Christophe, Would you provide us an update on this topic, please?
Pine On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 2:23 PM, Pine W <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Christophe, > > Now that the end-of-Western-year holidays are behind us, I'm bumping this > thread in the hope that you'll respond to the points that I made in my > email from December 23rd. > > Thanks, > > Pine > > > On Fri, Dec 23, 2016 at 9:31 PM, Pine W <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Christophe, >> >> Thank you for responding to my questions. >> >> >>> First, the resolution and its context. "Supervising" the ED is indeed a >>> board duty, but this supervision must not become micro-management. That >>> resolution provides staff the liberty to do their work more efficiently. >>> It >>> doesn't remove our duty of oversight. >>> >>> I feel like you think delegating negates ones ability to provide >>> supervision, I would tend to think otherwise as delegating free time and >>> energy to focus on the core roles of a board. >>> >> >> Perhaps you could explain further how a resolution which says: >> >> *"*Resolved, the Board hereby delegates the authority to adopt, alter, >> and >> revoke policies to the Executive Director, who may further delegate such >> authority to Wikimedia Foundation staff as they deem appropriate; >> >> "Resolved, the Board may continue to review and approve policies for the >> Wikimedia >> Foundation upon request to the Executive Director or as required by law." >> >> amounts to removing micro-management. To me this looks like a sweeping >> delegation of authority. Under this resolution, policy changes that the >> ED >> and/or his or her delegates make are not subject to advance review by the >> Board, the Legal Department, the community, or anyone else. This seems >> highly inadvisable, and I feel that this opens up WMF to legal and >> reputational risks that are of far greater concern than the value of >> sparing >> a few minutes of the Boards' time at meetings to review supposedly >> minor changes to policies. >> >> I would expect the Executive Director to have the authority to execute >> plans >> and manage his/her staff as permitted by the policies and resolutions >> adopted >> by the Board and as allowed by law, and to create and modify managerial >> policies for staff (for example, salary schedules and hiring procedures) >> that are compatible with the Board's policies and resolutions and with >> the law. >> I wouldn't expect the Executive Director to have the authority to >> unilaterally >> change policies that were adopted by the Board, nor to have the authority >> to >> further delegate the authority to change policies that were adopted by >> the Board. >> >> >> >>> >>> Second, the requirements to answer the community. I'm sorry, here I >>> answered quite spontaneously, you are right nothing forces us to. >>> >>> But, as I've said in my candidacy and in public some time I believe we >>> have, as WMF board, a leadership duty. And I also believe you lead by >>> example. I've always believed, in the movement, we are all partners. We >>> need each other to push forward our mission. You treat partners the way >>> yourself want to be treated by them. That is why I believe it is >>> important >>> to communicate. It doesn't mean we have to see eye to eye on everything >>> but >>> that when a question rise we should answer as much as we can. That's >>> something I've said to nearly everyone who reached out to me in the past >>> few month privately, my answer perhaps won't be the one you want, but at >>> least there will be an answer and an explanation every time I can. Like >>> right now actually :D >>> >> >> Thanks for your efforts to communicate and cooperate. You and Natalia >> have >> been helpful in improving communications between the community and the >> Board in 2016. (I agree with Rob that Dariusz was admirably responsive >> and >> civil in public in 2015 in difficult circumstances, while others weren't.) >> >> I would like to see further developments in this area, such as >> developments >> that prevent the community from being surprised by Board resolutions such >> as the one that we are discussing here. >> >> Also, I would like to see consideration of changing WMF to a membership >> organization as a part of the upcoming strategy process. >> >> >>> >>> Finally, regarding board governance review, Natalia, as chair of the BGC, >>> published minutes of our meetings[1], and that is a key topic we address >>> and not push aside. That being said it will be a board review, not one on >>> that specific event. We will be able to provide more information on that >>> topic soon I think :) >>> >> >> Thanks, this looks like a promising start. >> >> Doing the governance review in parallel with the strategy process, while >> continuing with regular annual work such as the Annual Plan process, >> might be a heavy lift for the Board and Katherine, so I encourage careful >> thinking about the timing of this review. My hunch is that it would be >> good >> to start and complete this review within 6 months, with the hope that the >> results could then be fed into the strategy process which will be >> continuing >> for awhile after that. Perhaps you, Katherine, Natalia or others may be >> able >> to shed some light on the capacity issue here, as well as the thoughts >> about the scope, timing, and cost of the governance review. >> >> In the governance review, I would like to see a particular focus on (1) >> a thorough review of the facts of Board members' actions in 2015, (2) >> an analysis of what can be learned from the facts of 2015, and (3) >> how WMF governance might become more aligned with and >> responsive to the community, such as by changing WMF to a >> membership organization. >> >> >>> I hope I answered your questions. >>> >>> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_ >>> Board_Governance_Committee >>> >>> >>> >> Thank you for your interest in trying to align WMF with the community. >> I appreciate the improvements in Board communications in 2016, and I look >> forward to further developments in communications and governance. I >> also look forward to hearing your responses to the community's comments >> that have been made in this thread. >> >> I realize that you may be offline this weekend, and I would prefer a >> thoughtful >> response to an immediate one, so I hope to hear back from you sometime >> within the next several days, perhaps after you have had an opportunity to >> consult with others as you consider how to respond. >> >> Have a nice weekend, and Merry Christmas, >> >> Pine >> > > _______________________________________________ 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: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
