The important thing to remember is that WMNE has decided not to have any sort of formal incorporation for the medium term; as I understand it, the purpose of a committee is largely to give AffCom a defined contact group of self-organized volunteers to talk to (for a humble "usergroup", rather than for a chapter), and I don't think something like a bylaws is even being contemplated.
This informal stage is just one step, and of course if there was anything like a push to chapterdom, more bylaws specifics, etc, would be needed. Although Kevin should definitely have done more advance publicity on this, this is certainly a symptom of inexperience rather than ill intent, and hopefully through this process we'll also recruit more experienced planners for future events. Thanks, Richard On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 7:23 PM, Sven Manguard <[email protected]>wrote: > I know that, as I am no longer in Boston, my opinion probably carries a > little less weight than it did when I was still in the area, however as > someone that still cares deeply about Wikimedia New England, I feel that I > have to respond to this. > > There is not a single thing in the email Kevin sent that I don't strongly > object to. > > First of all, at the annual meetup we were given a promise that before we > voted on *anything* someone would write up and email the list an > explanation of the various incorporation options, and how officers would > work, and give people time to digest this and suggest changes. Now I'm > pretty sure that I haven't missed any emails, and I know I'm still on the > mailing list, but I haven't gotten that explanation. So even if I were in > Boston to vote in person, what is being asked for is for people to go to > meeting without knowing a) who the candidates are in advance, and b) any > real details about the organization that these people would be elected to. > > Second of all, even if we were to have been given this information, and > had an opportunity to discuss this and propose changes ahead of time, five > people is in now way an appropriate size for the minimum number of people > voting on these positions. Even ten people is too low. The recent annual > meeting brought in two dozen people. A few years ago the annual meeting > brought in even more people. Five or ten people isn't enough to decide on > leadership positions. > > Third of all, I find the line "it would be great not to have to appoint > these positions" to be appalling. That implies that if there aren't enough > people at the meeting, the possibility exists that leadership > roles appointed. No. If there are not enough people at the meeting, that > means that you can't have a vote. It doesn't mean appointments. This is a > community organization; leadership must be determined by the community. > That means a vote, and a vote of as large a segment of the community as is > possible to get. > > Fourth of all, I find Kevin's apparent role as kingmaker, talking to > people about leadership roles in private, to be unsettling. I respect > Kevin's desire to jolt WMNE into action and finally get it to incorporated > status, but at every step of the way he has cut corners in order to move it > forward, and we're now well past the point where corners can be cut. > > I strongly suggest that at the upcoming meeting, rather than force a vote > before everyone is ready (i.e. has a full understanding of what is being > voted on, who is running, and what the organization is going to look like), > you instead use the time to clearly define who is running for what > position, what the roles and responsibilities of each position are, what > kind of organization WMNE is aming for, and what the bylaws of the > organization are - including the election bylaws. Then, one that's all > decided, you put all of it into an email and send it to the Boston list and > the Connecticut list, and you open it all up for discussion, which should > happen on the Boston list, where everyone can see it. Voting itself should > also be done online, so that everyone that is interested can participate, > including people that can't make meetings or don't go to meetings but are > still interested. > > I personally have no interest in a leadership position in WMNE, as I'm no > longer in New England and it would make no sense to lead from afar, so > please don't take this as political maneuvering. However as things stand I > would not consider a leadership body elected on Saturday to be at all > legitimate, owing the the failures outlined above. I've been waiting for > two years for WMNE to become a registered non-profit with formal leadership > and possibly a budget, but this isn't the way to do it. You can't elect a > leadership body without bylaws that state what elected officials do and > what rules they must follow, and you can't vote on either a leadership body > or the bylaws that govern them if you're not given advance notice of what > you're voting for. > > I hope that you, the community, will take these thoughts into > consideration. > > Yours in absence, > Sven Manguard > > On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 4:13 PM, Kevin Rutherford <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Hey all, >> >> First of all, sorry for the delay in this e-mail, as real life has been >> getting in the way, so I am now able to send out the e-mail officially >> announcing the meeting on Saturday from 2-4 in room 214 of the Boston >> University College of Arts and Sciences building. >> >> I have already spoken to some of you about running in the election that >> will be held on Saturday, assuming that we have at least 5-10 persons >> present, but if you are interested in running for President, Vice >> President, Treasurer, Secretary, or Community Liaison, let me know, because >> it would be great not to have to appoint these positions. Additionally, we >> will be discussion the Ada Lovelace Day Edit-a-thon and Wikipedia Loves >> Libraries, both of which are going on this month. Additionally, Open Access >> Week is occurring the week of October 20th, so that can also be something >> that is discussed, as there are at least two colleges that I know of that >> are planning something, so it might be good to coordinate any help that >> could be done between the other institutions. >> >> Finally, if you are planning on going, please respond on the Meetup page >> for now, as I am going to get the Wiki page up and running shortly. If too >> few people are planning on going, I will cancel l the meeting, and >> reschedule voting to occur within the next week or so, online. >> >> Useful links: >> >> Agenda: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_New_England/5_October_2013 >> Link to Meetup page: http://www.meetup.com/wikipedia-5/events/143013002/ >> >> Sincerely, >> >> Kevin Rutherford >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-boston mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-boston >> >> >
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