[Foundation-l] Board question

Wed Jun 8 23:34:53 UTC 2005

Dear Board,

the current Wikimedia Foundation Bylaws specify that, if one of the 
board seats should become vacant, the remaining Board can appoint 
someone to fill these seats.

I'd like to ask the Board what its intentions are
- should one of the community-elected trustees resign
- should one of the non-elected positions (Tim and Michael) become vacant.

The reason I raise this question is simple. Many potential candidates 
have stated that they will not stand for election because they support 
the current Board as it is, however, that they would stand if more than 
2 seats were available. For this reason, I believe it would be bad if, 
as per the Bylaws, the Board were to appoint someone (whoever comes in 
third in this year's election, or whoever they trust the most, or 
anything like that) should one of the seats become vacant. This is 
especially true if, as has been suggested, Board terms are extended to 
two years.

I would therefore appreciate assurance that any community members of the 
Board will be again chosen by the community in an election should such a 
situation arise -- perhaps with one notable exception: if someone were 
to resign shortly before an election (i.e. within 3 months), it would be 
undesirable, I think, to have all the organizational overhead of a 
separate election just for that brief period. However, in such a 
situation, my preference would be to leave the seat vacant, or, if it is 
necessary for legal reasons, to appoint a trusted person purely for the 
purpose of filling the seat (and perhaps breaking ties in votes).

I would like to know what your thoughts are on the matter.

Thanks,

Erik