Elections, Accountability, and Education

[Tim Burke]

John Poelstra wrote:
>
> I wonder if the board would consider it reasonable to record the "yes" 
> and "no" votes by member when the vote is not unanimous? I also do not 
> think that someone should be able to abstain (which I think is more an 
> indication of lack of resolve or ambivalence).  If we elect people to 
> make hard decisions they should do so... not ride the middle or 
> "decide not to decide".
>
Alternatively, perhaps abstain can be accompanied with a reason.  For 
example,  a case where a board member does not consider him/herself to 
be an informed enough expert on the topic and doesn't want a 
comparatively uninformed vote to tip the balance.  In this case, which 
is better (or what is the expectation)

a) expect that all board members are required to invest whatever time it 
takes to thoroughly understand ALL issues

b) force board members to cast ill-informed votes

c) allow board members to respectfully abstain in cases where they are 
honestly not well versed enough on the topic; deferring to the 
expertiese of others.