[Foundation-l] Omidyar Network Commits $2 Million Grant to Wikimedia Foundation

[Nathan]

On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Kropotkine_113 <Kropotkine113 at free.fr>wrote:

> Just few questions to make my opinion.
>
> Has Matt Halprin been designated to the Board by the Nominating Commitee
> (NOMCOM) ? This is explicity required if I read correctly this page :
>
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees/Restructure_Announcement_Q%26A
>
> If he has, when ? Before or after the 2M$ grant negociation ?
>
> Does he fulfill the Nomitanig Commitee selection criterion : "Membership
> in the Wikimedia community" ?
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nominating_Committee/Selection_criteria#General_needed_traits
>
> Where is the list of the other candidates designated by the NOMCOM ?
>
> Could we see the discussions and the recommandations of the nominating
> commitee ?
>
> Is it possible to know which member of the Board of Trustees agree this
> appointment ? Or at least juste the repartition support/against in the
> Board ?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kropotkine_113
>


You're misunderstanding the role of the nominating committee and the
selection criteria page. The criteria page, as it notes, is for
brainstorming the type of candidate characteristics the Board needs. The
nominating committee is a group of folks whose role is to help the board
locate promising candidates. Authority to appoint Board members (elected or
otherwise) rests with the Board.

The agita over Halprin's appointment is a little overwrought. Allusions to
community upset or hints at conflicts of interest won't be taken seriously
unless some evidence of an actual problem can be presented. In what
situations precisely will a conflict of interest occur? What evidence is
there that the wider community has any problem with this at all, or is
likely to, aside from a few high-volume Foundation-l posters?

I'm amazed that it hasn't ever hit some people that a confrontational and
self-righteous approach is quite rarely effective at getting results when
your voice is your only power.

Nathan