Michael Snow wrote:
For answers to additional questions relating to this announcement, please look at the FAQ: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees/Restructure_Announceme...
One question has been raised privately that's not covered, and I think is worth explaining: With 10 seats planned, did the board take into consideration the possibility that this could result in a deadlock?
The answer is that we did touch on the issue in our discussions, but concluded it was a relatively minor concern at this point. For one thing, a 5-5 vote would fail to pass whatever is being voted on, appropriately so. Working toward agreement is usually better, to me a measure with that kind of opposition is a sign that problems need to be worked out before moving forward with it. For another thing, as the membership of the board changes, inevitably the numbers will change between odd and even at various points. Right now we have eight members, in fact, but we certainly didn't want to wait longer to add a treasurer just because that's an even number.
--Michael Snow