I think Jim has made clear that he will happily act in other capacities (e.g. as an Adviser). I believe he understands the situation and would not feel he was maligned in any way if he's deemed ineligible to run. That said:

The HFC has the responsibility to write the qualifications. The ByLaws put that squarely in their venue. While I understand the current Council prefers (with good reason) to not alter the requirements from past elections (especially for HFC), it would be legally allowable by the ByLaws. This is especially true of setting requirements for Board, as there are no MCC based rules for them to abide by in that regard.

As a member of the community (not as a Director), there are two things I would personally like to see:

One is adding something like this to the requirements to stand for election to Board:

"One may also qualify to run for Directorship on the Board of Directors during an election if they have in the past severed as a member of MCC, HFC or the HiFo BoD."

That covers this "special case", and allows people the community has already viewed as competent the right to stand for BoD, even if their Karma is a bit sub-par to whatever minimums are set.

I'd also like to change Karma calculations to include a 5 point award (max 15 per calendar month) to non-Council/Board who attend Council or Board meetings. That would allow people who care enough to show up and participate a way to add Karma, even if they're not as active in the other means of calculation. That would require slightly better record keeping on the part of both bodies, but I think that's a reasonable expectation.

I would be willing to create a web interface (or Midgard plugin?) for Council/Board to enter this information if such a referendum were proposed and/or passed later. (I'm pretty sure Karma changes require a referendum.)