[Foundation-l] Board response on Volunteer Council

[Michael Snow]

Michael Snow wrote:
> At this stage, the board has decided not to take action on the proposal 
> to develop a Volunteer Council. We thank everyone who put the time and 
> effort into formulating and discussing this proposal. Although the board 
> did not find a clear fit for this proposal in the formal structure of 
> the Wikimedia Foundation, we didn't rule out the possibility that the 
> Wikimedia project communities might organize this or another type of 
> council for their own benefit.
>   
Not speaking on behalf of the board generally, I'll share some of my 
personal opinion here. I can see some potential benefit to a volunteer 
council or similar body, but more clearly in a function of 
self-government for the community, where this may be lacking. That is to 
say, not so much to be involved in foundation-level operations, but to 
allow the foundation to avoid interfering where it is not wanted and 
does not want to be.

For example, I don't think we as the board should really be approving 
stewards, or new arbitration committees on projects. Those are affairs 
for the community to handle on its own, other than that the foundation 
may want to have those people be personally identifiable. I could 
imagine that starting projects in new languages (as opposed to launching 
entirely new projects) might fit under this heading as well. So I 
encourage people to keep looking at the idea, and I would support 
developments that allow the community to govern itself instead of 
lapsing into anarchy.

--Michael Snow