2009/7/19 Philippe Beaudette pbeaudette@wikimedia.org:
Thanks, Jaroslav -
I'm really glad (truly) that there are people like you who think through those issues of values. I want to reinforce that my offer to resign was the very first email that I sent after accepting the job. I think enough of the folks with the Really Big Brains got together and the rest, as they say, is history.
But please, please, please, continue to question. More important than getting our process right is getting our ethics right.
The extension of the time in which candidates can nominate themselves is not under the control of a third party. Something that so clearly has the potential to influence the candidate pool presents a conflict of interest. Sue's claim it would be hard to find a replacement is not credible considering the number of OTRS, Checkusers and others who have identified themselves to the foundation.
When you made the decision not th resign I doubt you could have foreseen the extension issue coming up but it does suggest that conflict of interest resignations should probably be a matter of course rather than debate or convince.