On Thursday, 25 February 2016, Ariel Glenn WMF ariel@wikimedia.org wrote: <snip>
Make no mistake, this is not just about an ED. It's also about failure of oversight, powerlessness of staff, and a culture of exclusion, among other things. If, as I hope, the Board acts decisively to remove the current ED, that will only be the first step in a mountain of work ahead of us. Hard, painful, exhausting work. But we can't begin to get started on it until that first step is taken.
I'd like to highlight this point in particular. It also echoes Oliver Keyes statement yesterday.
When the Board makes its next official statement detailing its response to the current situation, I sincerely hope that it does not only address the ED. That is a necessary statement, but would not be a sufficient one.
I hope that the statement will ALSO include some degree of detail about HOW the board will also address the problems of governance and oversight that has led to the current situation. In the past, the WMF has required Wikimedia-UK to undertake a formal governance review, and that might be an appropriate precedent to apply here.
I'm NOT calling for specific governance changes need to be implemented immediately. That would be a mob-mentality, and any immediately-implemented changes would be reactionary. Nevertheless, a statement to the effect of "we're thinking about it, trust us" would not be sufficiently believable at this point in time when trust is so low. So instead, I really hope the board can make some specific (and therefore accountable!) assurances about how it will be investigating changes to governance over the next few months.
- Liam / Wittylama