[Foundation-l] Re: Resignation as CRO

Thu Aug 18 14:04:50 UTC 2005

Tim -

I don't know what discussions the Board has had about the position. I 
wasn't part of any closed meetings. In fact, the only closed meeting I 
have ever participated in with me and the Board is the one where we 
discussed my resignation.

I also had nothing to do with the idea of appointing official positions. 
That idea had popped up already around the first Board election (mostly 
promoted by Anthere). Even the idea of a Research position, among 
others, was already floated in a proposal sent to the Board a few months 
ago by some prominent Wikimedians, which also suggested other changes, 
and was never published for reasons unknown to me.

By the time that proposal was made, I had indeed decided to run for 
election. However, Jimmy made it clear that no Board Reform (e.g. more 
open seats) was immediately forthcoming due to fears of hostile 
takeover, and that the only change that would likely be made is the 
appointment of official positions.

Jimmy had a very strong preference for seeing Anthere and Angela 
continue their work as trustees, and he was prepared to publicly endorse 
them if necessary. Several other prominent Wikimedians did endorse them. 
This made me think about alternatives.

In mid-May, the idea of official positions was publicy debated, and 
people were asked to submit proposals. I did so. The proposal was accepted.

There was no "grand strategy" on my part to "get" an official position 
by "threatening" a board candidacy. Simply put, the way the cards played 
out, I didn't think running for the Board would have been wise,

> So I'm not sure why Erik was surprised that he didn't have the full
> support of the Board, given that there was never a Board consensus.

As I said, I don't know what arguments were raised in the internal 
discussions, but I do know that I was a bit surprised Jimmy was the one 
announcing the appointments, so I specifically asked Anthere and Angela 
whether they reflected the opinion of the board, or just that of Jimmy 
Wales personally. Anthere's response was:

 > Yes, the appointments reflect an internal agreement of the board.
 > However, since it was highly official decision, we considered it
 > appropriate that Jimbo announced it,
 > which is his role as the president of Wikimedia Foundation.

 > As previously indicated, the board does not take decisions by vote,
 > but by consensus.
 > This means all positions given received opinions between strong
 > support to neutral opinion.

This was publicly posted on this list:

http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2005-May/003340.html

Have you read that e-mail? Or are you accusing Anthere of lying?

Erik