Hi,
I'm surprised that reaction to Sue's question about a "seat" on the
WMUK board is still going on. To clarify, *the WMF have made no such
request*. As far as I can work out this is only Sue's fishing
expedition and I suggest we don't over-react to it. Be assured that
the trustees have had robust discussions about the nature of Sue's
letter and appreciate the context of quite different positive messages
from the WMF board members.
The WMF board or any of their representatives are welcome to sit on
*every* WMUK board meeting, ask as many questions as they want and add
agenda items for our discussion. As far as I am concerned if 70
members of WMF staff want to watch the trustees live on camera and
critique every word remotely, they are more than welcome to do that
too. I would encourage it, as I would love this to embarrass the WMF
board into being more open about their own affairs and internal
discussions.
There are no plans to make a proposal to change our constitution to
allow the WMF to have a voting seat on the board, so I think it is
safe to say this would be unrealistically late to consider introducing
it at our forthcoming AGM, even if the WMF did make such a bizarre
request. I agree with the earlier point about being fed up with
talking about constitutional changes. There is plenty that we can
cater for by simple policy and procedure. Necessary changes, such as
two year terms for trustees, are already being discussed at
<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Annual_Conference_2012/AGM_Resolutions>
and if you are interested in this sort of thing, please do read
through and make suggestions for improvement.
Now; if you would like to help with a timely issue of governance, you
might want to join in the
<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapters_Council> discussion or start
a new thread on this list. Roger Bamkin, Jon Davis and I will be
joining the Chapters Conference at the end of this month, so feedback
from our members would help our discussions to ensure that the new
Chapters Council firmly addresses the real issues that the WMF are so
worried about when it comes to financial controls and accountability
for chapter fundraising and grant management.
Cheers,
Fae
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