Optimism proposes Security Council lead and Token House veto

The Optimism Foundation wants to overhaul how its Security Council gets filled. Under the proposed Operating Manual v2.1.0, Security Council Charter v0.2, and Security Council Member Selection Criteria v0.1, the Token House would elect a Lead, that Lead would recruit and nominate individual members, and OP holders would retain a blocking vote over each nominee.

Right now the council runs on three annual elections — Cohort A, Cohort B, and the Security Council Lead — all using approval voting. That structure goes away entirely if the proposal passes.

The mechanics of the replacement are straightforward. Token House elects the Lead. The Lead runs a recruitment and interview process against published selection criteria, then submits nominees through a new proposal type called “Council Appointment.” A nominee takes their seat unless 20% of active votable OP supply vetoes the appointment. That threshold gives OP holders a direct block at the individual level without requiring them to win a majority.

Removing a Lead doesn’t require waiting for an election cycle either. The Foundation also requires all nominees to clear its KYC/KYB screening before a confirmation vote can even happen — so Foundation vetting sits upstream of the Token House veto.

The Foundation’s stated rationale cites three problems it observed in the current setup: low self-nomination volume, qualified candidates put off by campaigning requirements, and delegates without adequate means to evaluate who’s running. Centralizing candidate sourcing in an elected Lead is meant to address the first two; published selection criteria are meant to address the third.

One other change is buried in the Operating Manual update: the review period for proposals gets cut to one week. A faster governance clock and a restructured nomination process would take effect together.

What isn’t specified is when. The Lead election follows ratification, but the proposal doesn’t give a date for either. Until both happen, the new membership system isn’t running.