I do not know Wikimedia Portugal's situation but I am sympathetic to their claim of difficulty staying in compliance.
Over the years I have heard many Wikimedia community organizations claim that staying in compliance with Wikimedia Foundation and Affiliations Committee requests are difficult. As a Wikimedia community member, I have no idea how I am supposed to interpret these claims. I also worry a lot that Wiki organization members feel shame and pressure to not report their challenges for fear of getting a reprimand, like dis-affiliation. I have a general wish for more information to understand the problem. Information could include encouraging more Wikimedia community groups to report in public how they feel about the compliance expectations and more information from the Wikimedia Foundation / Affiliations Committee about the extent to which they grade various groups as being in compliance or not. So far as I know, the aggregate information about this is not accessible in an easy to read report. I imagine that a good report would contain a regular survey of Wikimedia affiliates grading the Wikimedia Foundation and AffCom, and AffCom grading the various affiliates. I feel like it is extremely difficult and tense to surface problems and challenges and I wish we could normalize the sharing of difficulties so that we can collectively address them. I feel shock and hurt to suddenly hear that Wikimedia Affiliates get downgraded and then entire countries lose their long-established representation. If any affiliate has problems, then that is not just a problem for its regional members, but also a problem for the entire Wikimedia community and the billions of Wikipedia readers. We all have an obligation to care for the community health of each other, and none of us can operate organizations independently. Although I cannot speak to the Portuguese case specifically, the entire Wikimedia affiliate structure makes me anxious. Volunteers put so much labor into this, get so little credit, take so many personal risks, and are still so vulnerable. Managing a national media enterprise with volunteer administrative labor is a major challenge, but each Wikimedia chapter is exactly this. I wish for all organizational processes to run transparently, smoothly, and in a way that Wikimedia community members all say is fair and according to a consensus-driven process. When I see one claim like this I worry that the problem actually is happening in other places but that no plan is in place to identify, record, report, discuss, and fix the difficulties. I know nothing whatsoever about Portugal or the Portuguese language Wikimedia community but I feel great emotion over any Wiki community in distress anywhere. On Tue, Oct 9, 2018 at 8:48 AM Alchimista <alchimist...@gmail.com> wrote: > As a wikimedia Portugal board member I totally agree with Gonçalo's > statement. Despite what I believe where AffCom best efforts, they clearly > didn't knew how to properly deal with this situation. They took official > positions without hearing us, they've imposed a roadmap that we had to > accomplish in order to lift the suspension, and now that we've accomplished > it, some unexplained accusations came out of the blue. I feel that AffCom > put us chasing ghosts during the last months and that all we've done so far > was in vain, and more importantly, is making us reach the limit of our > capacities. This last message is a clear example of what shouldn’t be done: > we’ve been working with special motivation knowing that we were doing all > what was requested in order to get our suspension lifted, and then AffCom > sends us that opaque accusation, without any previous attempt to get any > confirmation or information. > > Wikimedia Portugal is currently in a sustainable path, despite all the > entropy, we’ve been able to fulfill all legal obligations, AffCom roadmap, > improve our governance and transparency and organize activities. We intend > to keep this path, continuously improving our capacities, but AffCom is > clearly making it more difficult. > > Best regards, > > André > > GoEthe.wiki <goethe.w...@gmail.com> escreveu no dia terça, 9/10/2018 à(s) > 11:12: > > > The original message was rejected due to a filter rule match, but you can > > access it here: > > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediapt/2018-October/002698.html > > I am sending it below without the links. Please access the link above for > > the full version. > > __________ > > > > Sorry in advance for the lengthy email – the tl;dr version is: Wikimedia > > Portugal has done all it was asked to do, so the suspension that was held > > conditional to performing those steps must be lifted accordingly. For the > > sake of transparency, we are sending this out to not only the AffCom > > mailing list, but also Wikimedia-l and WikimediaPT-l. > > _________ > > > > Dear members of AffCom, > > > > (cc to the Wikimedia Portugal mailing list, Wikimedia mailing list) > > > > Last 5th October we were again surprised by the content of your email > > (quoted below) in response to us completing the roadmap we had agreed > upon > > in order to remove the suspension of Wikimedia Portugal. On that message, > > you say you have once more received information whose substantiation is > not > > mentioned, from sources that are not disclosed. And still you seem to > > accept it as the truth without even providing us with the opportunity to > > get properly acquainted with it, let alone rebate or contradict it. While > > you speak of transparency, that message is unsettlingly opaque, as have > > been multiple such messages relayed to us in the course of this whole > > process. > > > > As you are well aware, Wikimedia Portugal was faced in March with a > > situation where the president of the Board, João Vasconcelos, became > > demissionary without any previous warning [1]. It should be noted that > when > > Vasconcelos was elected as president of the Board back in 2015, he wasn’t > > elected based on any background as a Wikimedia editor, as he has no > history > > of contribution to any of the Wikimedia projects, but rather on his self > > proclaimed merits on organisational and conflict management (!). Despite > > the best efforts of several people from Wikimedia Portugal over the > years, > > Vasconcelos sadly never really integrated well neither on Wikimedia > > Portugal, nor in the Portuguese Wikimedia community. > > > > So, in light of what looked like an existential threat for WMPT, I and a > > number of other WMPT members have publicly and transparently mobilized > > ourselves to organize an extraordinary General Election to elect the new > > Board. Vasconcelos was probably expecting/hoping that we would ask him to > > stay. But we have seen this sort of behavior elsewhere [a].We didn't. > > Instead, we handled the situation cooperatively, as a group, openly. > > Vasconcelos never voiced any desire to take part on this collective > > solution-building, as evidenced by his silence from the discussion on the > > Wikimedia Portugal mailing list in March [2] and April [3]. He was > welcome > > to do so. His only message to the mailing list was two days (13 April) > > before the 15 April General Assembly, announcing that he considered the > > planned General Assembly null [4]. Given the lack of legal standing for > > that claim, we carried on with the General Assembly (the transparent, > > inclusive, democratic governing body of associations), summoned according > > to our by-laws. This General Assembly successfully elected new governing > > bodies, including the Board of Directors. > > > > In May we were surprised by a message from AffCom demanding that we stop > > taking part in a conflict, and "refrain from representing ourselves as > > representatives of Wikimedia Portugal" (see quoted message in [5] > > <https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediapt/2018-May/002621.html > > >).This > > was the very first time the Committee contacted Wikimedia Portugal about > > this case. The message provided no legal precedent or framework for this > > demand, no indication of what this conflict was, or why AffCom thought > the > > Board was a part of it. > > > > From what we understood, Vasconcelos went to the Wikimedia Conference in > > Berlin, where he seems to have convinced AffCom that our General Assembly > > of 15 April was legally void. > > > > We have repeatedly provided concrete evidence that t it was not the case, > > including quoting relevant court decisions backing this [6] > > < > > > https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/(https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/private/wikimedia-pt-internal/2018-July/002414.html > > >. > > In response, AffCom reported having no time to read through legal texts, > > and therefore not being able to assess the validity of our declarations, > > but that is beyond our control. And yet AffCom accepted Vasconcelos’ > > version without question. It is a legal imperative to be held innocent > > until proven guilty, and until it is legally proven there was some > > wrongdoing, General Assemblies are valid and binding. > > > > After the April General Assembly we were working, in addition to our > > activities and programs, to put the association in order in terms of > > obligations to the Portuguese state and the tax authorities, providing > > access to WMPT’s bank account to the persons designated on the 15 April > GA, > > and so on. Things were getting on track... > > > > We were surprised again in July by a message from AffCom temporarily > > suspending Wikimedia Portugal’s recognition as a Wikimedia chapter [7]. > In > > that message for the first time you laid out a concrete roadmap that, if > > followed (as we understood), would lead to lifting the suspension. The > > roadmap set out a list of demands from AffCom which we diligently > > fulfilled, even well ahead of the required deadlines. We organized and > held > > a new General Assembly in September, summoned according to the > > interpretation of the Portuguese Civil Code that AffCom relayed to us > (with > > the exception of anything we believed would make the proceeding illegal, > > which was communicated in due time to AffCom). This General Assembly had > > the same result as before [8]. The Assembly was normally held, despite > > severe attempts of sabotage from Vasconcelos, reported in due time to > > AffCom, Legal and the Safety team. In addition to the minutes [9], an > audio > > recording of the assembly is available in Commons [10] ; video recording > is > > also available on request. > > > > We then submitted our overdue Financial Report [11], demonstrated support > > from the community to the continuation of the chapter [12], and wrote a > > plan for improved chapter capacity [13]. All should be good now... > > > > Having done all this, despite our disagreement that a new Assembly was > > needed in the first place, we are now again surprised by the reception of > > the opaque message I mention in the beginning, sent by AffCom to my email > > (quoted below) affirming that the Committee had received reports from > > unstated persons with unspecified concerns about the General Assembly and > > the capacity of Wikimedia Portugal to run as a chapter. The message > claims > > that "there were a number of issues with lack of transparency [as well as > > with] providing an opportunity to participate in an open, organizational > > process" while not specifying these issues at all. Your message questions > > whether we are "prepared as an Affiliate to prevent disruption in [our] > > organization's collective pursuit of the movement’s mission", even though > > we have so far been able to handle every attempt at disruption from > > Vasconcelos. > > > > If we rolled up our sleeves to activate the scattered energies of a stale > > organization in order to prepare and execute April’s General Assembly, it > > was because we were convinced that Wikimedia Portugal had a viable future > > ahead, and was of value to the Wikimedia movement. At the time, the > actions > > of Vasconcelos were so absurd that the reaction to them even spurred some > > founders and (by then) inactive members of WMPT to offer their help in > > reestablishing a functional organization. Along with the help of a number > > of historic as well as new members who have been steadily returning and > > joining our ranks, that’s precisely what we are achieving. > > > > That’s why we’ve been working on fulfilling the AffCom roadmap requests, > > even if we didn’t like or agree with some aspects of it. All things > > considered, it was a clear path to resolving our situation, and we found > > that parts of it could be useful to the chapter. But AffCom’s validation > of > > Vasconcelos’ actions and claims, even if unintentional, have real > > consequences for the mental state and safety of our members. > > > > Back in March, when Vasconcelos claimed he had requested our bank to lock > > the chapter’s bank account, started a process at the Public Prosecution > > Service, and he had talked with an attorney on that subject, can you > > imagine what André, our treasurer, felt waiting in line in the bank until > > he found what really happened? In the end, the bank account had not been > > locked because of any court order or legal reason as Vasconcelos implied, > > but rather because someone had tried to access the bank account without > the > > proper credentials, and the system automatically locked the account. > > > > Before the General Assembly in September, Vasconcelos sent out legal > > threats and even menaces of police intervention to anyone participating. > We > > still went through with it, but can you imagine how we felt, the pressure > > that was under some of us? It was all a bluff in the end, but this is > what > > you put us through. > > > > Notwithstanding, WMPT activities were happening in parallel. They are > > listed on our activities plan for anyone to see [14], and more are > planned. > > After several years of inactivity, we are happy to be on a sustainable > > growth path, gradually building capacity and doing the best we can with > the > > resources available to us. We’ve also been using our personal contacts > with > > other movements in order to increase our organization’s capacity. Ana, > > newly appointed to the Board, has just returned from Wiki Takes Zamora, > > where she was learning from Wikimedia Spain, relaunching the > collaboration > > between both chapters. Two of the events we have planned for November are > > using this paradigm. We’ll celebrate Wikidata’s sixth anniversary with a > > local group of data enthusiasts in Porto, and near Lisbon we’re helping > > with the organization and will participate in a FOSS event, so in both > > cases we’ll also acquire event organization skills. This growth path is > in > > peril if you continue to undermine our efforts. > > > > Over the last half year we’ve been attacked, offended, insulted, received > > multiple threats of judicial action by Vasconcelos, and even an actual > > intimidatory letter from a lawyer working for him (but purportedly on > > behalf of WMPT); and during this entire time we’ve tried not to escalate > > the situation, not to engage with such attempts at direct confrontation, > > nor make them public. You force us now to disclose this in order to clear > > our name and set the record straight. With the help and support of the > > legal and security departments of the Wikimedia Foundation, we have dealt > > with the actions of Vasconcelos so far. And we will follow the > disciplinary > > procedures foreseen for these situations in our bylaws which may result > in > > his removal from the chapter. > > > > We’ve repeatedly complied in unusually strict terms with legal > > requirements, and with AffCom’s roadmap, while dealing with Vasconcelos’ > > actions as privately as we could in order not to affect the public image > of > > the Wikimedia movement, nor its community – but honestly, we’re reaching > > the point of exhaustion in light of AffCom’s puzzling behavior along this > > process. We understand that AffCom may have reserves regarding our > future, > > but the way it is dealing with the situation is clearly > counterproductive. > > How can AffCom keep making new accusations without at least asking us for > > information or confirmations? > > > > Currently, our major source of disruption, distress and anxiety is each > new > > message we receive from AffCom, as they repeatedly defy our expectations > of > > a partner claiming to be attempting to help us getting back on our feet. > We > > are actually wary that the next address could be an announcement that > > Wikimedia Portugal has been de-recognized, even after we have passed our > > “road of trials”, due to the ever moving goalposts. Several of our key > > people have reported insomnia, including myself, after receiving your > > communications. We’re reaching our physical, psychological, and > > motivational limit, in great part due to AffCom’s actions and > inexplicable > > lack of support and transparency. > > > > It is time to stop this! Despite what we still believe were your best > > intentions, AffCom has inadvertently caused significant destabilization > for > > Wikimedia Portugal. > > > > Please honor your part of the compromise, lift this suspension and let us > > proceed in the productive pursuit of our collective mission. > > > > Regards, > > > > Gonçalo > > Gonçalo Themudo > > > > *Presidente* > > *Wikimedia Portugal* > > *Email: *goethe.w...@gmail.com > > *Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org < > https://sites.google.com/view/themudo> > > *Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma > de > > todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.* > > _______________________________________________ > > 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> > > > > -- > Alchimista > http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilizador:Alchimista > _______________________________________________ > 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> -- Lane Rasberry user:bluerasberry on Wikipedia 206.801.0814 l...@bluerasberry.com _______________________________________________ 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>
