Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes - 08 December 2014 [Archived]

08 December 2014
Teleconference

Attendees:

• Vint Cerf, Chair

• Paul Andersen,Treasurer/ Vice Chair

• John Curran, President & CEO

• Timothy Denton, Secretary

• Aaron Hughes, Trustee

• Bill Sandiford, Trustee

• Bill Woodcock, Trustee

Note Taker:

• Thérèse Colosi

ARIN Staff:

• Richard Jimmerson, CIO

Counsel:

• Stephen Ryan, Esq

1. Welcome & Agenda Review

The Chair called the meeting to order at 1:02 pm EST. The presence of quorum was noted.

The President requested an executive session to discuss a staffing matter. The Board entered an executive session at 1:02 p.m. EST. The Board exited the session at 1:06 p.m. EST.

2. Approval of the Minutes

It was moved by Paul Andersen, and seconded by John Curran, that:

" The ARIN Board of Trustees approves the Minutes of November 17, 2014, as written."

The Chair called for discussion. There were no comments.

The motion carried with no objections.

3. ARIN 401K Discretionary Match

The President briefed the Board on this benefit that ARIN has done at times when ARIN is under budget and proposed that the Board approve the proposed discretionary match for 2014.

It was moved by Bill Sandiford, and seconded by Aaron Hughes that:

“The ARIN Board of Trustees approves the 2014 401K discretionary match for ARIN employees.”

The Chair called for discussion. There were no comments.

The motion carried unanimously via roll call vote.

4. 2015-2016 Draft Budget Presentation

The President stated that on 2 December 2014, the ARIN Finance Committee (FinCom) recommended to the ARIN Board the adoption of the ARIN 2015-2016 Draft Budget as proposed and referred the Engineering/Customer-Focused ‘Surge Proposal’ to the ARIN Board for their further consideration. The surge proposal includes staff to meet additional requests from the community that were received by ARIN during the course of the year.

The President provided an overview of the Draft Budget and of the ‘Surge Proposal’ to the Board for consideration. The Treasurer stated that the FinCom recommended the Draft Budget, and was referring the Surge Proposal to the Board for consideration as the FinCom did not believe the proposal was within our budget planning scope provided in the 2015-2016 Strategic Plan.

Aaron Hughes believed that the surge proposal was one way to lessen ARIN’s reserves, as ARIN’s reserves were beginning to build. Tim Denton stated that something like the surge proposal was precisely why ARIN has reserves; and, he believed it appropriate to draw on it for the stated needs of the community. Bill Sandiford supported the surge proposal.

Paul Andersen stated that matter of the reserves building and drawing on them continues to arise, and he did not want to see the matter fall aside. The Chair stated that, subject to fiscal sanity, the surge proposal is a direct response to the community, and that ARIN needs to explain how it reaches the conclusion to adopt budget. The Board has expressed positive support for the surge proposal by responding to requests from its members that are not unreasonable.

Bill Woodcock did not support going above and beyond normal means. He preferred to educate the community on what ARIN’s means are, explaining that ARIN can exceed its means temporarily but the community should understand it is temporary.

Paul Andersen stated that long term we would likely need more engineering resources then we have today to ensure we do not fall behind again.

The Chair stated that ARIN should explain that it is not the intent to run a deficit for any amount of time, but we cannot grow reserves for an unlimited time. He complimented the President on a job well done of outlining what can be done.

Tim Denton left call at this time (1:17 pm EST). Mr. Denton returned to the call at 1:25 p.m. EST.

It was moved by Paul Andersen, and seconded by Bill Sandiford, that:

“The ARIN Board of Trustees adopts ARIN 2015-2016 Draft Budget, including the additional engineering/customer-focused surge proposal.”

The motion carried unanimously via roll call vote.

The President requested the Board further discuss the matter of ARIN’s reserves in January with a clear reserve strategy at their face-to-face meeting. Tim Denton suggested the matter also be revisited during the Board’s annual workshop. The Chair agreed. The Chair thanked the President and Board on their expeditious discussion, briefing, and decision on the matter.

5. General Counsel Update

Counsel provided a confidential, privileged attorney-client briefing to the Board.

6. Report from NRO EC meeting in Mauritius

The President provided a brief overview to the Board of the recent face-to-face Number Resource Council’s Executive Council meeting (NRO EC). One item of note was that there was discussion of establishing an RIR Stability Fund to have in place in case any RIR may be in need of financial assistance.

7. Adjournment

The Chair entertained a motion to adjourn at 2:02 p.m. EST. Tim Denton moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned with no objections.