[Wikimediauk-l] Chapter-selected seats on the Wikimedia Foundation's board

Wikimedia UK, together with the other chapters, are currently drafting the process that will be used next year to choose the members of the Wikimedia Foundation's board who sit in the "chapter-selected" seats, We would appreciate any comments you have on this process, so we can feed them back before it is approved. First, I'll summarise the background as best as I can, for those who aren't familiar. Apologies if I state something thay everyone knows! Wikipedia, Commons, Wikinews and the other projects are owned by the Wikimedia Foundation, a US charity incorporated in Florida. In April 2008, the Foundation announced [1] a change in the way the Foundation's Board is made up: in the future, it will consist of ten members, as follows: - Three members elected by the Wikimedia community (registered users who have made more than a certain number of edits) - Two members selected by the 21 recognised chapters throughout the world - Four "specific expertise" members appointed by the Board - One "community founder" member being Jimmy Wales The three elected seats will be decided in July 2009 and every two years thereafter. The chapters were asked to fill the two chapter seats as soon as possible and then in odd years thereafter. First they were asked to draft a process that would be agreed by the Foundation and then to select two people following that process. In the event, the chapters moved to discuss nominations before the process had been agreed by the Foundation; following discussions at the Chapters Meeting in Berlin in April a compromise was proposed: to maintain continuity, the current chair was nominated alongside the top person to come out of the discussions. This was eventually accepted by a majority of the chapters and the new people were appointed a few days ago [2]. Wikimedia UK only joined the discussions at the end - only after we were formally recognised as a chapter in January. So that the process is cleaner in 2010, the chapters want to prepare a formal process so that this can be approved by the Foundation Board before the nomination begins again. The current proposal for this process is at [3] with proposed changed at [4]. I've copied the proposal below. At this stage, Wikimedia UK has been asked to give its input into what we think the process should be. A committee of 2/3 people will then be appointed from all the chapters to re-draft the process which will then come back to us for approval. ==== Proposal: Every even numbered year the chapters will select two people to take seats on The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) board. The chapters and WMF board agree that these board members are not intended to represent the chapters, they are expected to act in the best interests of the WMF at all times. These selections will be made by 1st July of each year. The following steps will be taken: 1. By 1st April: The chapters will appoint a moderator to manage the election. This is intended to be very simple, sometime a few weeks before that date someone should nominate a moderator and if no-one objects (which they should only do if they have a serious problem with the candidate's ability to do the job in an fair and impartial manner) that person will be moderator. The moderator should not be a candidate, but they can participate in the process. The moderator is responsible for keeping the community updated with the progress through this process and will serve as liaison to the WMF board. 2. By 1st May: Chapters will nominate at most two candidates each by supplying the following information on the chapters wiki: 1. The name of the nominee 2. The name of the nominating chapter 3. A statement from the chapter in support of the nominee 4. A statement from the nominee in support of themselves, confirming they are willing and eligible to take a seat on the WMF board 3. From 1st May to 15th June: The chapters will discuss the candidates on the chapters wiki and will attempt to reach a consensus on which two to select. If, at any time during this period, the moderator feels a consensus has been reached he will clearly state who he/she believes the chapters have chosen and if no chapter has objected after a week, those nominees will be selected and the moderator will inform the WMF board. If a chapter objects, the chapters will go back to discussion. This process can be repeated as many times as appropriate during the period. 4. If no consensus has been reached by 15th June the moderator will announce a vote. Each chapter will vote for two candidates by posting on the chapters wiki and, on 1st July, the moderator will count the votes and the two candidates with the most votes will be selected and the moderator will inform the WMF board. In the event of a tie, the moderator will toss a coin. The method(s) used by individual chapters to make any decisions required of them are entirely up to the chapter in question, however chapters are advised that the names of candidates and any discussion and votes are confidential and should be restricted to the chapters wiki. [1] http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees/Restructure_Announcem… [2] http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2009-May/052037.html [3] http://chapters.wikimedia.ch/Committee_proposals#Process_for_the_future (note: limited availability) [4] http://chapters.wikimedia.ch/Talk:Appointment_process/Committee_proposals#C… (note: limited availability)