Plone Foundation Board Minutes September 18, 2025

Call to Order

• Meeting started at 20:02 UTC

Attendance

• Present: Rafahela Bazzanella, Eric Brehault, Brian Davis, Mikel Larreategi, Martin Peeters, Guido Stevens, and Steve Piercy (Treasurer)
• Excused: João Henrique Gouveia

Approval of the minutes of

• September 4, 2025: Eric motions to approve. Guido seconds. All in favor.

Action items

• Brian replied to Astrid
• Board added to sponsor@plone.org
• Martin still needs to contact Rikupekka
• Martin had contact with Alpine City
• Martin still needs to write an email re: failed sponsorship

Incoming Correspondence

• Emails from Steve
• Heztner failed transaction (discussed transfer from Beth/Steve)
• Was paid via PayPal in euros, and saved for future transactions
• Need to update the Authorized Representatives in order to address this
• Astrid re: Treasurer stipend

New Business

• Membership Renewal
• Martin sent email last night. All members have received. In progress and important for vote of next board.
• Preparation of the annual meeting
• Please review Board Priorities document individually and add a note for the advancement and progress of task you were assigned on.

Continued Business

• Treasurer Report
• Chase account discussion
• Since last meeting, we determined what documents Chase needs.
• Steve and Brian have both been in contact with Chase. Each gave reports on their discussions.
• Lots of questions depending on how to handle US vs non US residents.
• Not yet sure if Martin can be listed on the account. Chase will let us know.
• Money has been transferred from Capital One to Chase.
• Should we continue down this path or consider another bank? Only other linked account is PayPal.
• Key question: What are the exact requirements for Chase signees/representatives?
• Guido: Perhaps we should not remove the current authorized representatives until access to the account is stable?
• Steve: It is part of the same process. Chase can't put new representatives into the same roles as the existing representatives.
• Key question: Who all can be listed on the account?
• Brian: I still am not confident with the sustainability of Authorized Representatives. If the President/Secretary of future Boards are not US residents, they would have to name a US-based Assistant Secretary anyway, so it's probably worth considering that option now.
• Brian: Otherwise, I am worried that we are backing ourselves into a corner here, as soon as next election cycle. If we lack US representation in the future, can we continue doing business with Chase at all?
• Brian: Treasurer is a non-elected position and can survive election cycles, so this provides stability to the names on the account.
• Brian: Past Treasurers have handled our US bank accounts. This is why our Treasurer Search was limited to US. Assistant Secretary seems to gives us the most flexibility.
• Steve: We should have a minimum of 2 Authorized Representatives on the account in case one of us gets hit by a bus.
• Brian: I believe Authorized Representatives and Authorized Signers are different classifications.
• Steve: I thought they were the same thing, but either way, let's update both at the same time.
• Steve: We have a meeting with Chase directly following this meeting, so we will ask more questions of Chase and hopefully get some answers.

• Board motions related to the Chase account
• Guido motions to elect Steve Piercy to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Plone Foundation. Martin seconds. All in favor.
• Guido motions to appoint Brian Davis (Secretary) and Steve Piercy (Assistant Secretary) as Authorized Representatives on the Chase Bank account. Martin seconds. All in favor.
• Guido motions to appoint Martin Peeters (President) as Authorized Representative on the Chase Bank account. Martin seconds. All in favor.
• Guido motions to remove all previous Authorized Representatives and Authorized Representatives currently listed on the Chase Bank account to be replaced with the names we are adding now (Brian Davis, Steve Piercy, Martin Peeters). Martin seconds. All in favor.

• EU banking considerations
• Martin: Considering the Foundation is based in the US, is it a requirement for the Foundation to have a US bank account? Can we do banking in the EU instead?
• Guido: I would like to not just separate the financial risk, but also the legal risk.
• Martin: There are also intellectual assets that would need to be transferred as well.
• What is actually easier? This will be a discussion for the next Board.

• Sponsorship levels
• Mikel: No new news. Have been reviewing proposal from Erico. I would like to rename it, as it isn't really an improvement to the sponsorship program financially, but instead encourages more sponsors to participate. I would suggest something like "Community recognition revision".
• Mikel: Could simplify it, like just having basic levels such as gold, silver, bronze.
• Guido: Should also have separate listing for community recognition.
• Guido: I'm not sure what the next steps are, should we approve or next board?
• Martin: Next board.
• Guido: And those decisions should only be taken once we have a clear team lead.
• Mikel: I will draft something, and we can eventually inform all sponsors, after the new board approves.

• Provider listing on plone.org
• No news
• Previous Sprint Funding Reconcilation
• Martin: Will propose some dates to meet, hopefully at PloneConf and/or before.
• Github security overhaul
• Martin: I heard Admin Team has started the removal process. Good news.
• Google Summer of Code
• Steve: When is the payment due? Eric: Not sure.
• Eric: Nothing special to report. Two projects are finished and successful. Last one will be finished by Oct 6, was delayed due to issues over the summer.
• Mikel: What is the limit on student sponsorship for the Conference?
• Eric: 1500. And only two of them will go to the conference. Was stressful when we previously had to refund.
• AI Policy
• Mikel: No news. But we have 1 Steering Circle left before conference, so I will invite people to the meeting to discuss.
• Zope Funds
• Steve had correspondence with previous Board members to gather information.
• Steve has sent 1 email, but no reply. Have a second email I can try. And possibly a phone number. Will follow up.
• Can we send someone in person? Martin: That was considered at one time.
• Should Steve continue following the trail, are there any landmines? Where does the Board stand on other issues related to this? Can we consult Python Foundation or Charitable Allies? Is there nothing we can do? We own the assets, can we pursue civil action with the bank?
• Martin: Was previously mentioned, but how expensive is it?
• Guido: Can we work something out with the Bank? Issue a new check, etc?
• Steve: I've had discussion with the first customer service level, but it wasn't helpful. Original check was sent by certified mail, and someone signed for it, confirming it was delivered to the intended address. Was it sent to the right mailing address? Unsure. Steve will follow up with Beth. We could consider serving a summons. Not ideal, but there's been no reasonable response.
• Martin: I'd say if no reply within 2 weeks, let's reconsider other means of contact. Reluctant, but since we've been trying for several years, it seems okay.
• Mikel: Yes, we seem to be at last resort.

Review Ongoing

• CMS garden
• Astrid and Brian attended the September Virtual Meeting. Nice people. Good discussion. They seek to avoid "My CMS is better than your CMS" and instead focus on common issues affecting all of the communities. They had a lot of questions about Plone and encouraged us to update our profile on the CMS Garden website. We had fun and will definitely attend again.
• Steve and Rafahella were excused from the meeting.
• Treasurer Stipend for PloneConf25.
• Guido motions to allot a one-time stipend in the amount of 1500 to Steve Piercy for attendance to PloneConf25. Martin seconds. All in favor.

Adjournment

• Brian motions to adjourn. Guido seconds. All in favor.
• Adjourned at 21:30 UTC