[Foundation-l] Call for nominations: chapter-appointed seats on the WMF Board of Trustees

[Béria Lima]

>
> *The board members are to be selected by completely unstructured
> discussion, with consensus judged by the moderators. The process even seems
> to allow for the discussion to reach its conclusion in person, with no
> permanent records, at the Chapters Meeting. If the discussion reaches no
> consensus, or the consensus determination of the moderators is challenged,
> a "vote" will be held - in public, on a wiki page.
> *


Before all - as I said before -  the vote will be held in a *private* wiki,
not a public one.

Yes, we do allow people to reach consensus first. Vote is only the last
resource. Why? Because that is how we do things in Wikimedia Projects. In a
community seat might be impossible, but in this case are only 38 opinions
(remember that aren't people we are discussing here, but chapters) and I do
believe that we can reach a consensus.

*Other than confidentiality, no guidance is provided to the chapters on how
> to select their preferred candidate - nor on which chapter representatives
> can participate in the discussion on the chapters-wiki. If any chapter
> member can participate, doesn't that unduly advantage native English
> speakers and their chapters? If only some, how are they to be selected?*
>

Any chapter person can participate in the discussion held in chapters wiki.
How the chapters select who (or how many people) will speak for them -
again - is up to them. I know that might sound scary to "process-lovers"
but is how we work on this.

*Is there some threshold for participation beneath which the current Board
> might refuse to certify the results? *


I do really LOVE when you people ask questions that has already been
answered by a document, but let's quote again (again from
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Bylaws_amendments_and_board_structure):


* Chapter-selected members must meet the requirements of applicable state
or federal law for Board membership. In the event that a candidate is
selected who does not meet the requirements of Subsection (A) or other
requirements of these Bylaws, or of applicable state or federal law, the
Board will (i) not approve the selected candidate, (ii) declare a vacancy
on the Board, and (iii) request that the chapters select a new Trustee to
fill the resulting vacancy, subject to this section and to Section 6 below.*



> *Are we really sure that the chapters represent enough Wikimedians to
> merit two seats on the Board selected in such an opaque manner?*
>

We are representing *Chapters* here, not the community (always good to
remember) and yes, there is enough people in chapters to make that a
representative election.
_____
*Béria Lima*
 <http://wikimedia.pt/>(351) 925 171 484

*Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter
livre acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. Ajude-nos a
construir esse sonho. <http://wikimedia.pt/Donativos>*


On 1 February 2012 12:14, Nathan <nawrich at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm interested in answers to the procedural questions, too.
>
> It's seems like a quixotic process, as laid out on the meta page. The board
> members are to be selected by completely unstructured discussion, with
> consensus judged by the moderators. The process even seems to allow for the
> discussion to reach its conclusion in person, with no permanent records, at
> the Chapters Meeting. If the discussion reaches no consensus, or the
> consensus determination of the moderators is challenged, a "vote" will be
> held - in public, on a wiki page.
>
> Other than confidentiality, no guidance is provided to the chapters on how
> to select their preferred candidate - nor on which chapter representatives
> can participate in the discussion on the chapters-wiki. If any chapter
> member can participate, doesn't that unduly advantage native English
> speakers and their chapters? If only some, how are they to be selected?
>
> Additionally, Beria Lima says that chapters-wiki is mirrored on meta - but
> the process page[1] refers to chapters-wiki as confidential, and says that
> discussion of candidates' real names should be restricted to that wiki so
> that only members can see it.
>
> This whole thing seems pretty ad hoc and amateurish for an organization
> that is trying to be more robust and modern about its practices. Is there a
> background check? Is there some threshold for participation beneath which
> the current Board might refuse to certify the results? Are we really sure
> that the chapters represent enough Wikimedians to merit two seats on the
> Board selected in such an opaque manner?
>
> [1]: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapter-selected_Board_seats
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