Season 6: Security Council Elections - Cohort A
As outlined in the Security Council Charter, it is time the Optimism Security Council to hold elections for Cohort A.
The initial set of Security Council members was appointed by the Optimism Foundation and ratified via governance in Security Council Vote #2 - Membership Ratification.
Security Council members serve an initial term of 12 months (Cohort A) or 18 months (Cohort B), after which point membership must be determined via staggered elections. Elections are to occur 6 months in advance of the actual membership turnover to allow time for Foundation screening and completion of required rehearsals. The first election for Cohort A will take place during Voting Cycle #26. All elected members will serve a 12 month term and there are no term limits.
The current membership of Cohort A is:
- Kris Kaczor (Phoenix Labs)
- Layne Haber (Connext)
- Jon Charbonneau (DBA)
- Alejandro Santander (Independent, former Synthetix)
- Mariano Conti (Independent, former MakerDAO)
- Martin Tellechea (The Graph Foundation)
- Yoseph Ayele (Borderless Africa)
The Council Lead will also be elected as part of Cohort A. The current Council Lead is:
- Alisha.eth
Member Responsibilities
Security Council key holding participants will be responsible for developing and complying with procedures to facilitate operations. As stated in the Charter:
- Communication and coordination among the participants;
- Secure key management;
- Verifying and promptly enacting Optimism Governance-approved upgrades and permission changes;
- Notifying the other participants of, and collaborating in good faith to promptly resolve, defined emergency situations; and
- Proving continued access to keys via periodic liveness checks, where participants must prove they can access their keys within a set time limit.
- Members will be supported by OP stipends, pending Operating Budget submission by the Council Lead and approval by the Token House. Operating expenses will be reimbursed by the Foundation.
- The Security Council legal agreement also covers participants against certain liabilities.
For security purposes, details of these procedures should remain private among the Council.
Lead Responsibilities
As stated in the Charter, the Council Lead, meanwhile, is responsible for supporting the implementation and operationalization of the aforementioned procedures, including by:
- Alerting key holders of upcoming protocol upgrade or role permissioning proposals going through Governance;
- Managing required timelines;
- Scheduling, setting agendas, and hosting Council meetings and facilitating discussions;
- Monitoring compliance with the procedures;
- Onboarding new Council participants; and
- Communicating with external stakeholders, including Optimism Governance, as to Council operations. All Security Council participants are expected to perform these responsibilities with the awareness that OP Chains, the OP Stack, the developing Superchain, and the associated products, tools, and documentation are in a rapidly evolving nascent state. To the extent that unforeseeable circumstances or ambiguities arise (including in connection with potential responses to Exception Events), the participants will work in good faith to resolve them consistent with the Charter and the Law of Chains.
- In line with standard Council processes, the Lead will submit an Operating Budget to the Token House to request OP stipends from the Governance Fund.
- Note: the Council Lead is not a key holder.
Finally, all Security Council participants are all subject to removal via the Representative Removal proposal type outlined in the Operating Manual.
Nomination Process
Anyone meeting the eligibility criteria outlined below may self-nominate to join Cohort A (including existing members) by completing the required nomination template and posting to the nomination thread by August 14th at 19:00 GMT. 8 delegate approvals from the top 100 delegates will be required by August 19th at 19:00 GMT for any nomination to move to a vote. There is no limit to the number of terms a Security Council participant may serve.
Top 100 delegates may provide approval by pasting the below language as a comment under a candidate’s nomination:
”I am an Optimism delegate [link to your delegate commitment] with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote."
Eligibility Considerations
Participants on the Security Council may be either individuals or entities.
- Entity requirements:
- Active and offers a service that benefits the blockchain community
- Operating for at least one year with sufficient runway to continue for at least one year
All participants on the Security Council, whether individuals or entities, should be selected in accordance with the following criteria:
- Reputation. Known, trusted individuals or entities that have demonstrated consistent alignment with the Optimistic Vision.
- Technical competency. Baseline proficiency with the OP Stack and secure key management and signing standards. Additionally, candidates may be asked to sign into the OP Atlas app, connect GitHub, verify their wallet and calculate an expertise score. There is no minimum requirement for an expertise score, but it can serve as an indicator to help delegates evaluate a candidate’s technical expertise.
- Alignment. Participants should not possess conflicts of interest that will regularly impact their ability to make impartial decisions in the performance of their role. Potential conflicts of interest could be, but are not limited to, affiliations with direct Optimism competitors, proven histories of exploiting projects or self-dealing, etc. There should be no more than 3 members serving on other Security Councils.
- Ability to participate. A candidate’s willingness and ability to actively participate and fulfil the member responsibilities, dedicating an average of approximately 5 active hours per month hours per month, should be considered. Please note that there is an “on-call” aspect to this role that is not fully encompassed in the active hours estimate.
- Geographic diversity. The number of participants that reside in any country should be less than the quorum required for multisig action. The Foundation is responsible for ensuring this criteria is met. If a new member would surpass the threshold of signers from any one country, the next qualifying runner up will fill their place.
- Diversity of interests. No more than 1 elected member is associated with a particular entity, or that entity’s employees or affiliates. The Foundation is responsible for ensuring this criteria is met. If multiple members from the same entity are elected, the next qualifying runner up will fill the place of any duplicate positions held by the same entity.
The Optimism Foundation may appoint nominees after the self-nomination deadline, or take such other administrative steps as necessary or appropriate, if there are fewer than 7 eligible member nominees and 1 Lead nominee.
As with other Councils, the Foundation will facilitate a town hall to help delegates assess candidates. The town hall will take place Tuesday, August 20th at 2pm EST / 6pm GMT.
Elections
Elections will run from August 22nd - 28th at 19:00 GMT. Elections use approval voting. Approval voting is set up such that delegates can place a vote for any number of nominees with their full voting power. In the case of approval/ranked choice votes, delegates may vote for themselves, so long as they also cast votes for the remaining elected positions.
Once elected, all participants will be required to pass an eligibility screening process before being added to the Council. This process may include KYC/AML and sanctions screening, and a requirement that the member sign a standard contract, which will be implemented at the discretion of the Optimism Foundation. If a candidate fails the screen after being elected, the next qualified runner up to pass the screening may take their place.
Newly elected members that pass the Foundation’s screen will begin their 12 month term on February 9th.
Removal of Council members
All members are subject to removal via the Representative Removal proposal type outlined in the Operating Manual. A valid Representative Removal proposal related to a Security Council member must be posted to the forum and must receive 8 delegate approvals (which is higher than the default for this proposal type) to initiate a Token House vote in the next nearest voting cycle (a delay of 3 weeks maximum).
The Security Council or Foundation can also act unilaterally to remove a participant who fails to satisfy the requirements of the Charter if such failure falls within the defined scope of emergency powers.
In either of the above removal scenarios, an election for a removed member’s replacement should occur in the same, or next nearest, voting cycle as the removal. The Foundation will maintain a shortlist of strong candidates that are interested in joining the Council and could be nominated quickly, subject to the eligibility requirements, if need be.
There is no emergency replacement procedure as the required signing threshold is automatically lowered in the case a liveness check or emergency removal by the Security Council or Foundation.
Key Dates for Candidates
- Now through August 14th at 19:00 GMT: Post your nomination to this thread using this template
- Before August 19th at 19:00 GMT: Nominations must receive 8 Top 100 delegate approvals to be considered valid
- Tuesday, August 20th at 2pm EST / 6pm GMT: Approved candidates should join the town hall
- August 22nd - August 28th: Security Council Cohort A Lead elections take place at vote.optimism.io
-August 26th - September 1st: Security Council Cohort A Member elections take place at vote.optimism.io
- In the meantime: Candidates must pass Foundation screening and complete rehearsals
- February: 12 month term begins for the new Cohort A!
