[Foundation-l] Board resolutions (chapters)

[Gerard Meijssen]

Hoi,
The city of Moscow would be refused a chapter.
Thanks,
     GerardM

2009/1/20 Nathan <nawrich at gmail.com>

> Ziko,
>
> The United States previously had no chapter, no organization in which
> members of the community could gain membership and organize events,
> activities and pursuits independent from the legal organization of
> Wikimedia.
>
> The state of New York has 20 million people. What country in Europe or
> anywhere else of 20 million people would be refused a chapter? On what
> basis
> should such a chapter be denied? That people oppose the creation of a New
> York chapter, and thus limiting American community members in a way
> non-American community members are not limited, on the basis that it
> somehow
> creates an imbalance... I find it hard to credit. Nothing in a New York
> chapter should be interpreted as reducing the power over Wikimedia of
> Europeans. It should be noted that there are a number of non-American
> members of the Board, and neither the director nor the deputy director of
> the organization is American.
>
> Nathan
>
> On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 8:49 AM, Ziko van Dijk <zvandijk at googlemail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > First, I do not want to diminish the happiness of the New Yorkers having
> a
> > chapter making their activities easier. But I do think very negative
> about
> > this step of the Board, both for emotional and practical reasons.
> >
> > Emotional: Having a NYC chapter next to the French, German etc. makes
> > France, Germany etc. look the equals to New York. It makes the Wikimedia
> > Foundation look an American organization that has regional chapters in
> the
> > 50 states, and also has some afiliates in the "colonies" (France, Germany
> > etc.). As Gerard has said, some countries are more equal than others.
> >
> > Practical: When I once talked with Arne Klempert about the possibility of
> > an
> > Esperanto or Latin or Alemannic chapter, he explained to me that
> Wikimedia
> > accepts only chapters within international boundaries, one chapter per
> > country. There is a German, Austrian, and a Swiss chapter, not a German
> > language or a French language chapter. If this would not be so, if we
> would
> > have chapters based on something else, we would get into a lot of
> trouble.
> > And he easily convinced me, because I know similar problems from other
> > organizations.
> >
> > Allowing sub national chapters (or super national chapters) is giving
> wrong
> > ideas to a lot of people. If we did not deny a chapter to the New
> Yorkers,
> > how can we deny it to other regions, minorities etc.? (Or prevent that
> > personal conflicts are realized on the level of regions?)
> >
> > Some more questions:
> > * NYC chapter does not clearly define its borders, talks about a region
> > where it wants to be active. What if other Wikimedians wants to create a
> > chapter in a city that is now in the New York chapter region? When a
> North
> > Eastern US Chapter knocks on the door of WMF, will the NYC chapter be
> happy
> > about and volontarily dissolve?
> >
> > * Ethnically divided countries: Belgium, for example: What if one group
> of
> > Belgian Wikimedians wants to create a Belgian chapter, but others want
> > three
> > regional chapters (Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia)?
> >
> > * Minorities without region: What if there is an Estonian chapter, but
> > Russian speaking people there demand a chapter of their own?
> >
> > * When the chapters are going to work together more than now, and are
> going
> > to elect WMF board members: Will one chapter have one vote? Will there be
> > 50
> > US chapters with 50 votes, and one French chapter with one vote?
> >
> > * Isn't it much easier for WMF to relate to a limited number of national
> > chapters than with a potentially unlimited number of national, sub
> > national,
> > or super national chapters?
> >
> > It might have been better to consider the NYC chapter indeed as a "sub
> > chapter", a stand-in until there will be an US chapter.
> >
> > Kind regards
> >
> > Ziko
> >
> >
> >
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