I'm pretty sure it was at least the year before,
though I could be
wrong. I don't agree that arbcom is irrelevant to WP editors
generally speaking.
Neither do I, because it wasn't a claim I was making, although perhaps I
could have been clearer in my wording and said that there is a sizable group
of active Wikipedians, perhaps a majority, who perceive ArbCom, when they
perceive it at all, as irrelevant to them. That said, your other points are
pretty much valid, although I am not sure that even everyone who has the
time to become informed prior to voting will have the inclination to do so.
Daniel Case