[Foundation-l] Volunteer Council - A shot for a resolution

[Dan Rosenthal]

I think that a volunteer council is a great and well needed idea. I  
don't think that a preliminary council, flying by the seat of their  
pants and figuring out their jobs and authority as they go is at all a  
good idea. I especially don't like one that is already secretive about  
who will be on it. There are, for instance, some people that I would  
not support on a volunteer council under any situation. There are  
other people who would probably count me among that number. Brigitte  
said it absolutely best: with a group like this WHO [is on it] is  
probably the most important factor, possibly even more so than WHAT  
[does it do]; especially since who is on the council will define what  
they are able to do.

-Dan
On Mar 12, 2008, at 6:17 PM, effe iets anders wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> As many of you probably already know, one of the major returning
> discussions, both on this mailing list as on meetings, is the one  
> concerning
> a representative body for volunteers, the Volunteer Council (a.k.a.  
> the Wiki
> Council) - being discussed at least since may 2005. In these  
> discussions, I
> did not note a significant opposition against the concept.
> This is why I thik that, roughly 1.5-2 months since the last  
> discussion
> faded out, it is now time to take the next step. Therefore, I drew  
> up a
> resolution for the Board of Trustees, after reviewing previous  
> discussions
> and discussing (the wordings of) this resolution with Anthere and
> Eclecticology.
>
> During the last discussions, it was clear that most of the  
> participants
> disagreed on a lot of the details of this Council. The size, shape,
> representivity, exact purposes, the authority etc. However, all the  
> time, it
> *was* clear that we all agreed at least on the basic concepts, and in
> january it was suggested to get things going by just having a  
> preliminary
> volunteer council. The members of this preliminary council would be
> appointed by the Board. The main purpose would already be defined, see
> below, but the execution of it's rights would be limited to giving  
> advice
> and setting up internal regulations until a definitive Volunteer  
> Council
> could be set up. This preliminary Council would have the main task of
> setting up guidelines and rules, exact purposes and all required  
> details,
> the relationship with the Board and if required changes of bylaws in a
> proposal. This proposal/report should be offered to the Wikimedia  
> Foundation
> Board of Trustees by september, which would have the opportunity to  
> confirm
> the Volunteer Council in it's status, and accept or refuse the  
> proposed
> changes.
>
> Please note that this proposal is a compromise between several views  
> on this
> topic, and that it is unlikely that you are 100% satisfied by it. So  
> please
> don't shoot on the details you disagree with, because others will  
> probably
> in their turn disagree with your views on it. However, I would like  
> to ask
> you to state your support if you support the proposal, or state that  
> you
> feel there are major flaws if you feel like that. I created a meta
> discussion page for this purpose:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikicouncil/Resolution . Please  
> note
> that this is in no way a poll or vote.
>
> I hope that the community agrees with the proposal, and that we can  
> ask the
> community representatives on the Board to put this resolution on the  
> agenda
> of the next Board Meeting, in San Francisco. I cinserely hope that  
> this
> proposal will make it finally. It would be three years since the first
> proposal was set up on meta.
>
> Finally, a rather practical point. As you can see in the resolution,  
> there
> is a statement at the bottom about Names. I chose not to publish a  
> list of
> names at all, I have not finished it anyway, as I would not like  
> this to
> become a public pig fight with naming and shaming and everything. I  
> will
> propose a list of candidates to the Community representative(s) on the
> Board, together with the resolution, which will hopefully be a good
> representation of all volunteers.
> If you feel that you could, or you know someone who would make a good
> candidate, and that has time and willingness to serve on this  
> Preliminary
> Council, to extensively discuss the report to the Board of  
> september, please
> e-mail me privately. I am planning to come up with a shortlist of  
> 10-15
> volunteer candidates, with different backgrounds, from different  
> corners of
> the communities, and with different views on this matter - of course  
> also
> consulting some others. Note that you will most likely have to  
> identify
> yourself to the Foundation as any other WMF official (and be 18+ etc),
> although the final decision on this matter lies with the Board.
>
> I hope all these processes will run smoothly, and that we will have  
> a real
> Volunteer Council up and running by October!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Lodewijk
>
> -----------------------------------
> PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL
> -----------------------------------
>
> Whereas,
> *The Board recognizes the value of the volunteers in the Wikimedia  
> projects
> and that their work is the very reason of their success.
> *The Board values the opinions of these volunteers, and takes them  
> into
> serious consideration when discussing issues involving the volunteers.
> *The Board is of the opinion that these volunteers should have a  
> strong say
> in changes in the articles of incorporation and the bylaws of the  
> Wikimedia
> Foundation.
> *The Board considers a Volunteer Council as a valuable intermediate  
> between
> the Communities and the Foundation, and as a good instrument to hear  
> the
> voice of the volunteers.
>
> it is hereby resolved that:
> * The Board of Trustees hereby creates a Volunteer Council, to serve  
> as a
> valuable complement to the Staff, Advisory Board and Board of  
> Trustees.
>
> Without restricting the generality of this provision the purposes of  
> the
> Volunteer Council shall include:
> 1) Offering advice and support on issues relevant to the Wikimedia
> Volunteers,
> 2) Recommanding the opening or closure of Wikimedia projects,
> 3) Approving changes to the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the
> Wikimedia Foundation and
> 4) Assist in establishing a clear seperation between the legal
> responsibilities of the Wikimedia Foundation as an Internet Service  
> Provider
> and the community decisions for the Wikimedia Projects.
>
> The members from the Volunteer Council must be volunteers within  
> Wikimedia.
>
> The Provisional Volunteer Council shall report to the Board no later  
> than
> September 1, 2008, which report shall include recommendations  
> regarding the
> number and composition of the Volunteer Council, and how the members  
> of the
> Council shall be chosen. Said report shall also include  
> recommendations
> regarding the distribution of rights and responsibilities between  
> the Board
> and Council, and any changes in the by-laws that may be necessary to
> implement this.
>
> Except where it pertains to its own procedures, no decision of the
> Provisional Volunteer Council shall bind any person.
>
> On receipt of the said report the Board shall take such steps as it  
> deems
> necessary to confirm and empower the Volunteer Council, and provide  
> for a
> transition of operations from the Provisional Volunteer Council.
>
> Members of the Volunteer Council will not be financially compensated  
> for
> their activity. On approval by the Board of Trustees expenses of the
> Provisional Volunteer Council and Volunteer Council in the  
> fulfillment of
> their duties may be reimbursed.
>
> The following people are hereby appointed as member of the Provisional
> Volunteer Council:
>
> ### (12-20?) NAMES ###
>
> The members of the Provisional Volunteer Council may on a 2/3 vote  
> of all
> its members add such additional members as they may deem necessary and
> useful to their deliberations.
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