I definitely did not have an important role in the process, nor does any one person on ElectCom have as important a role as the returning officer in an electoral district. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that your usual MO of presenting ideas that only you care about is, yet again, unhelpful here. Members of the ElectCom aren't going to sneak by the requirement to not run for the board seat because they don't need to reveal their real name. It's not that any of us are concerned with the potential risks of our name being associated with the Foundation, it's that there is no need to. All of our volunteers are able to contribute without revealing their real name. Even OTRS volunteers can use a pseudonym. Add to that Nataliia's concern of potential harm of identification in some countries and there is truly no need for this.
In my opinion, you would have significantly less accountability if ElectCom members operated under their real names instead of their on-wiki usernames. At least this way you can look into the people on the Committee. Otherwise, you'd just have a name, and no other information associated with it. I won't be responding any more to this pet issue of yours. If there are actual concerns from the Wikimedia community over this that haven't been raised in the last decade, then people will raise them. But you're going to need to do better than suggest some abstract improvement in transparency and accountability. Adrian Raddatz On Sun, Apr 9, 2017 at 1:57 AM, Rogol Domedonfors <domedonf...@gmail.com> wrote: > Nataliia, > > Thanks for your prompt response. You have made your decision, and if you > have solicited applications for the Committee on the basis that the members > may remain pseudonymous, then I would not expect you to resile from that. > However for the next round perhaps you may wish to reconsider your policy > in the light of two points. > > Firstly, I am not suggesting that members of the Committee be required to > link their real names and Wikimedia handles. I am suggesting that they be > required to act under their real names. This allows a transparent exercise > of their powers to, for example, bar candidates from standing for > nomination to the Board, and make it clear to the community in general and > the potential candidates in particular, where they might have a conflict of > interest. If a potential member of the Election Committee canot take the > risk of associating their name with the Foundation for fear of reprisals, > then that is regrettable, but the same would be true if they wished to > stand for the Board. There must be a balance between transparency and > getting the best candidates and in this case I suggest that you have struck > the balance in the wrong place. > > Secondly, it has been claimed by Adrian that there is no need for this, as > he has been involved in government elections and has never been required to > disclose his name to the electors. I do not know which government he is > referring to, or how important a role he had in the election process, but > in the stable mature democracy where I live, the members of the electoral > commission are publicly named, the returning officers with responsibility > for conducting the elections are named (and are usually elected officials), > the count is conducted in a public forum, often televised, to which the > candidates have right of access, and the returning officers announce the > results in public, explicitly giving their names as part of the > announcement. I think that you can afford to be as transparent as that. > > "Rogol" > > On Sun, Apr 9, 2017 at 12:21 AM, Nataliia Tymkiv <ntym...@wikimedia.org> > wrote: > > > Hello Rogol, hello all, > > > > Frankly speaking, I have not personally seen your question on the talk > page > > of the Committee. And my announcement followed the example of the first > > announcement from 2016 [1], mentioning the usernames, not names of real > > people. So I actually did not know this is even an issue. As Ajraddatz (a > > current and former member of the committee) said in response to your talk > > page message this is also the norm for most of our community committees > > [2]. > > > > The real names are disclosed to Wikimedia Foundation, as these people > must > > sign confidentiality agreement for nonpublic information [3]. I do not > > think that the disclosure of real names publicly should be a requirement, > > though it should be an option. Please consider that: some volunteers may > > come from countries where it is a really bad idea to reveal the > connection > > between your real name and your username. > > > > As for a short description of the members: Wikimedia projects give a rare > > possibility to actually see what people do objectively, anybody can see > for > > themselves what flags these volunteers have and what contributions they > > bring. > > > > > > [1] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016- > > July/084787.html > > [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_ > > committee#Names_of_committee_members > > [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Confidentiality_ > > agreement_for_nonpublic_ > > information > > > > Best regards, > > antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv > > > > *NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal > working > > hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You > > should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in > > advance!* > > > > > > On Sat, Apr 8, 2017 at 11:04 PM, Rogol Domedonfors < > domedonf...@gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > > > Nataliiya, > > > > > > Thank you for that information. It seems that you are happy to > introduce > > > the new members of this Committee to the community under pseudonyms. I > > > suggested at > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_ > > > elections_committee > > > back in July 2016 that, considering that this Committee is functioning > in > > > the real world, putting forward real people for real positions on a > real > > > body which is responsible for spending real money, transparency would > > > benefit from their doing so under their real names. If a question of > > > conflict of interest arises, for example, it would be all but > impossible > > to > > > resolve if the real identity of the individual in question were not > > > available for scrutiny by the community. > > > > > > Please publish the real names and a short description of each of the > > > members of this Committee. > > > > > > "Rogol" > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Apr 2, 2017 at 6:49 PM, Nataliia Tymkiv <ntym...@wikimedia.org > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > Greetings, > > > > > > > > The Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee has been joined by two > new > > > > members, Masssly and Matanya. They were appointed by the Board > > Governance > > > > Committee at the recommendation of the current Elections Committee > > > members > > > > following an open call for additional members earlier this year [1]. > > > > > > > > They have each been appointed for two-year terms, in accordance with > > the > > > > new setup for the standing Elections Committee. The now 8-member > > > volunteer > > > > committee is tasked by the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees to > > > > facilitate the elections for the Board of Trustees and Funds > > > Dissemination > > > > Committee [2]. > > > > > > > > Additionally, the committee has selected KTC to serve as its chair > for > > > the > > > > upcoming year. As we prepare for an upcoming election, we have also > > > changed > > > > the Board Liaison from Dariusz to myself, and asked Tim Moritz Hector > > > from > > > > the Board Governance Committee to serve as an additional advisor to > the > > > > committee. > > > > > > > > The upcoming process for both the Board and Funds Dissemination > > Committee > > > > elections will begin soon and run through June. There will be more > > > > information coming from the committee on the timeline and nomination > > > > process in the coming days. > > > > > > > > Please join me in welcoming, congratulating, and thanking Massly, > > > Matanya, > > > > KTC and Tim! > > > > > > > > Best regards, > > > > antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv > > > > > > > > [1] > > > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2017- > > > > February/086239.html > > > > [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_ > > > > elections_committee > > > > > > > > > > > > *NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal > > > working > > > > hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. > > You > > > > should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank > you > > in > > > > advance!* > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/ > mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wik > > > i/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
