Hi Charles,
from the feedback we had about the WCA, IMHO we need to consider two
different issues:
* we are criticised for focussing on structures too much. In London, as
you can see in the protocol [1], we discussed several options including
the one about an executive board, but decided to let form follow
function and leave any structural debate for now. Of course, I cannot
stop you from doing so, but I will try and focus my time on doing actual
work until Milan.
* be it justified or not, several key players in the Wikimedia universe
do have issues with Fae being Chair. Personally, I value Fae's work a
lot. But we need to address the concerns of the world outside the
Chapters unless we keep thinking of the WCA as a lonely (non-)player
without any relation to the other entities in this Wikimedia world. I
respect Fae's decision to react to the current situation and bring
forward the election. Whoever will be (re-)elected, we will have a Chair
with a lot more support then.
I quite like your initiative in creating this survey, thanks for this.
At the same time, may I ask you if you coordinated this with Ziko and
Michail, who volunteered to do some research along the same lines as you
suggested [2]? I should think it makes sense to bundle similar
initiatives. What I'd like to avoid is that every WCA council member
starts rushing into their own projects.
Best,
Markus
[1]
Anyway I was, and I'm still oppose to
anticipated election. Since the beginning of the discussion about WCA bylaws , the
question of "do we need a chair and a vice chair" hasn't been fixed, and
I'm sorry to tell that provoking new election before fixing this point is just bad.
Jan-Bart in a previous mail made the good comment that we should stop discussing about
membership and voting, but the question here is really about what is the WCA.
Several chapters ask for an Iberocoop model, it means that they don't want a chair
and a vice chair. The people present in London can argue that at least some position
should exist to assure that coordination is done, but the 7 present in London cannot
decide for 14 others. By deciding to anticipate the election of the chair it's just
what you have done.
In your answer you talk about WMF board asking directly or indirectly for your
replacement. This argument has been read in the personal comment of board member, and all
chapter are aware of that and will take it into account, or not, when the time will come.
But we don't need your resignation now whereas the new election is already planned in
just two month, the few week of difference will not affect the WCA. Also if you are
personally disputed by people outside the chapter, the vice chair is at least equally
disputed among the chapter, what's the most important?
Finally I will point that WCA is representing 21 chapters for now, and most of those
chapters are really tired of discussion in english on meta, asking them to have a
"campaign" and a vote online whereas we can have a live vote in Milano is just
another way to say "we don't care of you".
WCA is needed, but is not needed tomorrow , it's needed when all chapter will
participate and make it grow, and we won't have that unless we find the seed action
that will make all chapter willing to support is growth, and sorry this is not this list
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Chapters_Association/Meetings/2013…
that will change the actual dynamic.
I'm not a magician, I don't have a ready to use solution, but what I'm sure,
is that the very first step should be an open discussion between chapters about what is
the WCA is, and for that purpose I created this page, to build a survey among chapters:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Chapters_Association/survey_march_…
I invite all interested people to participate to the creation of this survey. In a second
time the same type of survey should be open to the whole movement, but because the WCA is
the CHAPTER ASSOCIATION, I think it's reasonable to first know what the first
concerned people think.
Cheers
Charles
___________________________________________________________
I use this email for mailing list only.
Charles ANDRES, Chairman
"Wikimedia CH" – Association for the advancement of free knowledge –
www.wikimedia.ch
Skype: charles.andres.wmch
IRC://irc.freenode.net/wikimedia-ch
Le 20 févr. 2013 à 09:25, Fae <faewik(a)gmail.com> a écrit :
On 20 February 2013 07:57, Charles Andrès
<charles.andres.wmch(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Ziko,
Because you want to hear:
1)Their is no census within the chapter whether we still want a deputy chair position
It's better for us to focus on the actions we are taking for the next
3 months. We decided to defer discussion about changing roles and
considering a board, or changing the titles we currently use. Any
member of the Council is welcome to draft a resolution or discuss
alternatives, but this will draw the oxygen away from being seen to
make progress on solid outcomes, rather than internal affairs.
2)if we keep a chair and a deputy chair, it has
always been planned that this position should be open to vote at the next WCA meeting
It was my decision, made after private discussions with Ting and SJ,
apparently in response Jimmy Wales raising this for the WMF board's
attention immediately after my English Wikipedia ban and before the
end of the summer conference in Washington DC, to ensure that we would
have an election this spring for the Chair position in a more formal
and structured way. Though our vote was valid, I was never very happy
at being elected without competition or much discussion. For that
reason I was not prepared to just stay in position for 2 years. You
will recall that for the Deputy Chair position, there was a
competition and discussion so I believe this had a firmer sense of
democracy.
3) 7 council member connote decide on their own
of keeping in place the deputy chair!!
Similarly, this was no a decision that was
ever tabled or considered necessary.
4)The WCA do not need continuity, since ten month
we haven't been able to provide something real , I don't see why we should
continue this way
We chose to radically re-frame our plans. We have done this in a
way
that does not require resolutions or complex bureaucracy to move
forward. I don't see how asking Ziko to go through an election process
now, helps demonstrate that we are taking an external focus. The
election process for Chair is a different matter, it was always
planned for March and I have chosen to bring this forward based on the
continued private approaches to the Council from 5 WMF trustees since
my election, who were not happy with the WCA having me as our elected
Chair, though the WMF itself has no public position on this matter.
Thanks,
Fae
--
Ashley Van Haeften (Fae) faewik(a)gmail.com
Chapters Association Council Chair
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WCA
Guide to email tags:
http://j.mp/mfae
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