CONSTITUTION FOR KLEOMEDES DAO GOVERNANCE
Co-Authored: Trigs & Avi
This document proposes the structure of a decentralized autonomous organization (“DAO”) that would be governed and controlled by the holders of KLEO, the governance token for Kleomedes. This organization currently provides infrastructure support for decentralized proof of stake blockchains in the Cosmos Ecosystem. Kleomedes DAO aims to provide a scalable infrastructure service as well as provide support to blockchains via the collective DAOs active participation in governance on the chains it validates. The DAO will create councils in an effort to organize itself and allow for task delegation within the scope of each council’s area of focus. This constitution will highlight the exact scope of each council’s role in the DAO, in addition to defining which proposals or actions would require a collective DAO vote. This document is a living artifact that will grow and change with the DAO in accordance with the actions of the community.
Kleomedes DAO, which will serve and be governed by KLEO stakers, is a community-driven infrastructure provider for proof of stake blockchains. Kleomedes DAO seeks to become an innovation hub for the Cosmos Ecosystem – funding teams who are building cutting edge protocols backed by real utility.
Each of our DAO members, referred to as Ekklesia [Citizens], have joined Kleomedes to contribute to the DAO or the blockchains we validate. These contributions can be in the form of active governance participation, writing code, creating written content, or expanding the DAO’s infrastructure offerings.
Our goal is to build a truly decentralized community around blockchain validation services. The DAO will be accessible to all active participants on each network we validate. This enables us to achieve maximum decentralization at the lowest levels of a blockchain. Regardless of one’s available time and skill set, there is always a place in Kleomedes for those who want to contribute in some way shape or form. Through intentional organization and delegation of duties, Kleomedes will ensure that every chain it validates has representatives from the community actively participating in governance and development on that chain. Through this distributed network of contributors, Kleomedes will further decentralize the chains we validate and ensure that all voices are heard when drafting and evaluating the proposals that are being made to improve and operate these networks.
The Kleomedes governance council, composed of and elected by Ekklesia, will have the power to submit proposals, vote on the most interesting and promising ideas, and help make them real.
Kleomedes serves the chains that it validates for, and as such, all decisions made by the DAO are intended to benefit not only the Kleomedes community, but also the entire network. As early chains launch and expand, we hope that the list of established and trusted validators will grow as well.
That said, we know all too well what happens when power is concentrated in the hands of a select few. What starts out as a small team of contributors running a private validator can easily grow into a large, centralized force that has undue influence on chains. The goal for Kleomedes is to prove a successful model for a decentralized validator organization that does not have a tendency towards centralization. With different community lead councils managing governance on each individual chain, it ensures that there is a wider net of ideas and perspectives exerting influence on each chain. The cross-chain collaboration within the Kleomedes community also ensures a level of unification across councils.
In keeping with the core Kleomedes value of being community-led — all ideas and commentary, proposals, votes cast, and voting outcomes will be publically available for view. No more back door deals or decision-making, the time is now to put an end to nepotism in the ecosystems we call home.
The Kleomedes Council, elected by the Kleomedes Community, will have the authority to oversee the management and daily operations of Kleomedes. This council will take all reasonable actions necessary for the benefit of the collective DAO and in furtherance of Kleomedes’ vision.
The initial council will be comprised of 5 members who have worked in specific areas to establish the DAO since its inception and up to 5 members elected from the community. A multi-sig wallet will be created for the Kleomedes Council, and each member will have an equal weight for all council decisions.
The primary role of the Kleomedes Council will be to build out the necessary guidelines for each of the five general areas of focus. As guidelines are established, sub-councils may be formed as deemed necessary by the existing council-members and approved by community voting.
Infrastructure - All operations of hardware and software necessary to function as a network validator on designated blockchains fall under this umbrella.
Development - Our software development branch is responsible not only for development of new code to serve our protocol needs, but also to review and audit the code of existing tools and the blockchains themselves that the protocol relies on to operate.
Finance - Treasury Management, budgeting, tokenomics, and wallet opsec are all areas of concern that will be addressed by council members working in this area.
Community Governance - This is a broad umbrella for all topics regarding community management and growth. This includes managing contributors, issuing rewards and recognition, Discord activities, and social media.
Business Development - Our sales and marketing force, these members are the faces that represent Kleomedes to potential project collaborators, major contributors, and other B2B interactions.
Once the councils are formed, elections will be held to install representatives to each council, who will serve alongside the designated Kleomedes Council member that is elected to run the council. Each sub-council is eligible to form sub-groups as needed to organize themselves and delegate tasks accordingly. The Kleomedes Council does not need to approve decisions made by the subcouncils unless the decision affects more than one of the sub-councils.
The Kleomedes Council is restricted to $KLEO stakers only, including vested $KLEO. Initial Council members will be installed as written herein upon the passing of this proposal, and any Council member will be removed from a seat, or otherwise be ineligible for a seat if said Council Member is not staking at least 7,400 $KLEO.
The KLEO Council, when elected, will serve for a 1-year term without term limitations, unless voted out by majority rule or is no longer staking a minimum of 7,400 $KLEO.
All Council Member candidates are required to DOX the following to the community:
Any action to obfuscate one's voting power through sybil, collusion, or other any behavior deemed malicious will be brought to the attention of all non-affected community and council to adjudicate consequences. Manipulation of governance with the intent of passing a proposal with one's own vote weight/influence regardless of community approval is one example of malicious behavior.
An annual KLEO Council Election will be held, starting Jan 1st every year.
In 2023 5 council positions will be filled from the core team with the approval of the constitution and an election for the remaining 5 community positions will be held. The community will decide how many are filled through the voting process in the first month after the constitution is approved.
On or near Jan 1, there will be a list posted to the governance channel in Discord of the positions on the Council open for election. An application will be made available for all stakers of $KLEO to submit nominations, qualifications, and a summary of why the applicant would fit the position.
A snapshot will be taken at a random interval within the 275 days prior to the application window opening. Only persons staking 7,400 $KLEO at the time of the snapshot, as well as at the time of the application, may submit to nominate. Applications will remain open for 30 days.
After applications close, nominees will be provided a thread in Discord to campaign. The nominees will, at minimum, provide a name, wallet address, qualifications, and other information later determined necessary as decided by the Council. Any exchange of value for support or votes will result in disqualification.
If there is only one (1) nominee for a position, the unopposed candidate will run against a “no confidence” alternative to allow for a special election.
The Council will have power to:
Any Council Member, or participant that stakes $KLEO at the time of the snapshot and stakes no less than 7,400 $KLEO at the time of the proposal submission may make a proposal.
A proposal, upon submission, whether from a Council Member or participant, will contain the following:
If the proposal lacks information, or requests participant discussion for information, the author may place that request for feedback in the appropriate section and by asking for participant feedback
In order for a Proposal to advance, it needs the agreement/assent of one (1) other Council member. Said assent will not be given if the Proposal does not conform with the Proposal Requirements.
If a proposal is rejected for non-conformity, the author(s) will receive, within seven (7) days, an outline of the deficiencies so the author(s) may correct the deficiency and resubmit if desired.
If a proposal is accepted as compliant, the proposal will move forward.
All Proposals will be posted in the Discord server for participant comments and soft-voting. Each proposal will have its own thread open for discussion. Each proposal will remain in the server for at least seven (7) days, after which feedback and soft-voting can close as the proposers see fit.
If a Proposal reaches a quorum within the soft vote, it progresses.
Within seven (7) days of the Proposal Level 1 discussion period closing, the author(s) will submit to the council a final draft of the proposal. The final draft will be in compliance with the proposal requirements. Once the author(s) are compliant with the proposal requirements, the proposal, or revised proposal if applicable, will be approved by the council for escalation. The author(s) may request that the revised proposal be returned to Proposal Level 1 for another discussion period and the request will not be unreasonably denied by the council.
The proposal will pause in this stage for appropriate review prior to finalization with on-chain voting.
All proposals that directly impact a department, will be reviewed prior to a community vote. A report will be submitted within forty-eight (48) hours prior to a vote by the Council or the Community that details the financial feasibility, costs, personnel requirements, or other expected impacts or costs to Kleomedes. This report will be delivered to Ekklesia and the Council within seven (7) days of the proposal being authorized for a vote.
Once a proposal has met the submission requirements, the discussion period has been held, the Council has discussed the proposal at a meeting, the revision period has been complied with, and the review period has been complied with, the proposal will be posted to DaoDao for a Community Vote or a Council Vote, as required by the proposal.
Any author that fails to respond, edit, request extension, or otherwise participate in advancement of that author’s proposal after submission, the proposal will expire and be deemed withdrawn after fourteen (14) days.
The Council and/or the community may promulgate additional rules or modification to the rules for submission in a manner not inconsistent with the provisions herein.
Proposals will utilize randomized snapshots for $Kleo stakers.
Council votes are 1person1vote and require a Majority approval to pass.
Community votes are weighted by $Kleo, although quadratic calculations may be used if specified by the proposal. Minimum Quorum for passing is set to 10% participation.
The Council may make additional rules for emergency voting. Any emergency vote requires unanimous approval from all council members, with the exception of one member if the vote is about removing said member.
The Council may make rules for public on-chain votes containing non-public information and may proceed with voting on security issues, or other decisions that may need to be out of the public eye, without publishing certain details.
Once a proposal has met the submission requirements, the discussion period has been held, the Council has discussed the proposal at a meeting, the revision period has been complied with, and the review period has been complied with, the proposal will be voted on by the Council or the Community, as applicable.
After a vote has closed, the council will certify the integrity of the vote and will publish the results.
The Council is authorized to promulgate rules for its operation, internal processes, external processes, and other rules it may deem necessary for management of Kleomedes. Rules will be submitted as Council proposals and will be approved by a majority of the Council, subject to a veto vote from the community if demanded.
This Constitution will be amendable by the following process.
The Council may propose an Amendment to this Constitution at any time. If the Council votes unanimously without absence or abstention to amend the Constitution, the amendment will be approved and incorporated.
If a community proposal to amend the Constitution is set forth as prescribed, a 60 percent (60%) majority of participant voters will result in amendment and said amendment will be incorporated.