[Wikimediaindia-l] Time to assume good faith and carry on ++

Mon Feb 14 17:21:51 UTC 2011

Well said, Ashwin ...

A few good things... Some mistakes .. some goof ups...lots
of misunderstandings, concerns and anger..We are all tired... But it is time
to move on.

Let us discuss how we can be more productive, instead of any personal
mudslinging. A few humble suggestions from my side.

1) There is a wide spread agreement for the need for more admins for the
India mailing list. It is important that these people should be neutral, and
in good standing & possibly not connected with the chapter or EC.

2) Let us appreciate the hard work and the struggle behind setting up the
chapter ( by the current EC members and many others) through a very painful
registration process.

3) Like Ashwin commented, let us give some time for the chapter to stablise
and operate. It is an important action item from the chapter to open the
membership asap and conduct a general body meeting as time permits.

4) It is important that there is a clear communication between the chapter /
EC and the community. Hence forth, it will be good that
the Executive committee announce the agenda of the meetings and make public
the meeting minutes & resolutions as early as possible.

5) Re-electing office bearers among the EC members each time is a very bad
idea, IMHO. Even if there is any plan of such re-election, kindly announce
the elections in public & in advance. How & Why the election takes place is
still a dark area for all of us..In future, we would like to know who voted
for whom or whether the election was unanimous and the reason why a
re-election is needed in the first place. Request not to redirect us to MoA
as a reason for re-elections.

6) In line with the process of Wikimedia Foundation itself,  the resolutions
of EC should be made public with information on who supported, opposed and
abstained. A collective decision doesn't mean right to individual members'
stand, objection & opinion can be ignored or go undisclosed.

7) I think it is a good idea to have a non-voting member, appointed by the
Wikimedia Foundation in the EC as an observer ( future National Program
Director ?) . The member must have no voting rights but have access to
meetings and exec mailing list. This member should be in good standing with
Foundation , other EC members and the community in general.

8) Any international travel representing the India chapter should be
announced.

9) It is important to ask hard questions on this mailing list to
ensure transparency & accountability , but kindly avoid personal attacks.
Time to formulate an email etiquette policy page for the India list ?

10) This mailing list continues to unmoderated except with those mails which
are obvious spam.

11) The India chapter should be/will be a great enabler for the growth of
the Wikimedia movement in the country. Let us support it whole-heartedly.

All the best wishes.

Regards
Tinu Cherian

On Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 12:30 PM, Ashwin Baindur
<ashwin.baindur at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> I think the time has come to assume good faith and let the office
> bearers get their act together. We have had enough emails expressing
> the community's concerns at lack of transparency, lack of
> communication, etc, etc. The new office bearers are in an un-envious
> position. I'm sure that they must now be feeling that all the work of
> putting up a chapter is a thankless job. It was an important task and
> let us recognise that tackling any state bureaucracy is not an
> occupation of pleasure. So let us thank them for doing this task and
> ask them to henceforth function in a manner which meets the concerns
> of the community.
>
> It would have of course been great if the community had been brought
> in before establishing the foundation, but that is all water under the
> bridge now. It is time for us to let them be and go about doing
> whatever they planned. This spate of attacks/accusation/discourse I'm
> sure has halted them in their tracks. Such a limbo is the worst
> situation possible. In expressing our legitimate concern, we have
> virtually accused them of every possible wrong without concrete
> evidence and now they stand here already condemned in public eyes. If
> they have to serve us - make no mistake - chapter activities are meant
> to serve the community, not govern them - then we have absolutely
> demotivated them from doing so.
>
> To the EC committee, I would like to say, you have my unqualified
> support for the period of a year and I request you to get your act
> together and deliver what you have promised. At this point of time, my
> support is unqualified but henceforth after this grace period, it will
> be based on your performance and output. I'm giving you the rope,
> gentlemen of the EC, now either construct a rope bridge and span the
> gap between you and the community or hang yourselves with that rope
> (figuratively speaking).
>
> To the community, I further request that the tone on the list be
> lowered to gentlemanly discourse. I am not saying that we stop
> expressing our concerns but let us do it in a constructive way. Also,
> we must not make mountains out of mole-hills and we must be even more
> tolerant than before. If the EC have to achieve ambitious targets,
> they have to act. When people act, they make mistakes. Only those who
> dont act, make no mistakes. In my eyes inaction is the greater sin
> than acting and making mistakes. The EC will make a few mistakes but
> they may be discussed in a non-accusatory way and lessons should be
> learnt from them instead of seeking to crucify the EC members at every
> instant.
>
> Also, I will request that all feelings/issues that the community feels
> strongly about be discussed openly on the list rather than offline and
> that no efforts be made to influence the EC offline or in an
> undemocratic fashion.
>
> For those who feel, that they would like to be part of the setup in
> the Wikimedia India chapter - that is a great and good ambition and
> the way to go about it is by working in constructive manner so that
> the community's aims are progressed.
>
> This email is not meant to point fingers towards any one person, but
> definitely I feel the community needs to heed my message and if you
> don't agree, to discuss it politely.
>
>
> Warm regards,
>
> Ashwin Baindur
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Wikimediaindia-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
>
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