Operations - Proposal #3

TL;DR

For FreeRoss DAO to execute its mission, it needs to ensure its resources support the core contributors who can reliably and consistently perform key tasks. This proposal sets out procedures for core contributors onboarding and offboarding, as well as the transparency and accountability policy.

So far, FreeRoss DAO has been fortunate to find 5 community members who have been involved prior to the end of the auction on Dec. 8, 2021 and demonstrated thought leadership to streamline the delivery of community dialogue, working groups and proposals. The core team of 5 wishes to continue their work with formalized roles and relative compensation. Please find details about their roles and responsibilities below.

The proposal also includes revisions to Advisory Council governance.

Contents:

1. Procedures for onboarding and offboarding DAO core contributors
2. Transparency and accountability
3. Roles and compensation
4. Revision to Advisory Council governance

1. Procedure for onboarding and offboarding DAO core contributors

Core contributor onboarding

Governance Proposal #1 confirmed Rene’s appointment as the Operational Lead and gave the Operational Lead authority to onboard and oversee DAO core contributors, moderators and volunteers.

Onboarding additional core contributors

As the DAO grows in size, it is likely that there will be a need for new working groups and additional core contributors. On such occasions, an application form will be posted at the direction of the Operational Lead, setting out the application deadline and requesting the following information (as a minimum):

• Discord handle
• Role
• Reason for applying
• Qualifications

Anyone can volunteer by submitting the application.

Replacing the Operational Lead

If the Operational Lead resigns or there is a need for them to be replaced for any other reason, the core contributors will elect a new Operational Lead by a majority vote, after the new Operational Lead has been approved by the Advisory Council with a majority vote. (The Advisory Council can also submit an Operational Lead to the core contributors directly.) The Operational Lead may also be removed by a majority vote of the Advisory Council, and then later by a unanimous vote of the core contributors or a supermajority of 3/4 of the votes cast by $FREE token holders.

Replacing existing core contributors

The Operational Lead can confirm appointments of any new core contributors for the existing roles upon consultation with the existing core contributors or the wider community, where appropriate. All instances where a contributor is appointed for a new role or a new contributor for the existing role requires compensation exceeding that of their predecessor will be subject to a DAO vote by simple majority.

Role renewal

The Operational Lead and Core Contributors roles will be auto-renewed every 3 months unless offboarded.

Offboarding

Core contributors that no longer meet the activity/recognition threshold can be offboarded in two ways:

• Upon community feedback or other contributors' requests, the DAO can offboard a core contributor through a vote by core contributors (with simple majority as a quorum).
• Core contributors can be offboarded voluntarily if for whatever reason they are no longer able to continue performing their responsibilities.

2. Transparency and accountability

Initially, the Operational Lead will be in charge of reviewing timesheets (submitted monthly unless otherwise agreed), confirming that the hours billed are reasonable, and signing them off. The same principle will apply to operational expenses. The funds will be used transparently and the Operational Lead or the Operations working group will maintain a publicly available dashboard (Google Sheets, Dune analytics or equivalent) tracking expenditure and payouts, updated monthly or in real time where applicable. As the DAO tooling infrastructure develops, execution of expenditures and payouts will move on-chain and the need for human intervention will be minimized. Any changes to the management of DAO funds will be subject to an approval from the Advisory Council and a DAO vote by simple majority.

DAO core contributors work in their capacity as independent contractors and acknowledge and agree that they are responsible for their own taxes with regards to any payments from the DAO for the work performed in accordance with the tax laws of the countries where they are tax residents.

Key principles for core contributor compensation:

• Compensation should be sustainable to ensure both talent retention and responsible use of DAO funds
• Compensation should be proportional to tangible work completed

The DAO agrees to indemnify the Operational Lead for any amount that may be determined to be due and owing as taxes, interest and penalties arising out of a finding by the Internal Revenue Service, any other taxing authority or taxing agency (whether federal, state or local), that the DAO failed to withhold any required portion of payments to the core contributors for income or social security tax purposes, or for any other purpose. The Operational Lead agrees to give the DAO notice of any such claim by a taxing authority and to cooperate with the DAO in the defense of any such claim.

3. Roles and Compensation

Operational Lead: René Comp: 0.00 USDC/year

• René was elected as Operations Lead in Governance Proposal #1.

Operations & Community Management: Alona Comp: 50.00 USDC/hr (not to exceed 4K USDC/month in total)

• Alona is the Lead Community Manager of Gro.xyz which is a DeFi yield aggregator that operates as a DAO. Previously she served as Head of Operations for a blockchain software development agency and worked in litigation.

Media, Marketing & PR Strategy: Rizzn Comp: 80.00 USDC/hr (not to exceed 4.5K USDC/month)

• Rizzn is a tech luminary, IBM Futurist, creative agency owner, veteran tech journalist (Mashable, SiliconANGLE, TheCUBE, Launch), Director of Blockchain for GeoSyn Mining (a large scale bitcoin mine in Texas), and CEO to emerging GameFi offering Lord of Monster.

Treasury Management: UnicornDroppingz Comp: 300.00 USDC/hr (not to exceed 5K USDC/month) + 10% performance fee on yield farming revenue

• UnicornDroppingz is a full-time yield farmer active on 10+ blockchains who has been actively investing in blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and DeFi protocols since 2017. Prior to crypto, they built and led functions ranging from account management, people operations, finance, accounting, and legal in high growth, venture-backed startups.

NFTs & Business Development: Trippy Comp: 100.00 USDC/hr (not to exceed 4K USDC/month) + 10% commission on all NFT sales

• Trippy is the NFT curator behind the Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection as well as numerous other well regarded NFT projects such as the Trippy Jetpack, Alex Grey, and PussyRiot collections.

3. Revision to Advisory Council Governance

Governance Proposal #1 is hereby amended to clarify the role of the Advisory Council as follows:

The ONLY role of the four person Advisory Council is to review proposals for any potential harm to Ross or his cause BEFORE a proposal is announced and published on Discord, snapshot.org or otherwise publicized. The Operational Lead will present proposals to the Advisory Council via private communication. Any proposal will be considered confidential, with knowledge limited to those in the specific DAO working group in charge of drafting it, until the Advisory Council has deemed a proposal not harmful.

The Advisory Council has the power to veto any proposal which will prevent the proposal from being announced, published on snapshot.org, or otherwise being implemented. A proposal is vetoed if two or more Advisory Members veto it before the end of the review period. The review period will end at 11:59pm EST (GMT-5) on the third day following when the final draft of the proposal is sent to the Advisory Council. In the absence of at least two vetoes, the proposal may proceed and be published for a community vote on snapshot.org or other similar service. If the Advisory Council vetoes a proposal, it will provide, to the extent it can do so consistent with protecting Ross’s interests, a basis for the veto to the Operational Leader, who will only be allowed to share the basis with the specific DAO working group that drafted the proposal.

The Advisory Council is to always consist of a maximum of four members. If an Advisory member is to resign or be replaced, a new member will be confirmed by the Advisory Council before the end of the 10th business day following their departure. A new member will be confirmed and installed if they receive approval from every remaining Advisory Member, less one. Advisory Council members will receive no compensation and will not be held liable for any actions of the FreeRossDAO. The Advisory Council is not tasked with approving proposals and is only tasked with vetoing proposals as outlined in this proposal. The members will remain in place until they resign or are replaced by the Advisory Council.

Advisory Council members:

• Lyn (Ross’s mom)
• Caroline (Ross’s fiancée)
• Ted (Attorney-at-law)
• Mark (Ross’s lifelong friend)