.

  • Resignation: A resignation is official when a councilor formally announces their departure to the governance facilitator, the council or the community at large.
  • Automated Removal: An automated removal happens when a councilor no longer meets the membership criteria of the DAO, fails to uphold the eligibility criteria, or neglects their responsibilities as outlined in Section C, such as missing two official council review sessions or failing to provide preliminary feedback on at least two proposals. Councilors removed due to this reason may no longer be reelected.
  • Dismissal Motion: If a councilor becomes inactive or acts against the interests of the CU DAO in ways not covered by the Automated Removal clause, a dismissal motion can be initiated. This involves writing a dismissal motion. A dismissal motion skips the council review and goes to an official vote, following a Temperature Check with a 10% sRBW support. Councilors under review continue their duties until a decision is reached. Dismissed councilors may no longer be reelected.
    • A dismissal motion is filed by submitting a draft proposal in the following form:Title: Council Performance Review Motion
      Summary:
      Name of the Councilor for review:
      Rationale for the motion:
      Detailed description of the incidents leading to the motion (including dates and evidence if necessary):
      Conclusion:
      • A dismissal may be filed only once for each councilor during the same term.
      • If the motion is passed, the councilor will be relieved from the position; if the motion fails, the council member will continue serving in the position.

H. Honorarium

Councilors receive a non-transferrable NFT Badge and access to a private Discord channel. Additionally, we aim to promote participation by offering an allocation of 1000 USDT (paid in RBW) at the term’s end for councilors with flawless participation record.

Conclusion

These comprehensive process improvements ensure that the governance council remains functional and effective, even in the face of unexpected changes in its composition. It maintains an effective, accountable and transparent governance process that enhances the decision-making and operational efficiency of the CU DAO.

Snapshot: Snapshot