PEP 772: Packaging Council governance process (Round 3)

Packaging Coordination
9

Here’s some concerns I have:

1. Voting Quorum and Employer Influence
As written, a quorum of 3 Council members could allow two individuals from the same company to determine the outcome of a vote. This effectively gives a single company decisive power.

  • I would like to see a safeguard:

    • If only 3 members are voting, all 3 must be from different employers.

    • If 4 or more members are voting, the existing “at most two from the same company” rule suffices.

This ensures that no company can dominate decisions when turnout is low.

2. Electorate Definition and PSF Commitment
My understanding is that voting rights for the Packaging Council are tied to PSF membership, which requires either significant ecosystem contribution (contributing membership) or financial contribution (supporting membership).

  • I’d like confirmation that this is intentional.

  • In return, the PSF will commit to running Packaging Council elections whenever needed (e.g. mid-cycle replacements, no-confidence results), and not limit elections to only when PSF Board elections occur.

  • Is there a plan to run (normal) elections in parallel with PSF board elections?

3. Packaging Council ↔ PyPA Relationship
The PEP currently defers this to “whatever the inaugural Council decides.” That feels too open-ended.

  • I believe we should mandate that the inaugural Council propose a PEP that defines this relationship.

  • This PEP should go through public discussion and feedback before being adopted.

  • That ensures the community has a say in how Council authority interacts with existing PyPA project autonomy.

4. Conflict Resolution Between Councils
Right now, the PEP states that the Steering Council has final say if the Packaging Council cannot or will not decide. But what about conflicts when the two bodies make different decisions?

  • Is there a mechanism for the Steering Council to override a Packaging Council decision within a set timeframe (e.g. 1 month)?

  • Clarifying this escalation process is important to avoid ambiguity or deadlock.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Overall: I support the direction, but I cannot vote for this as written until the quorum safeguard, election commitments, PyPA relationship process, and conflict resolution rules are clarified.

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