Trillium Corsage apparently tried to address this issue, but their message
has not gotten through email list moderation. I've included it below.
My reaction: I should paid more heed to Trillium's qualifier "basically."
Jimmy Wales didn't commit the egregious error I thought was being reported.
Still, I do feel that Wales' choices about what to say and what not to say
have been erratic (from the perspective of what's best for the movement and
the WMF) and self-serving. I can't think of other examples of an
organization's board members publicly commenting on whether or not they
supported an employee's departure. It seems to me there are very good
reasons not to get into that.
-Pete
[[User:Peteforsyth]]
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Trillium Corsage <trillium2014(a)yandex.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 7:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Open and recorded WMF Board meetings
To: peteforsyth(a)gmail.com, nawrich(a)gmail.com
26.04.2016, 14:32, "Nathan" <nawrich(a)gmail.com>:
> On Mon, Apr 25, 2016 at 8:49 PM, Pete Forsyth <peteforsyth(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Apr 15, 2016 at 2:42 PM, Trillium Corsage <
trillium2014(a)yandex.com
>> >
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Jimbo responded to arbitrator GorillaWarfare on this list, basically,
>> > "yes, I supported with sadness the decision to dismiss Lila."
>>
>> Wait -- seriously??
>
> No, it's a false quote. I don't know if Trillium falsified the quote or if
> he/she picked it up from a different source. Asked if he supported her
> departure, he wrote "I supported it with sadness. The whole thing is a sad
> train wreck."
Whoa whoa whoa. I answered this yesterday, but my emails have to be
approved by a moderator and none has done so. Here's the relevant part of
the email:
<begin excerpt>
Craig gave the right link. Here's the exact exchange.
Gorillawarfare: I would love to know whether you supported Lila Tretikov's
departure. It is clear that she did not up and resign on her own, and I
would like to know if you were one of the folks who thought her departure
would be beneficial, or if you preferred she "weather the storm," so to
speak.
Jimbo Wales: I supported it with sadness. The whole thing is a sad train
wreck.
Yeah, it's accurate no-one says the word "dismissal." That was my
interpretation of it based on recollection, I wasn't trying to introduce a
new concept to anything.
<end excerpt>
That was my good-faith memory-based paraphrase of it, not any "false
quote." I'd also argue that the contextual part where Gorilla says "she did
not up and resign on her own" --which is not disputed by Wales-- should
figure into any interpretation of the exchange.
I also said "basically," which clues the reader in that it was paraphrase,
not quote. I didn't do this for any polemic reason either, I just genuinely
didn't have the exchange in front of me.
Pete, I'd appreciate if you'd convey my position on this matter to the list
if my own email doesn't appear by a few hours.
Trillium Corsage