Can the board please very clearly state whether this removal was for cause, or not!? On 1 Jan 2016 12:03 am, "Patricio Lorente" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Thank you to everyone who responded to my email about the Board’s recent > decision. We recognize this is the Board's first removal of a sitting > Trustee, and that has led to questions and perhaps some confusion. > > I wanted to provide you with some additional information in response to the > discussions on this thread. As many of you know, we did not intend for the > decision to become public the way it did. We planned to have a discussion > and decision in the meeting, but could not be certain of the outcome ahead > of the final vote. Since the meeting, we have taken our time to work > together to make sure the information we share will be accurate, > respectful, and informative to the greatest extent possible. At the same > time, there is a limit to what the Board can share. We have fiduciary > duties, which include Board confidentiality, and we must respect them in > this decision as we would in others. > > I want to be very clear that the Board decision was not about a difference > of opinion on a matter of WMF direction or strategy between James and the > other Trustees. Over the course of the past few months, the Trustees had > multiple conversations around expectations for Trustee conduct, > responsibilities, and confidentiality. Ultimately, the majority of the > Trustees came to the opinion that we were not able to reach a common > understanding with James on fulfilling those expectations. We have a duty > as a Board to ensure we all abide by our roles and responsibilities as an > essential condition for effective governance. I also want to reaffirm that > this decision was made internally, by the Board, without any outside > influence, and according to the process outlined in our Bylaws. > > Under the Wikimedia Foundation’s Bylaws, and, in accordance with Florida > law (where, as a 501(c)(3) charity, the Foundation is registered), members > of the Board who are selected through community or affiliate elections are > then appointed to the Board by the existing members. Since all members of > the Board are appointed by the Board itself, the Board retains the ability > to manage its composition as necessary to maintain the working environment > required to be effective. > > As someone who was appointed through a community process, I understand how > important it is to have strong voices from the community on our Board. I > want to be absolutely clear that this decision does not change our > commitment to engaging with a diverse, talented, opinionated, and > representative group of leaders to serve on our Board. It also does not > change our commitment to encouraging and hearing different voices on > direction and strategy. > > We are working with the 2015 Elections Committee to fill this vacancy with > a member of the Wikimedia community. This is a top priority. More > information will be available once the Board has had a chance to confer > with the 2015 Elections Committee. > > From our viewpoint, our actions around the removal are concluded. We > sincerely hope that James will continue to be an active, constructive part > of the Wikimedia movement. I personally look forward to continuing > collaboration with him. > > Thank you, > > Patricio > -- > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
