Hi all -
Maria's appointment should be viewed as a replacement to that of Arnnon Geshuri. I like her, and I think she'd stand a fair chance in a community election, but she is not and cannot be described as a community selected trustee at present. It's perfectly possible for boards to have members on it that don't get along, even of large organizations. I've been a trustee of a sizable organization and had significant disagreements with at least one other trustee - more significant than those between Jimmy and James. The fact that there is animosity between board members isn't a barrier to having a productive board. It's disingenious, at best, to say that James was dismissed because he spoke out about the knowledge engine, etc. James had conversations with employees not related to the knowledge engine, but related to other significant issues at the WMF. It's best practice to inform the ED when board talks to staff, but only if informing the ED would not harm the purpose of those conversations - and in this case it would. I'm also going to state here that I've had a number of conversations with employees in the same time frame James was having them, and that combined with other details is why I am absolutely convinced they were necessary.
One of the first leveled and oftened returned to statements as to why James was removed was that he had conversations with employees that were inappropriate. Every employee who has come forward stating they had conversations with James has stated that those conversations were necessary, and exactly the type of conversation that a trustee should be having when the situation has gotten to a point where they are, unfortunately, necessary. James had the trust of both the community and many WMF employees, which is why so many people who felt they needed to talk went to him. I have no doubt that many other trustees were doing important less visible work, many probably even about the same problem, but James was handling an element of it - direct communication with employees - that was absolutely necessary for the continued success of the Foundation, even if all other aspects had been handled.
It's unfortunate that James and Jimmy have gotten in to it in public, but - I hate to say this, but there's no other way around it - Jimmy should be embarassed. He's been exceptionally disrespectful of a respected community member, but worse than that, he's flat out lied on multiple occasions about the situation involving James. If someone challenges me on that statement, as I have time, I will compile a list of diffs and archived emails in which he's done so. If the situation between James and Jimmy is such that a healthy board dynamic with both as trustees is not possible, then frankly Jimmy should step down, or at a minimum give up the concept of a Founder's seat, convert it to a community elected seat, stay on as a board member until the next elections, and then run as an ordinary community member in the next set of elections.
I think it should also be stated for the public record that Jimmy was the individual who pushed for Lila's stay to be extended (and I like Lila, I really do,) and for trustees to not speak with the day to day WMF employees that have formed the backbone of the WMF side of the movement. I also don't know who put the FAQ together, but want to point out that it's not factually accurate to say that James cannot run in the next elections, as at least one official FAQ stated at one point. That would be true if he was a community ELECTED board member removed for cause. He wasn't, so the relevant provision doesn't apply, and he's eligible to run again as soon as there are faux-elections again.
---- Kevin Gorman
On Sat, Feb 27, 2016 at 8:26 AM, James Heilman jmh649@gmail.com wrote:
I am willing to return to my seat on the board and continue to push for greater transparency and improved WMF / community relations. Otherwise I plan to run in the next community (s)election.
Lila's stepping down is an important first step towards putting the WMF back together again and I would like to thank the current board for taking that step. We have a number of C-levels who are able to do an excellent job as interim ED. I will post more about this soon but am just heading out to ski.
-- James Heilman MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
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