Thank you for that statement, James.
I am principally concerned about an allegation that James leaked
confidential information. If that is true, then that could be a serious
problem and I can see how that would lead other trustees to feel that the
"least bad" option is to remove James from the Board. Also, if that
accusation is true, I think we as a community would be concerned about
James' suitability for other roles in the community that involve
confidentiality.
On the other hand, the Board's handling of this situation is a cause of
significant concern. Some of the Board's actions to this point have been
inconsistent with the standards of professionalism that I feel that the
employees, donors, and community would reasonably expect from one of the
world's most visible open-knowledge organizations.
I would propose an investigation into the facts and circumstances of this
situation by an outside party which has expertise in governance matters.
It seems to me that the alternative to an external investigation is to have
(another) long-running dispute about governance at WMF, which I think would
be a far worse outcome than anything resulting from an external
investigation that leads to public knowledge of the facts and appropriate
steps being taken to address any issues that come to light in the report.
I regret that we are dealing with this difficult situation on New Year's. I
hope that this is a learning opportunity for all of us.
Pine
2016-01-02 1:31 GMT+01:00 James Heilman
<jmh649(a)gmail.com>om>:
Dear all
I have been accused of three things:
1.
Giving staff unrealistic expectations regarding potential board
decisions. I have always stated to staff that I only represented 10%
of
the
board and have never given assurances that I could convince other
trustees.
I would be interested in hearing staff weigh in on this accusation
but I
consider it unfounded.
1.
Releasing private board information. I have not made public, private
board discussions during my time on the board. I have however pushed
for
greater transparency both within the WMF and
with our communities. I
have
made myself informed by discussing issues with trusted staff and
community
members and used independent judgement.
1.
Publishing the statement about my removal on Wikimedia-l. I was not
asked by other board members at any time before its publication to
produce
a joint statement or to delay publishing the statement I had put
together a
few days prior. The first proposal to collaborate I believe was by
myself
here
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2015-December/080502.html
I was also not informed that the meeting was
going to continue for the
purpose of producing such a statement.
I have always acted in what I believe are the best interests of the
movement and the WMF.
--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
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