<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 2, 2016 at 3:55 PM, Caryl Bigenho <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cbigenho@hotmail.com" target="_blank">cbigenho@hotmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"> <div><div dir="ltr"><br><br><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>OK….</div><div><br></div><div>It has been asked why do we need to have incidental expenses under a certain amount approved by the Financial Manager (and larger amounts approved by the board). Up until now, some people have spent funds and asked for permission to do so later. While most of these expenses were legitimate and would probably have been approved right away, we have seen incidences of reluctance of the SLOB to approve some expeditures that were made without prior consulting. Don't ask for specific examples. If you want an example, read through past SLOB meetings and you will find them.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I have looked and not found these copious examples you have often referred to.</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>Almost every orgainzation I know of, be it public, private, for profit, or non profit has a proceedure like this to handle small expenses without having to bring them to a full vote of their boards. Why would this be? What are the advantages of having a procedute for "petty cash" type expenses?</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>We have existing mechanisms in the discretion afforded to team/project leaders in the community already, although we should perhaps expand upon that list.</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>Here are just a few reasons:</div><div><br></div><div><div><b>Efficiency:</b> Being able to spend needed small amounts of money without full SLOB approval at a monthly meeting allows things to move ahead smoothly and reduces the "clutter" at meetings.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Again, in theory we already have this for infrastructure, i18n, and turtle workshops. I am open to expanding the list on a targeted basis. For example, I don't recall our ever giving Sean/marketing such latitude, although it world certainly make sense.</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><b>Flexibility:</b> If meeting were weekly rather than monthly there might be no need for this proposal. However, with a once a month meeting with an over-full agenda, there is no flexibility to move quickly on opportunities that come up.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>See response to "Efficiency." </div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><b style="font-size:12pt">Economy:</b><span style="font-size:12pt"> money may be saved by getting a "second opinion" on an expenditure. The Financial Manager may know of sources that are less expensive or of other ways to do something that will cost less. We saw this when Samson got help with his proposal for expenses for his translation project. It could apply to any expense. We need to be good stewards of SugarLabs funds.</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Your example is not relevant as it was a major proposal, not a petty cash outlay. Do you have any real-world examples? </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><b>Compliance: </b>The Software Freedom Foundation wants more accountability re: spending of SugarLabs funds. This will help achieve that goal. This is, perhaps, the most important reason listed here.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>In my experience, the Conservancy seems to want full board approval for every transaction regardless of whatever internal rules we establish. I am curious as to how we will circumvent that here. In any case, compliance is orthogonal to approval as far as I can see. Can you give me an example of where it is not?</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>I could probably go on with more and I'm sure many of you know of other good reasons that we could add but, I think these are excellent arguments in favor of allowing small amounts of $Y with approval of the Financial Manager and reporting monthly to the SLOB. (with Y set by SLOB and revised as seen fit).</div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div>While I am in favor of the creation of the FM position in order to facilitate relations with the Conservancy, I see the insertion of the FM into the mix as mostly more rather than less red tape for purposes you are proposing.</div><div><br></div><div>regards.</div><div><br></div><div>-walter</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div></div><div>Cheers!</div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div>CAryl </div><div><br></div><div><br></div></font></span></div></div> </div></div></div> </div></div> </blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><font><font>Walter Bender</font></font><br><font><font>Sugar Labs</font></font></div><div><font><a href="http://www.sugarlabs.org" target="_blank"><font>http://www.sugarlabs.org</font></a></font><br><a href="http://www.sugarlabs.org" target="_blank"><font></font></a><br></div></div></div> </div></div>