Firstly, I have circulated this to all Stewards and also to some potential future Stewards.
Secondly, Thank you @popil for taking the time to give your opinion.
Thank you for your feedback. They are 100% not at the mercy of anyone. If the working group reject the right to include in the Working Group, the Steward can freely put up the AIP, simply with a disclaimer. As I have shown above.
Example
A vote was held by the GWG and the majority of Stewards did not vote for it to be a GWG proposal (Bigbull - Yes, AllCity - No). Therefore this proposal is being proposed on an individual basis by @bigbull
If they include it, then it would be part of the Working Group mandate and not outside of their scope as a Steward. This is a benefit to Stewards. The initiator can be called Author, with the Working Group listed as Co-authors.
It also removes confusion, where people think if a Steward puts up a proposal with the title of that group in their name, it has something to do with that Working Group.
Another point, is that if an AIP is from one Steward, if they leave for whatever reason (personal, don’t get re-elected etc) then the Organisation, e.g. GWG Non Profit is NOT responsible for it. If it is from the group, then a Steward leaves the Group will need to take over the implementation of it. This is better as we have short terms, 1 to 2 years as Stewards, so it ensures better growth of the Working Groups.
I agree, this is nothing about politics, it is about being elected to perform a role in a specific area, Governance, Marcomms etc. It is very normal business practice, while in an active role to put your ideas directly related to that role into that group and at a minimum let the Stewards decide together to include it or not. After all they are equals chosen by the DAO.
Regarding independence and decentralization, the working groups management are selected and replaced by elections from a DAO wide vote. The Charter of the working groups are also at the will of the DAO voting, as AIP-239 clearly states this line:
any DAO member can identify improvements to current Initiatives or propose ideas on how to better meet the mandates in those charters.
Working Group Basics Using these tenets as our guide, any DAO member can propose a Working Group Charter to create a new Working Group. Based on Working Group Charters, any DAO member can identify improvements to current Initiatives or propose ideas on how to better meet the mandates in those charters. If approved, it would be up to the Working Group Stewards to implement these ideas. If an idea is not acted on by a Working Group, any DAO member can propose that idea, with the necessary budget, as an Initiative in an AIP to be voted on by the DAO. If the DAO approves the AIP, the Working Group will be obligated to incorporate the Initiative into their operations using the budget approved by the DAO.