2009/8/26 Erik Moeller <e...@wikimedia.org>: > 2009/8/25 Thomas Dalton <thomas.dal...@gmail.com>: >> How can you have a Q&A on a topic like this that doesn't even address >> the matter than you have sold a seat on the board? Has the WMF >> completely lost touch with the community? It should be obvious that >> this is going to be a highly controversial decision and yet you can't >> even get the basic announcement right and don't even try and answer >> the obvious question the community is going to ask. > > (begin quote) > > Why did the Wikimedia Foundation invite Matt Halprin to join its Board? > > Matt's background and skills are a great fit for the Wikimedia > Foundation Board of Trustees, which has had two "expertise" > (non-community) seats vacant since last April. Matt is a Board member > of several other non-profit organizations, which means he will bring > general non-profit governance and oversight experience to Wikimedia. > His background at eBay gives him a good understanding of issues > related to online community, trust, reputation, privacy and content > quality: all key issues for the Wikimedia Foundation. Matt also has a > background in strategy development, which will be useful for the > Wikimedia Foundation as it embarks on its collaborative strategy > development project. The Wikimedia Foundation believes Matt will be a > terrific addition to Wikimedia's Board of Trustees. > > Is Matt Halprin's Board seat an individual seat, or an Omidyar Network seat? > > Like all Wikimedia Board members, Matt will be a member as an > individual, not as a representative of any particular organization or > constituency. All Wikimedia Foundation Board members have an > obligation to put the best interests of the Wikimedia Foundation > first, and to do their best to support and guide the organization, to > help it achieve its mission and goals. The Wikimedia Foundation looks > forward to Matt's participation on the Board. > > (end quote)
Those answers don't address the fact that you've just given a seat on the board to someone that has just given you a big pile of cash. I am open to being convinced that this is a good thing, but you haven't even tried to convince me. I am not arguing that Matt isn't a good choice for the board, I am arguing that the circumstances of his appointment are inappropriate. Had you discussed the general principle of selling board seats with the community you might have got a positive response, but you didn't ask. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
