I knew they are theoretically self-appointed, but was under the impression
that at least until now an appearance of democracy and legitimacy towards
the community has been respected, which no longer seems to be the case.
I wonder what would be the legitimacy of a self-appointing body in the eyes
of the Wikimedia Movement, and all the communities which are part of it?
Regards,
Paulo
Adam Wight <adam.wight(a)wikimedia.de> escreveu no dia quarta, 7/10/2020 à(s)
17:20:
Greetings, this is a semiautomated response pointing
out that the
Wikimedia Foundation Board is not elected, it's self-appointing. The
so-called "elections" are in fact nominations to be considered by the
Board. Therefore, the Bylaws have not been broken.
This is an unfortunate arrangement, please see [1] for some background
about the conversion from a membership organization to a non-membership
organization which is no longer legally required to hold elections.
Regards,
Adam W.
[[mw:User:Adamw]]
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_membership_controversy
On 10/7/20 5:55 PM, Paulo Santos Perneta wrote:
The terms of 3 BoT members expired last month,
and the BoT itself decided
to extend them? What is the legitimacy of that? And why is a BoT which is
expected to be in a mere interim management waiting for elections,
presenting profound changes to its Bylaws [1]?
[1] -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Octo…
Best,
Paulo
Nataliia Tymkiv <ntymkiv(a)wikimedia.org> escreveu no dia quarta,
7/10/2020
à(s) 16:49:
> Hello,
>
> I can answer a few of the questions raised in this thread.
>
> When the Board postponed the community selection of trustees, we also
> extended the terms of the trustees in the affected seats (María
Sefidari,
> Dariusz Jemielniak, and James Heilman)[1].
Their terms were originally
set
> to expire last month, but because of that
term extension they are still
> serving as trustees, and as such María remains the Board Chair and
Dariusz
> and James continue on as Committee
Chairs[2].
>
> Raju Narisetti and Esra'a Al Shafei have been reappointed to the Board
for
> an additional three-year term[3][4].
>
> The current members of the Board of Trustees are listed on the Wikimedia
> Foundation website[5].
>
> We do not currently have a shortage of trustees on the Board, and we
have
> had a quorum for every decision we have made
this year. We have
published
> some outstanding Board records, many of which
were just approved at our
> recent meeting in September[6][7].
>
> I have just sent an email to this list, as well as posted an update to
> Meta-Wiki, with a request for feedback on matters related to the
> Foundation’s Bylaws and trustee selection[8]. That announcement contains
> more information about the postponed community selection of trustees.
>
> Best regards,
>
> antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv
>
> Vice Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
>
> [1]
>
>
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Postponement_of_Community_…
>
>
> [2]
>
>
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Board_Officers_and_Committ…
>
>
> [3]
>
>
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Renewing_Raju_Narisetti%27…
>
>
> [4]
>
>
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Renewing_Esra%27a_Al_Shafe…
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Octo…
> <
>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/July…
>
> *NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal
working
> hours/days, as I usually can work more as a
volunteer during weekend.
You
> should not feel obligated to answer it during
your days off. Thank you
in
> advance!*
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 1, 2020 at 9:52 PM Bill Takatoshi <billtakatoshi(a)gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> After I asked my questions on September 4, I was sent the message
>> below by some role account I've never heard of, asking about claims
>> that have used the names of five other people. I don't edit under my
>> real name, but I have never used the names in the linked forum
>> postings.
>>
>> The linked posts also claim that the Foundation's nonprofit status is
>> at risk. I am not a lawyer, but I am skeptical of that claim even
>> though five Trustees whose three-year terms expired in August
>> apparently voted on a Resolution in a Board meeting on September 24.
>> According to Section 4 of the Bylaws, "A quorum shall consist of a
>> majority of Trustees then in office." Section 6 says, "the Board may
>> continue doing business as a Board during the vacancy of any Trustee
>> position." Therefore, since four of the five remaining Trustees all
>> voted in favor, the Resolution was properly carried, in my layperson's
>> view. I am less certain about the propriety of allowing a Trustee
>> whose three year term expired to continue to serve as Chair.
>>
>> The lack of any update or even ETA for an update on
>>
>>
>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2020#Po…
>> is baffling. Elections have never been
held in person, only online,
>> and so the excuse that they were postponed because of the pandemic
>> crisis seems extremely suspicious. Indefinitely delaying elections for
>> such a vacuous reason makes the Foundation look like the worst of the
>> bad actors in today's international political climate. Doesn't the
>> cancelled travel of the pandemic crisis give the Foundation more time
>> to hold elections, not less? Whether non-profit status is at risk or
>> not, I would hope that the Foundation, Board, and Elections Committee
>> would be more interested in upholding the principles of good
>> governance than failing to even announce a new schedule or even a date
>> by which a new schedule will be announced.
>>
>> -Will
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 10:31 PM Gender Desk <genderscribe(a)gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> Mr. Takatoshi,
>>>
>>> Wikipediocracy has suggested that you have also used the names "Rogol
>> Domedonfors, Renée Bagslint, Jennifer Pryor-Summers, Felicity Braingut,
>> Thomas Townsend and others."
>>
http://wikipediocracy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=11567
>>> Can you comment on that?
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Genderdesk
>>>
>>>
genderdesk.wordpress.com
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 7:38 PM Samuel Klein <meta.sj(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
>>> Can anyone from the elections
committee comment? What is the current
>>> plan? //S
>>> On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 8:05 PM Bill Takatoshi <
billtakatoshi(a)gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> How long can the Foundation legally postpone Board of Trustees
>> elections?
>>>>
>>>>
>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2020#Po…
>>>> has a comment from April saying,
"Once things get moving again,
>>>> appopriate [sic] date for the election will be decided and an
>>>> announcement will be made."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees#Curr…
>>>> suggests that five board members
terms end on "Wikimania 2020" -- but
>>>> is that accurate?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Term_Limit_Proposal_for_By…
>> is clear that "All Board terms are three
years" and "the term of each
>> such appointment shall not exceed three years."
>>
>> Who are the current members of the Board of Trustees?
>>
>> Can the board achieve a quorum in its present state?
>>
>> Who is the Chair currently?
>>
> --
> Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529
4266
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