I am saddened to see the board taking greater authority over community elections and thus decreasing democracy within our movement, though its occurrence is not entirely surprising. A number of members of the board and foundation have for some time wanted greater say over community elected trustees. Suggestions have included being able to state criteria or skills they feel the board needs and making only those they feel have those skills eligible to run. However part of elections is being able to support folks who have skills you as the electorate feel those in authority are currently lacking. This is especially important in times of crises and reduces the risk of one of our key movement organizations, the WMF, being co-opted by those who may not be movement aligned.
We as the communities are far more powerful than we often give ourselves credit. While technically when on the board one needs to do what is in the best interest of the WMF, I believe the best interest of our communities and the WMF are aligned and inseparable. We are all pursuing the same mission. With respect to prior community efforts, the protests against SOPA and PIPA <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_SOPA_and_PIPA> played a role in their being shelved. Our efforts around EU copyright law <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_on_Copyright_in_the_Digital_Single_Market#Non-governmental_organisations> in part led to a full discussion by the European Parliament. Community feedback regarding foundation staff bypassing ARBCOM in its sanctioning of Fram got the board to intervene in support of community self governance. Yes technically we do not have elections, with all board members in the end being appointed by the board itself. But we have had an election process that the board has historically respected. As a parallel, as a Canadian we do not technically have a full democracy as our Monarch has the ability to disallow a bill passed by parliament either directly or via the Governor General. They; however, have never exercised this power since our country was formed in 1867. And if they did I imagine significant controversy would result. As a trustee who was partly removed 10 years ago for pushing for greater transparency around the proposed Knowledge Engine (search engine) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_Engine_(search_engine)> it concerns me to see a candidate within the election being removed by the board in part for speaking up for transparency. I believe we need an independent group of elected community members, who have signed non-disclosure agreements, and are provided details by the WMF legal team and trust and safety, to oversee who is and is not eligible to stand for election. We can have community elections if we demand them. Sincerely James Heilman MD, CCFP(EM), Wikipedian On Sat, Oct 11, 2025 at 9:07 AM Andy Mabbett <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, 10 Oct 2025 at 19:40, Lorenzo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I want to clarify some details following Victoria's email as I know it > has caused confusion. This email was not sent in any official capacity - it > was Victoria's personal opinion, as she noted there, it was sent "as a > Wikimedian, relying solely on publicly available information". > > Considering the above, I'm confused by the fact that you are writing > from a wikimedia.org email address, but signing only with your first > name (and with no disclaimer); are you speaking personally, or in your > official capacity as a board member? > > > This email should not be seen as an analysis of the Board's decisions on > the candidates for this year's elections process. > > Is a "Wikimedian, relying solely on publicly available > information"—any Wikimedian—not entitled to offer an analysis of the > Board's decisions? > > > I understand that for some, emotions are at an all time high, and people > will want to fill in the gaps of what can be shared publicly with their > thoughts and opinions > > And some have very genuine concerns which are not driven by emotion, > and which are based on the available facts and evidence. Please > respect them as such. > > > I hope you will vote in the election > > I have said for some years that we should stop pretending that this is > an election. > > -- > Andy Mabbett > User:Pigsonthewing > https://pigsonthewing.org.uk > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/NLUOHKHXDRTKQA5MPUOOCYV3IB5IBV6U/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] -- James Heilman MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
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