[Foundation-l] Board size

[Florence Devouard]

Stephen Bain wrote:
> Silly me, I forgot to replace the subject properly.
> 
> On 9/11/07, Stephen Bain <stephen.bain at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I don't know whether the Board wants community input on this or not,
>> but I suspect there will be community members who would like to give
>> their input anyway.
>>
>> From the "Board meeting planned in october" thread:
>>
>> On 9/10/07, Florence Devouard <anthere at anthere.org> wrote:
>>> During the board meeting, there should be discussions over whether to
>>> expand the board to 9, or keep it for now at 7. A couple of names are
>>> currently floating around.
>>> There may be a change in the terms of the appointed members.
>> Based on the board expansion resolution of December last year [1], I
>> would have expected that the Board would be expanded to 9 in July next
>> year, with three more elected seats to be up for election at that
>> time.
>>
>> --
>> [1] http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Board_expansion
>>
>> --
>> Stephen Bain
>> stephen.bain at gmail.com


Nod. However, Erik expressed the desire to expand the board earlier 
(december I presume or later ?). If so, it would be by appointment probably.

I am not so supportive of the idea of expanding the board right now.
We are just getting out of a pretty difficult year, and finally seeing 
the end of a black tunnel. With the executive now in place, new staff 
members planned in the near future, we have many new opportunities ahead 
of us.

After much storming, the board is finally enjoying a little bit of 
peace, at least a decrease in the feeling of urgency. An opportunity to 
finally step back and reflect on the general strategy and do its 
oversight job.

I do think that the organization can only benefit from a bit of 
stability. Frieda has not yet been fully integrated and oriented. I 
would see the arrival of two new members as a significant disturbance, 
even if both would be very motivated to get involved in new projects.

Also, there is this requirement to replace Michael. This is a big deal. 
We took a lot of care to hire Sue, I believe we should put just as much 
care in getting a new treasurer. SO there will be one more newcomer, 
with all the implications in terms of orientation and new balance 
between members.

I am also hesitant of what is currently the interest of having more 
board members join. If it is to get the benefits of more hard workers, I 
think it is not the right way to do this. Board members should not be 
here to do the job of missing staff.

The only benefits I would see in expanding the board would be
* to add more stability if the board was unstable (and frankly, I do not 
think it is the case)
* to add more skills, such as finances or fundraising. If so, the right 
way to do it is to first define skills to complete and then find the 
candidates.

Skills in finances will be the area of the future treasurer.
Fundraising would be nice, but I am not aware that we have such a 
profile around us.


Ant