[Foundation-l] [WikiEN-l] Wikimedia Board Elections

[Jimmy Wales]

Kelly Martin wrote:
> Actually, the translation issue is a very strong argument against
> direct election of Board members.  Indirect election, via elected
> delegates at each project (or other appropriate grouping), would avoid
> much of this issue.  It would also curtail the "popularity effect" of
> enwiki -- we could use a diminishing-returns allocation of delegates
> to minimize the "hulking gorilla" effect that enwiki otherwise has on
> popular polling within Wikimedia.

Without endorsing any specific proposal, I would like to second this 
concept.  We want the board to always remain firmly a creature of the 
community, but direct election may not be the best way to really achieve 
that.  There are many methods we might better use to draw expertise from 
the community in a more broadly representative fashion.

My prediction for the future is a much larger board which is much less 
involved in day-to-day management, a board which supplies stability of 
ultimate governance and adherence to principles, and a management drawn 
largely (though perhaps not completely, esp. for particular professional 
services) from the community.

--Jimbo