[Foundation-l] Where we are headed

[Anthony DiPierro]

On 6/3/06, Anthere <Anthere9 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Anthony DiPierro wrote:
> > Well, I'm personally a big believer that there needs to be a competent
> > central figure during this process.  Maybe you agree with me, and
> > maybe you don't.  I'm also a big believer that Jimbo, the only current
> > candidate, is *not* competent at such a task.
> >
> > So hey, if you could convince the board that you have what it takes,
> > I'd say hire *you* [referring to Gavin] as interim CEO.  Unlike some others I don't think
> > the interim CEO has to have a tremendous resume as a top leader of
> > huge organizations - someone with the experience you describe would
> > probably be good enough, and probably a *lot* cheaper.
>
> I'd say that right now, we need a CEO who understands plainly what our
> troubles are. It is not the case of Gavin right at the moment. I can't
> speak of the future :-)
>
I don't think it would be hard to explain to Gavin what Wikimedia's
troubles are.  Now that I look back on what he said of them: "We don't
know what to do next and we need help deciding what to do", I see how
that could be taken one of two ways.  One way, that the Wikimedia
board is unclear on its mission, is quite plainly false.  The other
interpretation, that the Wikimedia board has no clue how best to
organize itself so as to accomplish that mission, seems to hit the
nail right on the head.

If you have a different opinion as to what the main trouble is, I for
one would like to hear it.  Maybe you've already said it though, and I
missed it.  I know you were complaining before about lack of help, but
I don't think there actually is a lack of help, just a lack of the
organization needed to match the help up with the work that needs to
be done.

> > Maybe you'd even be willing to take on such a role for free.  If so,
> > even better.
> >
> > As an alternative it'd be nice to get someone with your type of
> > experience on the board.  Preferably as an additional member, but if
> > Jimbo's control issues won't allow the board to expand then maybe Ant
> > or Angela would be willing to step down (we could give her some sort
> > of new title like "Volunteer advocate" and an advisory position).
>
> It is nice to see how quickly you would like to get rid of the community
> representatives :-) Don't worry, there is a chance that happen.
>
Umm, no, I wasn't suggesting getting rid of the community
representatives, I was suggesting that Gavin *be* one of the community
representatives.  Of course I was basing this on the fact that the
board seems to be admitting that it doesn't know what its doing.
Maybe this isn't the case, in which case I wonder what's the need to
hire a CEO.

> Perhaps... I must clarify something here. I think that legally speaking,
> the decision to expand the board is not in the sole hands of Jimbo. It
> is a decision which should be made by the board. In short, if 4 members
> vote expanding the board and Jimbo votes against, expansion will occur.
>
Sure, but it is my understanding that it's unlikely to convince
Michael Davis and Tim Shell to vote for expansion of the board unless
Jimbo agrees to it.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Hopefully I'm wrong.

> Current problem is to define whether board members should be appointed
> and/or elected, as well as the proportionality of community members
> versus external members. External should be appointed, but the question
> was whether community members should be appointed only, elected only or
> a mix of the two. Note that in case of election only, Gavin probably has
> no chance to be on the board as a community representative. We could
> possibly imagine a solution such as 2 community members elected every
> year for 2 years. Plus 5 appointed.
>
"Should a Trustee resign, become incapacitated or otherwise be unable
to serve the remaining Trustees shall appoint an interim
representative if such Trustee was a Member Representative until such
time as a new election can be held to fill such office at the next
annual election."  So if the board agreed, I guess it depends whether
or not Gavin could manage to do his magic before the next annual
election.  Of course, I see no reason why Gavin would have no chance
to be elected as a community representative, especially if he had
already performed well as an interim community representative.

> > Of course, all of this is dependent on you being 1) willing, and 2)
> > able to demonstrate your ability to handle the task.  And it goes
> > equally well for anyone on this list who can convince Jimbo that ey
> > can do it.
>
> If Jimbo is the only one to decide who to appoint, yes.
>
Is there an archive somewhere of all the historical board votes?  I'd
be interested in seeing it.

Overall, it's really hard to find information about what it is the
board and its members have been doing.