James Rigg wrote:
does seem to be referring to not just content, but also the running of Wikipedia. But the 'private' mailing lists which now exist seem to be a departure from this.
Departure from what? From your original imagination, or from some policy that was posted (where? when? citation needed!).
Do you publish every private e-mail and phone call you receive? That is what "total" transparency would mean, and nobody wants that. It would block every kind of communication.
The employees and board members of the foundation can send private e-mail between themselves, and they can use the internal mailing list. Both are closed forms of communication, and if the list wasn't there, private e-mail would be used instead. You're not making that information more open by closing the internal mailing list.
If you want improved transparency from the Wikimedia Foundation, you need to provide real examples of types of information that you want access to, that you fail to find today. You will never be able to get "everything".