I was speaking in support of keeping the current policy which allows WMF
staff to vote even if they do not meet the eligibility guidelines with a
volunteer account.
The issue of allowing staff in affiliated organizations who are not
volunteers vote is more complex because they could have minimal involvement
with the larger movement, and in some cases already have the ability to
select WMF BoT.
But, I would be inclined to encourage more voices to be heard by inviting
everyone who is part of the wikimedia movement to vote in the WMF BoT
elections.
This could happen by the affiliate organizations encouraging all staff to
become volunteers by giving them time to edit in a volunteer capacity
several hours a month,
or by allowing affiliated organizations to identify a list of staff who are
not on site volunteers but who are part of the wikimedia movement.
Additionally, a strong effort to get more volunteer community members
running for positions as well as voting.
Sydney
Sydney Poore
User:FloNight
Wikipedian in Residence
at Cochrane Collaboration
On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 1:22 PM, Aleksey Bilogur <aleksey.bilogur(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Frankly, I think such views are naive idealism. There
is a political
reality that would come about as a result of such a change, one at the
highest level, that need to be understood and addressed. I do not even
believe that this is a discussion that should occur at the community level.
This is a discussion that should occur at the board level.
A former Wikimedian in Residence was recently blocked for constant
copyright violations on the English Wikipedia. I do not want such people
voting on a body which will determine their level of monetary and
non-monetary support---especially now that the requirements for
incorporation as a user-group are dipping still lower.
On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 12:11 PM, Marc A. Pelletier <marc(a)uberbox.org>
wrote:
On 15-04-22 11:54 AM, Sydney Poore wrote:
> I fully support allowing our talented and dedicated WMF staff to have
the
opportunity to choose the people who guide the direction of the WMF.
I'd like to add to this that the (pretty small) set of staffers that
would not otherwise have had eligibility to vote are generally in
administrative, finance and legal positions - all of which bring other
perspectives to evaluation of the candidates that may be valuable.
But, more importantly, they share our values and commitment to the
ideals behind the movement. They wouldn't be working at the Foundation
if they didn't because our internal culture is - literally - all about
the mission.
Disclaimer: I'm staff myself, but eligible to vote as a volunteer.
-- Marc
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