[Foundation-l] Board response on Volunteer Council

Sat Apr 26 07:28:17 UTC 2008

You speak of this agreement like it actually existed, when in fact  
there was only agreement by some, opposition by others, and serious  
concerns by many.

-Dan
On Apr 26, 2008, at 1:41 AM, effe iets anders wrote:

> I am seriously disappointed for the Board not to take this chance and
> finally catalyze the community process here. It was a great
> opportunity in my opinion, and I am sorry you are making things so
> hard now. It does not happen that often that such a lot of people at
> least agree on a concept, which makes it even more sad with such a lot
> volunteer representatives on the board that you were unanle to fit
> things in. I think I'll let things sink in first, and respond later on
> more in-depth.
>
> -- Lodewijk
>
> 2008/4/26 Michael Snow <wikipedia at verizon.net>:
>> Michael Snow wrote:
>>> At this stage, the board has decided not to take action on the  
>>> proposal
>>> to develop a Volunteer Council. We thank everyone who put the time  
>>> and
>>> effort into formulating and discussing this proposal. Although the  
>>> board
>>> did not find a clear fit for this proposal in the formal structure  
>>> of
>>> the Wikimedia Foundation, we didn't rule out the possibility that  
>>> the
>>> Wikimedia project communities might organize this or another type of
>>> council for their own benefit.
>>>
>> Not speaking on behalf of the board generally, I'll share some of my
>> personal opinion here. I can see some potential benefit to a  
>> volunteer
>> council or similar body, but more clearly in a function of
>> self-government for the community, where this may be lacking. That  
>> is to
>> say, not so much to be involved in foundation-level operations, but  
>> to
>> allow the foundation to avoid interfering where it is not wanted and
>> does not want to be.
>>
>> For example, I don't think we as the board should really be approving
>> stewards, or new arbitration committees on projects. Those are  
>> affairs
>> for the community to handle on its own, other than that the  
>> foundation
>> may want to have those people be personally identifiable. I could
>> imagine that starting projects in new languages (as opposed to  
>> launching
>> entirely new projects) might fit under this heading as well. So I
>> encourage people to keep looking at the idea, and I would support
>> developments that allow the community to govern itself instead of
>> lapsing into anarchy.
>>
>>
>>
>> --Michael Snow
>>
>>
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