I would certainly support the archives being deleted every December, and I'm sure, given the fact that all of the existing Arbitrators will have copies of the previous messages, if there is anything that needs to be distributed around to the new members of the committee, this will not be difficult to arrange. It would perhaps be unwise for new arbitrators to involve themselves in matters arising from incidents prior to their appointment however.
Now, I certainly trust all the potential new members of the committee, but I don't like the fact we could see a situation where someone with a vendetta or two could sneak into the running and be appointed to the committee, with the sole intention of finding out what's in the archives and acting upon that, possibly together with any tools they might acquire through their presence on the committee. I'd prefer if such temptation to run was removed entirely, and that all new com members would tend to only be able to access e-mails after they're appointed. Clearly there's less of a problem with existing clerks and they could be entrusted with logs for relevant cases prior to their appointment as they may have contributed material to the case.
I'm probably looking for problems that don't exist though.
Clerks have no access to the list. I don't know about others, but I certainly don't keep all posts to the list, and appreciate having a record that I don't have to personally keep. I certainly don't trust everyone who decides they might want to become an arbitrator, but Jimbo asks us for advice before he appoints. That we might err is possible, but combined with standing for election and the give and take of our work, there is a measure of integrity in the Arbitration Committee. That we disagree profoundly on certain points should not be taken as evidence of deep fissures. You can disagree with someone, even vote against them becoming an arbitrator, yet accept them.
Fred