Chris: this is certainly not meant to constitute legal advice and it's getting tangential any way because since we have community 'selections' James can CERTAINLY run since it's a 'selection,' but I ran the statutory language passed a Florida lawyer, alhough one who doesn't practice this sort of law. Section (1)(a)(1) starts off with "Except as provided in paragraph (i)..." and then goes on to talk about further details regarding director removal. At first glance, both she and I parsed the language to mean that the provisions of (1)(a)(1) did not apply to directors removed under paragraph (i) - that is, a director removed without cause would not be subject to the provsion barring him from standing for election in the next cycle. But this really is irrelevant, since there is no similar provision banning the rerunning of "community selected" trustees.
Jimmy, I've been reassured by James, who I have significant trust for, that the email James is requesting the relief of doesn't deal with confidential WMF business. Combined with Pete Forsyth's recent message about you using offlist messages to attack James more viciously than you have on list, it's starting to feel a lot like you are using the cover of 'confidential board information' to hide an email that simply makes you look bad. Please release the email; if you don't within a couple of days, I'll start trying to convince Doc James that it wouldn't be a violation of his integrity to release your email even without your permission. Your behavior in these emails could itself be significant for the movement to be aware of. You've sent me multiple long emails; I know you have time to forward the email in question to the list.
I'm pretty severely disappointed that the board of the largest single free knowledge organization in the world is engaging in more vicious personal attacks than the boards I've seen that consisted of college students, and, equally, have been operating with less transparency.
---- Kevin Gorman
On Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 6:29 PM, Chris Sherlock chris.sherlock79@gmail.com wrote:
On 2 Mar 2016, at 5:55 AM, Kevin Gorman kgorman@gmail.com wrote:
Chris: I parse the reference to paragraph (i) in (a.1) as meaning that a director removed without cause may in fact stand for the next election cycle. As far as I can tell, James was removed without cause. Every reason put forth by the BoT for his removal has been torn apart, some by WMF employees. E.g., one early frequently cited reason was that he was having inappropriate discussions with WMF employees - multiple WMF employees came forward to say that he promised nothing untoward in these conversations, and simply listened to their feedback. In an ideal situation, Board tells the ED when they have conversations with most employees, but that's only best practice in situations where Board
alerting
the ED to the conversations doesn't undermine the purpose of the conversations, which they would have hear.
Agreed with your larger point about removal for/without cause. All I can say is that the bit I quoted doesn’t state for or without cause, it doesn’t seem to distinguish between the two modes of removal.
More importantly, as the board has made abundantly clear in recent weeks, we don't have 'board elections,' we have 'community board selections' -
the
board is gracious enough to allow the community to suggest board members, which the board may then choose to accept or reject. Given the fact that we do *not have* board elections, I don't think there's any doubt that James can stand in the next 'community board selection.’
Fair point. I’m definitely not a lawyer. Nobody would be happier to see James stand for reelection than myself. :-)
Jimmy: I've been reassured that the specific email James has requested
you
to release multiple times contains no confidential information, and the fact that you aren't releasing it isn't looking good to me. W/r/t an
related to the removal of a community selected and trusted trustee, full transparency seems necessary. You've said the email contains nothing of mindshattering significance, and I suspect you are telling the truth
there
- I suspect that at most it contains you making comments to James that
either weren't quite true or paint yourself in a less than great light. But here's the rub: even if there's nothing too important in that email, the fact that you're unwilling to release it means that you still don't
get
that transparency in this situation is necessary. Are you willing to release the email, redacting anything you view as reasonably necessarily confidential w/r/t the BoT? I'm sure James will comment if your
redactions
are excessive. Without any confidential information, all the email is
is a
document that shines more light on a situation involving the removal of a community 'selected' trustee, something that those involved should be as transparent as possible about.
Jimmy, I agree with Kevin. Can you please release these emails? I realise you have a lot on your plate, but I think it would be good of you to release these emails soon. I trust you when you tell me that you are a champion of transparency and openness, and I also know you have had a lot on your plate lately so I’m trying not to put too much pressure on you at the moment.
I think, however, that the sooner you release the emails, the sooner it helps the rest of us come to an understanding why the Board made their decisions and we can at the very least feel more confident in the integrity of the Board of Trustees. This issue has dragged on for over two months now, and none of us are still much the wiser, though many of us are beginning to put the pieces together in our own heads. Which is dangerous, as we may well be jumping to the wrong conclusions because we don’t have enough information. Unfortunately, the lack of information is something that only the Board can resolve for us.
There are a number of other questions that still need answering around the grant application, so I’d love to see you clarify them soon also.
Chris
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