--- On Thu, 5/22/08, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
From: Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Board statement of responsibility To: birgitte_sb@yahoo.com, "Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List" foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Date: Thursday, May 22, 2008, 4:22 AM Birgitte SB wrote:
Plus I wouldn't want to risk poisoning any working
relationships by taking on the dirty work of protecting myself. So that means leaving it in the arena lawyers in my book. But that is me, and I'm paranoid about signing my name. :) Most of these agreements do not lead to disputes, because the majority tend to act in good faith even without the agreement. I could say, I'll sign it because I know it means nothing and cannot be enforced, but there's a fundamental dishonesty about that approach that makes me uncomfortable. When it comes down to the agreement Mike cannot represent both the Foundation and the individual trustee about this since that would be a conflict of interest.
The other aspect which I did a poor job clarifying is the problem with the trustees being on both sides of the contract. I would not want risk either failing my personal interests or those interests I would have a duty to. I find it a far better arrangment to assign the "personal interests" hat to my lawyer and focus on being a trustee. I also agree that I have a problem with the dishonesty of signing "in good faith without full understanding". The act of signing is an acknowledgement of understanding.
Birgitte SB