Todd
They certainly don't have the expertise. Most of them aren't regular
participants on the English Wikipedia, and even those
who are often dial
back after joining the WMF. The most relevant expertise is participation in
the project itself, and familiarity with how things are supposed to be done
on it.
This seems to assume that dealing with harassment and community dysfunction
on the English Wikipedia is quite different to dealing with any other
community that exists in the world today. Well, to misquote Tolstoy, every
dysfunctional community is indeed dysfunctional in its own way. But the
problems of correcting that dysfunction are pretty similar across a broad
range of online community, and English Wikipedia is not special. The
notion that it is, and that nobody who is not deeply embedded in its
dysfunctional culture can possibly know anything, say anything or do
anything about it is simply colossal arrogance and is part of what has led
us into the mess we are in today.
It takes no money to evaluate an ANI complaint or file
an ArbCom case. So,
while the WMF may have money, that's irrelevant.
It takes money to hire people who know what they are doing and to give them
time and space to do it. Volunteers plainly do not, and the evidence is
before us.
Thrapostibongles