On 12/30/07, hillgentleman hillgentleman.wikiversity@gmail.com wrote:
In your proposal, with the role of community reduced to a minor participant, even in the election of a single board member, the board and in particular the office with enhanced influence will get unchecked power.
Right now, there is no defined process for the community to have a strong voice on key organizational decisions. And if we define the Board as a representation of the community, then it is a very poor one indeed: There is no true diversity or representation in any sense, be it chapters, projects, or languages. The Wikicouncil as a separate Board strengthens the community, rather than weakening it.
To establish checks and balances, you need individuals who actually can provide them. And of course a competent staff _wants_ to be overseen and advised by a competent Board and a competent community council; a competent CFOO _appreciates_ solid advice from a competent treasurer; the Executive Director _desires_ to be supported by a strong Audit or Finance Committee; the CTO's life is made easier if they can turn on feature X with authorization from the Wikicouncil.
By having a community-elected Wikicouncil, the community is empowered to effectively pre-screen future Board members for their eligibility, and Board and Staff can consult with this council on important decisions affecting the community -- a much more representative body than the current Board. And by having skill-selected Board members, you create the kind of Board that _can_ support and check the staff.
I've spoken to people who work or have worked for quite a few very diverse non-profits in the last few months, ranging from museums to homeless shelters, and one of the recurring themes is that _anyone_ who contributes to an organization on any level, be it as a staff member or as a volunteer, should serve in a capacity that is supported by their skillset. If we restructure the organization in the coming months, I believe this should be a key principle.
Asking a well-intentioned volunteer who has no financial qualifications to serve on a finance committee helps nobody and might in fact cause interference with the actual work that needs to get done; asking a retired CFO to decide whether we want a Wikipedia in the Moldovan language is equally pointless. Making thousands of edits does not qualify you to approve a budget; being a CPA who loves Wikipedia does not help you to know that a registration requirement for contributors would be highly problematic and possibly damaging.