Add process for Contributor Recommendation Letters

[aojea]

update from #296

• Incorporated feedback from @soltysh
• Added more details about the verification process, to include that the claims should be backed up by public artifacts

[soltysh]

minor nit, but overall

/lgtm

/hold
for other steering members to review

[pacoxu]

/lgtm

[pohly]

/lgtm

[k8s-ci-robot]

[APPROVALNOTIFIER] This PR is APPROVED

This pull-request has been approved by: aojea, pacoxu, pohly, soltysh

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Needs approval from an approver in each of these files:

• OWNERS [aojea,pacoxu,pohly,soltysh]

Approvers can indicate their approval by writing /approve in a comment
Approvers can cancel approval by writing /approve cancel in a comment

[saschagrunert]

There is no guidance on what happens if a request is denied or what makes a request unsuitable. Like:

## Handling of Requests

### Approval Criteria

The Steering Committee will approve requests when:

- All submitted materials are complete and accurate
- Claims are substantiated by public artifacts
- Peer verification confirms factual accuracy
- Contributions align with Kubernetes project values

### If a Request is Not Approved

- Applicant will receive written feedback explaining the decision
- Applicant may resubmit after addressing concerns
- Confidentiality of the original request is maintained

[aojea]

I suggest to keep the process simple, the approval criteria is clear, is signed by at least 4 members, whatever the existing members consider necessary ... for not approved I would also suggest to not be very prescriptive, we are setting a process to get more organized, but these decisions will impact different steering committees across the years that will need to handle different situations and social environments

[soltysh]

I assume we want to reach the approval, the only reason for not receiving one is not meeting the criteria. So it's not about rejection per se, but rather not meeting the criteria, in which case that's the answer the requester will receive.

[ritazh]

How are the signatures provided? electronically?

[soltysh]

Yes, we've managed to pull it off last time electronically. We've started conversations with CNCF about providing a platform for this in the long run.

[pacoxu]

/unhold