[Foundation-l] Re: Poll for Wikistandards

Sat Jan 28 14:24:30 UTC 2006

Angela wrote:

>On 1/28/06, Robert Scott Horning <robert_horning at netzero.net> wrote:
>
>>One other issue that needs to be dealt with immediately is the
>>opposition vote by a member of the Wikimedia Foundation board.
>>    
>>
>
>Two members of the Board were elected by the community, so,
>unsurprisingly, those two people are going to be involved in community
>matters like this poll. I realise some people would prefer the Board
>be made only of external people, but with the current situation,
>you're going to have to accept that at least two people on the Board
>have dual roles of being on the Board and being Wikimedians. I am not
>going to accept the constant attempts to prevent me expressing any
>opinion outside of official meetings.
>
>We will soon have the Special Projects Committee
><http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution_Special_projects> to
>decide things like this, so I can't see the results of the poll going
>directly to the stage of Board decision anyway. Since we're delegating
>authority away from the Board, my view on the matter, as someone not
>intending to be on the SP Committee, isn't any more relevant than that
>of anyone else voting.
>
>Angela.
>  
>
As for having members of the board being outsiders, I think that should 
not happen at all or under exceptional circumstances.  I support the 
concept of Wikimedians being involved with the board, and I understand 
the role of being both a leader and a contributor... and having opinions 
as well.  We live with that on all of the Wikimedia projects anyway, 
where admins and bureaucrats are also ordinary editors and contributors 
as well... each with their own opinion and often vote on things like 
VfDs and policy questions within projects.

I was just trying to point out as a practical matter that if you already 
have objections to some proposal, unless some very convincing arguments 
are offered between when you register that objection and when you will 
see this proposal before the board formally I don't see that you are 
going to change your mind.  And with only four other members on that 
same board this proposal for Wikistandards has an uphill intellectual 
battle to fight to convince at least three members of the board (for a 
simple majority... I know the board tries to reach concensus instead in 
most matters anyway) to support the proposal.  In addition, just because 
you are in a leadership role you will have some supporters that will 
simply follow your lead on opinions as well.  This has also happened 
with Wikistandards and is nothing to be ashamed of.  You lead and others 
follow, that is by definition leadership.  I've seen it happen with 
votes I've done on Wikibooks myself, and in other areas of life.

BTW, I like the idea of a specialized committee that would review 
project proposals like Wikistandards.  It would at the very least 
provide a single source of contact to ask questions about proposing new 
projects, rather than posting comments on Meta and having the question 
sit unanswered for several months with just random opinions from other 
users that come up from time to time, or get into a flame war on this list.

-- 
Robert Scott Horning