I heartily endorse what Asaf has said here, but I'd add one thing:
When someone runs for the board, that introduces a standard that goes
beyond Assume Good Faith. Ultimately, if appointed, a Trustee will need to
disclose any Conflicts of Interest. But those disclosures, as I understand
it, are not public; and waiting until the moment of appointment is less
than ideal.
I believe all candidates should be asked tough questions about possible
COI. This would have included me, when I ran last summer; I was asked some
good questions in private, but the public questioning was not very
substantive.[1] It should also apply to those appointed directly to the
board -- hopefully, the board has processes to assess COI prior to
appointment and required disclosure.
The traditional structure of the questioning on Meta Wiki is not especially
conducive to this; because every candidate's situation is unique. I believe
questions on COI should be tailored to each candidate's resume, not merely
asked as an abstract question. This might be a good issue for the election
committees to consider.
-Pete
[[User:Peteforsyth]]
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/Board_electi…
On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 4:50 PM, Asaf Bartov <abartov(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 4:36 PM, Andreas Kolbe
<jayen466(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Asaf,
I hear you. My apologies to Susanna and the list for anything I have said
that cast aspersions on Susanna's character.
Thank you.
Nevertheless, I remain concerned. She is part of
a state committee under
the authority of the Armenian Minister of Education and Science, who
along
with other senior political figures has
repeatedly been a featured
speaker
at Wikimedia Armenia events during her tenure as
the President of
Wikimedia
Armenia.[1][2]
I do not consider that sort of government proximity healthy or advisable.
I think it's fair to say any contact with a government (or similarly
powerful entity) is *potentially* concerning. But between potentially
concerning and actually concerning, there is the all-too-crucial need for
substantive evidence or cause for concern.
As has been pointed out, quite a few Wikipedians are or were part of the
civil service or otherwise close to powerful people in their regimes. So
long as there is no reason to suspect they are not managing their potential
conflict of interest, we must assume good faith.
A.
--
Asaf Bartov
Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
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