Hi Christophe, all,
I wonder, was there an urgency to pass this resolution, or did I miss the
invitation for community members to give input on this proposal? It doesn't
look particularly sensitive so that it couldn't be shared in advance. It
has potentially direct impact on the functioning of the community. Seems
like a typical example where requesting input could be valuable. So I'd
like to understand the thinking behind the chosen process a little better.
Basically I'd have liked the discussion in this thread to have been part of
the considerations, rather than a response to the resolution.
Thanks,
Lodewijk
2016-12-21 4:45 GMT+01:00 Christophe Henner <chenner(a)wikimedia.org>rg>:
Hi Pine,
If you don't mind I will address your different points separately.
First, the resolution and its context. "Supervising" the ED is indeed a
board duty, but this supervision must not become micro-management. That
resolution provides staff the liberty to do their work more efficiently. It
doesn't remove our duty of oversight.
I feel like you think delegating negates ones ability to provide
supervision, I would tend to think otherwise as delegating free time and
energy to focus on the core roles of a board.
Second, the requirements to answer the community. I'm sorry, here I
answered quite spontaneously, you are right nothing forces us to.
But, as I've said in my candidacy and in public some time I believe we
have, as WMF board, a leadership duty. And I also believe you lead by
example. I've always believed, in the movement, we are all partners. We
need each other to push forward our mission. You treat partners the way
yourself want to be treated by them. That is why I believe it is important
to communicate. It doesn't mean we have to see eye to eye on everything but
that when a question rise we should answer as much as we can. That's
something I've said to nearly everyone who reached out to me in the past
few month privately, my answer perhaps won't be the one you want, but at
least there will be an answer and an explanation every time I can. Like
right now actually :D
Finally, regarding board governance review, Natalia, as chair of the BGC,
published minutes of our meetings[1], and that is a key topic we address
and not push aside. That being said it will be a board review, not one on
that specific event. We will be able to provide more information on that
topic soon I think :)
I hope I answered your questions.
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_
Board_Governance_Committee
Christophe HENNER
Chair of the board of trustees
chenner(a)wikimedia.org
+33650664739 <+33%206%2050%2066%2047%2039>
twitter *@schiste* skype *christophe_henner*
On Wed, Dec 21, 2016 at 4:14 AM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Christophe,
I wish it was true that the Board is required to answer the community's
questions, but that isn't the case. WMF isn't a membership organization,
there isn't a policy that requires the Board to be responsive to
community
input and questions, and the community has
limited ability to influence
the
Board (though I think it is wise for the Board to
listen).
My perspective is that the 2015 board was not particularly responsive to
community (or WMF employees') questions or input, including questions and
input regarding human resources and governance matters. (For example, I
still haven't seen a good explanation of why WMF shouldn't undergo a
governance review in the wake of Doc James' dismissal; WMF has appeared
to
try to brush that issue under the rug rather than
address it with the
level
of transparency and rigor that I feel it
deserves.) Thankfully the level
of
responsiveness has improved since 2015, but
it's incorrect to say that
the
Board is required to respond to community
questions.
The vague nature of the resolution as MZMcBride quotes it makes me
uncomfortable. I would suggest revising the language of this resolution
so
that it is clearer which kinds of changes the
Board will require the
Executive Director to submit to the WMF Board for approval. I realize
that
it may seem expedient to grant the Executive
Director wide latitude, but
I
feel that the Board should provide more
specificity, particularly given
what happened when the Board was apparently so lax with the supervision
of
the previous Executive Director.
Thanks,
Pine
On Tue, Dec 20, 2016 at 12:48 AM, Christophe Henner <
chenner(a)wikimedia.org
wrote:
> Hey,
> Basically it's making the legal
team life's easier when they need to do
> small and/or quick changes. They don't have to go through the whole
> resolution process to change a comma.
> We're still informed and are
talking with staff about those changes.
> As for responsibility, we decided to
delegate responsibility, but at
the
end of
the day we still will have to answer the community's question :)
Have a good day
Christophe
Le 20 déc. 2016 6:50 AM, "MZMcBride" <z(a)mzmcbride.com> a écrit :
This is probably of interest to this list.
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Delegation_of_policy-ma king_authority
>
> ---
> Delegation of policy-making authority
>
> This was approved on December 13, 2016 by the Board of Trustees.
>
> Whereas, the Board of Trustees has traditionally approved certain
global
> Wikimedia Foundation policies (such as the
Privacy Policy and Terms of
> Use) as requested during the July 4, 2004 Board meeting
> <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Meetings/July_4,_2004>;
>
> Whereas, the Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director has authority to
> conduct the affairs of the Wikimedia Foundation, which includes
adopting
> and implementing policies;
>
> Resolved, the Board hereby delegates the authority to adopt, alter, and
> revoke policies to the Executive Director, who may further delegate
such
authority
to Wikimedia Foundation staff as they deem appropriate;
Resolved, the Board may continue to review and approve policies for the
Wikimedia Foundation upon request to the Executive Director or as
required
> by law.
>
> Approve
>
> Christophe Henner (Chair), Maria Sefidari (Vice Chair), Dariusz
> Jemielniak, Kelly Battles, Guy Kawasaki, Jimmy Wales, Nataliia
Tymkiv,
and
Alice Wiegand
---
I wonder how much of this resolution is formalizing what was already
happening and how much of this is moving the Wikimedia Foundation in a
new
> direction. After a very tumultuous year at the Wikimedia Foundation,
this
> is certainly a notable development.
>
> I also wonder in what ways this abrupt change will alter the
relationship
> between the editing communities and the
Board of Trustees. The
Wikimedia
> Foundation Board of Trustees seems to be
committing itself to
downsizing
its role
and responsibilities. The concern is that a change like this
will
reduce accountability when policies are set,
unset, and changed by
someone
> overseeing a large staff that regularly comes in conflict with an even
> larger set of editing communities. The Executive Director, of course,
is
unelected
and has been a central point of repeated controversies
recently.
> It's been less than a year since the previous Executive Director
resigned
after
being forced out by her staff. In the context of the recent
history,
this resolution is all the more puzzling.
MZMcBride
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