[Foundation-l] Wikimedia Board Elections

[Jussi-Ville Heiskanen]

On 9/16/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales at wikia.com> wrote:
> It is very very important that everyone vote.

Totally.


> I personally strongly strongly support the candidacies of Oscar and
> Mindspillage.

So do I. I will add that no-one, but no-one should feel that they
shouldn't vote for Mindspillage because she is US-based. They should
vote for the best candidates from which-ever country. My personal
biggest regret is that an excellent candidate from the US, Daniel
Meyer was not elected in the first ever foundation elections. No-one
knows if that was because Daniel comes from the United States, but if
it was, please, please, let us not make the same mistake this time
around. Vote for the wisest people you know, regardless of gender or
nationality, or sexual orientation, or whatever consideration other
than character. Remember that the board can, should it feel that there
is a relevant imbalance in the board in any respect, in its wisdom
balance *itself* by _appointing_ new members, and *do* trust that if
you vote wise members to the board, they will be able to assess the
need to balance itself by whom they appoint into their own number.

> Oscar is an amazing Dutch Wikipedian with strong support from that
> community but who does not have broad exposure in the English
> Wikipedia... I hope we can change that by introducing him to people.

While I don't know Oscar from extended personal interaction,
everything I hear and have observed bears this out.

> Mindspillage is Mindspillage.  We all know and love her.  Give her some
> votes.
>
> There are other candidates, some good, but at least some of them are
> entirely unacceptable because they have proven themselves repeatedly
> unable to work well with the community.
>
> Please, everyone, vote... and vote for people who you can know and trust
> and care about as human beings.
>
> I invite an open discussion here of the candidates.  This is your
> community, speak openly of who you trust and why.
>
> --Jimbo

This is directly to you, Jimbo. I say what you have done above, is
very courageous. Exposing yourself to criticism for trying to
influence the vote. And let me be clear, every word in the previous
two sentences should be construed at face value, no sarcasm, no irony,
just what the words themselves denote.

Let me take the opportunity here to openly and concretely address the
question of how the new elected board should approach the question of
appointing a replacement for Tim Shell when his resignation is due. My
personal strong feeling is that instead of choosing one appointed
member, the board should appoint two, and appoint them as *permanent*,
life members of the board . Daniel Meyer and Angela Beesley. Their
conduct has clearly demonstrated that they have at every turn put the
good of the foundation above their own. The fact that Angela Beesley
resigned the board when she saw it having developed in an unhealthy
way, demonstrates clearly that she is just the kind of person who
*can* be trusted to guard the overall and longtime disposition of the
board. Besides his awesome number of edits, Daniel Meyer stayed the
course as Chief Financial Officer, despite the fact that his job was
made challenging by problems of timely action by the board.

Angela and Daniel are both members from the community, and of the
community, and if we *do*, as I think we should do, elect permanent
members to the board, to ensure long-term stability, there are no two
people better to accomplish this. I repeat, no two people from the
community that I know could do better in this respect. I still
maintain, that if people from *outside* the community be appointed to
the board, by the board, they should serve a limited term just as the
elected community representatives do.

-- 
--
Jussi-Ville Heiskanen, AKA. Cimon Avaro

Candidate for Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation in the
September 2006 elections.