I am newer than most of you and therefore I can’t relate with the past. History is important but also comes with “baggages”.
Here are my observations/recommendations on this subject-
TLDR- There absolutely needs to be a defined structure for any recurring type of DAO expenses, and that includes paying builders, contributors, etc. I think there is consensus here.
I suggest starting on a blank sheet and then decide what from the current and the past “deserve” to be continued in Pocket that is today and Pocket that is going to be. There are best practices that deserve continuity.
But nothing and nobody should gain precedence just for convenience sake and for “entitlement” sake. We need to be “forward looking”, there needs to be fitment check and we shouldn’t hesitate making big changes if needed.
That takes us to the next few points that are little edgy -
eBay once had “people are basically good” in their list of values/principles.
Google had “don’t be evil”.
Those were replaced. Those are contrary to basic human behaviour of working in self-interest.
We have to assume that there will always be a few actors who will be here to “MILK THE DAO”.
With that assumption, we have to create guard rails making the DAO treasury anti-fragile and uphold “CAN’T BE EVIL”.
Anti fragility is easy to quote (sounds cool) but very hard to implement.
And in this process if we lose a few incumbents, that will be worth it.
Valuing, compensating and rewarding good actors and worthy contributors is one thing, while creating indispensable choke points is another. We do not want the latter and I can see that happening.
“Defend against Pocket’s attack vectors: proactively identify and neutralise attack vectors, protect the DAO’s checks and balances, and eliminate central points of failure”- PNF
I appeal to @JackALaing , @Dermot and @nelson to uphold the above. Now is the time before it gets late. You will have support from the good and rational actors in the community working in the interest of the DAO and the protocol.
Not saying this to sound sensational for no reason.
With upcoming inflation cuts, POKT allocation to the DAO treasury will reduce accordingly- just wanted to remind everyone.
We need individuals with finance and business acumen involved in managing the DAO treasury, payments and budget planning. Using PNI’s example- Pocket probably wouldn’t be here without Mike but at the same time if Lax had joined a year ago, PNI probably would have been in a better shape.
Core competencies matter!
There shouldn’t be knee-jerk payments (especially large ones) because of pressures and historical connections. We need to look forward.
I suggest working on a plan, and until then we halt any payouts that are not already in the voting stage.
We can deal with the specifics such as COLA, rewarding volunteers who contribute meaningfully in community spaces, proactive payments, and others raised by @Jinx , @Cryptocorn , @ethen in the plan.
I have experience creating large multi-geo incentive, reward/recognitions programs, dealing with abuse, frauds and disputes around them at boomer institutions including in one of the MAGAs. I might volunteer to co-author the proposal if we go that route.