RationalWiki:2021 board of trustees election/Nominations

Nominations are closed. This is the page to nominate potential board members and for nominees to accept or reject their nomination.

We are electing 4 board members out of the total 5. Nominees are encouraged to read the before accepting or rejecting a nomination. Campaigning takes place over here.

Process
Any user may nominate any number of users who meet the requirements, including themselves, by ping-ing that user name in the nominee section and informing that user (manually or with BoardNotice) on their talk page (talk page notification required). No second is required. Each nominee must accept the nomination or else they will not be eligible during the election.

Nominees may accept a nomination by adding their signature to it. Those who wish to decline nominations should strikeout the nomination with a brief note. Likewise, ineligible nominations should also be struckout.

To nominate, ping their user name and sign (otherwise, ping won't work):

* I choose you, Tmtou! ~

If you want, you can then re-edit to remove your signature.

To accept the nomination: Indicate acceptance, delete their signature, sign, and move your username to "approved".
 * - accept Tmtoulouse (talk) 04:20, 01 April 1984 (UTC)

To reject the nomination: Indicate reject-ance, delete their signature, sign, and move your username to "rejected".
 * - reject Tmtoulouse (talk) 04:20, 01 April 1984 (UTC)

Requirements
In order for a user to be nominated they must meet certain requirements:
 * Be 18 years of age or older
 * Be a registered user for 1 year or longer
 * Have 250 edits or more
 * Have at least 1 edit in the last 3 months

The Board meets about once per quarter (or more often, as necessary), usually for one-two hours. Almost all of the business of board takes place over e-mail. Depending on the number of projects and the time of year board members should expect to spend a few hours a month reading, contributing and voting in these e-mail discussions.

Members do have certain powers and duties candidates should be aware of. Membership in the Board means being a corporate director of the RationalMedia Foundation, Inc. In general, corporate directors exercise the highest level of management and control over a corporation and are ultimately responsible for its governance and welfare. They appoint and supervise the Operations Manager, have the final word on the corporation's purpose and goals and ensure that it has adequate resources to carry them out, ensure compliance with the corporation's legal and ethical obligations, approve major expenditures, and respond to significant changes of circumstance in a timely manner. In practice, their job is generally supervisory, as they delegate authority to carry out the corporation's needs to the Operations Manager, who in turn may delegate further authority to his or her staff.

Boardmembers' names will be signed to US state filings and IRS forms, which are both publicly available.

Read more at.

Current composition
The current members of the board of trustees are:


 * GrammarCommie (resigned)
 * D/Judge Dredd (removed)
 * FuzzyCatPotato (elected 2019)
 * Spud (elected 2019)
 * LeftyGreenMario (elected 2020)
 * Tmtoulouse (Operations manager)

Per the board's charter, Board members serve a two year term. The Operations Manager is appointed by the board. This means that this year, we are electing four trustees as the terms expire for Spud and FuzzyCatPotato, GrammarCommie previously resigned and Judge Dredd/D was removed from the board. Since DuceMoosolini resigned in 2019, one of their terms shall be considered filled by either GrammarCommie or Judge Dredd, while the other is a vacancy to be filled for a single term. This means that we will be electing 3 2-year term seats and 1 1-year term seat.

Accepted

 * — Bongolian (talk) 07:30, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I am very happy to accept. Spud (talk) 12:16, 7 July 2021 (UTC)


 * — Bongolian (talk) 00:59, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the nomination I've decided to accept it. GeeJayK (talk) 20:56, 14 July 2021 (UTC)


 * — Christopher (talk) 14:15, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Eh, fuck it. What's the worst that could happen? 03:29, 15 July 2021 (UTC)


 * — 14:14, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I have been convinced. Let’s do it 05:37, 15 July 2021 (UTC)

Declined

 * Thanks for thinking of me.Bob"Life is short and (insert adjective)" 09:53, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Not willing to go public and definitely not active enough here. 10:04, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I volunteered as a ballot counter. Techpriest (talk) 11:43, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Bongolian (talk) 16:25, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the nomination but I am honestly not too much of the management type. --Tgal (talk) 22:05, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the nomination but I don't think this is the job for me. —  python coder    (talk &#124; contribs) 11:08, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Christopher (talk) 15:06, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * not sure i'd have much to contribute in this capacity, and i am for a variety of reason unreliable at best. AMassiveGay (talk) 20:50, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * -- thinks for thanking of me, but I have to decline due to my profession. DarthBinky (talk) 19:59, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Given my past history with this wiki, I don't think doxxing myself by volunteering to be board staff would be a good idea. — Oxyaena Harass  16:47, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Done my time, being volunteer sysadmin is sufficient for now :-) - David Gerard (talk) 23:51, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Whoever nominated me certainly has a wonderful sense of humour. Ace303, 808, 909 09:24, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
 * With four trusted members running there is no need to run. I will however throw my hat in the ring if a dipshit candidate who could potentially get on the board through electoral schenanigans decides to run. Shabi  DOO  05:39, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the nomination (second in a row if you check the archives), but while I am flattered the personal info thing put me off in the end. Besides, we have four perfectly commendable users lined up for the spots already!-Flandres (talk) 04:52, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the nomination! I was holding out on it for now as I do have minor concerns regarding privacy due to the nature of my current job, but I would've been willing to hop in like Shabidoo above in case we were going to come up short or there were some, ah, more concerning potential candidates throwing their hat in. Now that we're getting closer to the deadline, I don't think that's the case. Maybe next year. ℕoir LeSable (talk) 01:17, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

Ineligible

 * — 06:03, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * As flattered as I am, a) I'm not 18 yet and b) even if I was I'm happy with just being a mod. -- Goatspeed. 15:40, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

Unsure

 * CorruptUser Admittedly, I'm a bit of a twat.  If enough people trust me enough or want me to have the position, I may run, but if not, I will save myself the embarrassment of coming in last place avoid the mess.  20:38, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Didn't respond

 * — Bongolian (talk) 07:30, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * - Highly qualified for the job. 71.208.x.x (talk) 10:50, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

Goat

 * I nominate myself as the secondary vote ballot counter (assuming for a moment that cosmik accepts my request to be the primary ballot counter). This also means I'll decline any nominations to run myself. Techpriest (talk) 09:01, 7 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Before I make a decision just have two questions. 1) when it says I have to hand over my “real name”, is that my legal name or the one I actually go by? I’ve been having trouble getting it legally changed and don’t wanna give anyone my deadname. 2) I literally don’t know how money works. I’ve never had an official paid job and have never made enough money to pay taxes. How disqualifying is this? I mean I’d like to get involved and the guidelines say that being Good At The Economy is not necessarily a prerequisite, but idk. Thanks a bunch. 01:37, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Knowing anything about money is not a requirement at all. You'll just be helping RationalWiki to fulfill a legal requirement by actually having a Board of Trustees. And you're not actually required to show any proof of identity. It's just taken on trust that you're telling the truth. So you don't have to give your old male name. Just give your new female one, which will be your legal name eventually, right? Spud (talk) 04:54, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I've worked with boards before. You should absolutely NOT be remotely intimidated by it. Many members haven't the slightest clue what they are doing but are on the board because they are trusted people and/or have connections and/or their status or reputation bring value to the board and/or sometimes they actually have skills that are useful ;)
 * I recommend you run. I'll only run if there aren't at least five trusted candidates and no dipshit candidates who might get dubiously elected to the board. So I certainly encourage trusted members like you to run :) Shabi  DOO  05:02, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you for confirming. That’s based. Fuck it, let’s do this. Idk what I’m getting into but it should be interesting, and also I do care about RW so he’ll yea 05:05, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * (Also yeah my name will be legally changed some time in the next couple months at the latest. The government just being difficult rn) 05:09, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Assuming we get more than two people accepting the nomination, how will it be determined who gets the 1-year term? Should it be the third-highest vote getter? Bongolian (talk) 06:32, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Is it possible to volunteer? If I get voted in or whatever, I’d prefer to just stick to one year at first, just to see how it all goes, if possible 06:37, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * We are only filling two spots? Shabi  DOO  07:08, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * The text above says, "This means that we will be electing 3 2-year term seats and 1 1-year term seat.". Is this an incorrect carryover from the last election? Bongolian (talk) 07:13, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Why? GC/D resigned and the terms of FCP/Spud are over. So there will be four seats. 07:17, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * The way I look at previous two years elections, it seems to me like Spuds and FCP's two year terms end whereas both Dysk/Judge Dread and Grammar Commie's terms should have gone until 2022 had they not been removed or resigned respectively. Wouldn't that mean that there should be two of both 1 and 2 year seats up for election. Also, whatever happened to RoninMacbeth's seat? Wasn't he elected for 1 year term in 2020 to replace Duce who had resigned? That would mean that there should be another 2 year term available here. 07:27, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Christopher himself said that Ronin was added due to a mistake. But I agree one the first sentence, we should have each two of one/two year seats.  07:39, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Check below, either Dysk or GC only had to be elected for a one year term and Ronin never held a seat to begin with. Techpriest (talk) 11:29, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

Why the current seat elections make sense
Okay, I'll line this out again for you all. I explained this in ATIM, I'll explain it again.


 * The board has to have 5 board members + the Operations Manager according to the bylaws. OM is appointed by the board (and I'm assuming is Trent considering we've never heard any other news on this and he still does the donation drive) every 2 years but does not have to be a board member himself.
 * The board agreed in 2016 to have it's members serve staggered 2 year terms; in other words, around half the board will be re-elected every year (2 seats in one year, 3 in the other year)
 * If someone resigns, leaves or is removed by the board, a vacancy is created. The vacancy is to be filled at the next election for a single year term to preserve the staggered terms of the board.

These are the facts as described in the bylaws. Now for the actual situation:


 * During 2019-2020, we had 6 trustees in total (likely before as well). This is already one trustee too many according to the bylaws (this will be relevant later).
 * In 2019, Duce, Spud and FCP got elected to the board, all for 2 year terms.
 * During Duce's first term, he resigned as a board member.
 * In 2020, Bob_Ms, Davids and Lefty's seats were marked for re-election due to serving 2 year terms.
 * In addition, Duce's seat had to be filled to preserve the staggered status of the board.
 * This means that at the time, we thought we had to fill 4 different seats, 3 2-year seats and 1 1-year seat (like we have now ironically).
 * The candidates for the 2020 election were Dysk, GC and LGM. Due to this at the time not seeming like enough seats, RoninMacbeth ran as an emergency candidate.
 * This means that Dysk, GC, LGM and Ronin at first seemed to be part of the board.
 * During the first board meeting for 2020 (from what I can tell anyway, there are no minutae published of board meetings anywhere, fix this please or else I'll complain about it again), the Trustees agreed to remove Dysk and referenced the bylaws and figured out that Ronin did not need to be a part of the board since we only need 5 trustees, not 6.
 * Based on this, Ronin's election became void (since he didn't need to be there anyway) and Dysk was outright removed from the board. Ronin's seat however cannot be have been filling Duce's term as he never held the seat to begin with (and if he did, it'd upset the staggered terms of the board).
 * GrammarCommie resigned during 2020.
 * And now we are here in July 2021.
 * We have Spud and FCP up for re-election due to their terms being served, as well as the normal replacement for Duce's seat.
 * Duce's term was filled by either LGM, Dysk or GC. For practical reasons we can exclude LGM for this seat (she's a re-election from 2020, she's the only 2020 candidate to not step down or be removed and so on and so forth).
 * This leaves us with either Dysk or GC filling Duce's term. Who filled Duce's term however doesn't matter a whole lot. The point is that Duce's term would otherwise end anyway since he was elected in 2018.
 * We also have a single vacancy to fill because two people left and only one person can fill Duce's seat.
 * This leaves us with 3 normal seat replacements + 1 vacancy. (normal seats being 2-year terms, vacant seats being a 1-year term).

Does this make sense? Techpriest (talk) 11:25, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Okay, makes sense to me now. Thanks! 11:38, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * OK, back to my original question then. The 4th highest vote-getter, assuming 4 or more run, should then the 1-year term, agreed? Bongolian (talk) 18:45, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Assuming there are no volunteers? Shabi  DOO  19:02, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, first we should ask the nominees if there are any volunteers for a one-year term. 19:15, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Bylaws don't say much on this; I'd say unless there's volunteers for a one year term, it'll just be "the person who came in last". Techpriest (talk) 19:27, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * What Sirius said Shabi  DOO  20:49, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I’m happy to volunteer for the one year term, assuming I get enough votes to become board member at all. 02:04, 9 July 2021 (UTC)

What's the deadline for accepting?
I'm sitting on mine for a bit to see how much changes in how I feel or who accepts. 01:50, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
 * It will end on Midnight 18 July. 05:23, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Midnight, but UTC or Mountain time (RMF is based in New Mexico)? 05:32, 9 July 2021 (UTC)

uh
What happens if not enough ppl sign up?? Like if we don’t have 5 ppl saying “he’ll yea”, bc it’s lookin a bit thin rn idk 04:35, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * We have still a week 05:36, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * We only need 4 technically speaking. That said; last time we just kept it open for a little bit while scrambling for people to find who are willing to run. Techpriest (talk) 09:42, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

A couple questions
First, I'd like to thank Bongolian for the nomination and Spud for the support. Before accepting, I'd like to ask a few questions.

1 I'll have to share my name with the rest of the board and with the Feds, right? I mean, the rest of the Wiki won't know my name and stuff. Is that correct? My wife is worried that this might prevent us from traveling in the US in the future, but I don't think something like that can happen.

2 About the board meetings. What do you guys use? Skype? Are they audio/video conferences? GeeJayK (talk) 14:47, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * From RationalWiki:Guide for board of trustees election:
 * Anyone who is elected and agrees to serve on the board of trustees for the Foundation must turn over their full name and contact information to the Foundation. That information will be shared with other board members, and corporate officers, and used for internal documentation. Some legal papers that are filed with the US federal and various state governments also require using real names of the board members. Therefore, individuals with a strong desire for anonymity should not offer to serve. That said, on-wiki references to board activities will use the user ID of the board member so some level of pseudo-anonymity may be maintained.
 * Meetings will be held online, using either chat or VOIP services such as Skype.
 * Christopher (talk) 16:54, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
 * We use Skype. I show my face. FuzzyCatPotato always showed his face. Most of the others have just dome audio only, which is fine. No way will this create any kind of problem in visiting the US. Spud (talk) 02:44, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

havin second thoughts
Hey so after giving it some thought, I’m not really sure how comfortable I am with actually running. Is there any particular policy on rescinding one’s previous acceptance of a nomination? If it helps, I guess I’ll still commit to running if there wouldn’t otherwise be enough people, and also I still haven’t really committed to it one way or the other (though I’ll ofc make a decision by the deadline). Sorry if this adds any issues or whatever, I just feel like I didn’t really give myself enough time to think things through before I accepted. Thanks 11:30, 14 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Hey, I would totally support you if you ran. Do you feel like saying what your second thoughts are about? Shabi  DOO  05:09, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
 * From what I've heard, it's not a big commitment time-wise, and you're able to resign later if you find that it's not something you're comfortable with/capable of/or whatever. Bongolian (talk) 05:20, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I was actually gonna ask about that tbh, like yeah I’d be comfortable with it now, but was concerned about maintaining that commitment long term. So it’s good to know that’s not a major issue. Apart from that, I guess I’m just not really sure if I would be a good board member. I guess it might help if (or anyone else who supports me running) could explain why they think I’d be good at it? Thanks a bunch!  05:29, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
 * The only thing a board member needs is to be trusted by the community and seem like a reasonable person with a head on their shoulder. Don't overthink this. Shabi  DOO  05:33, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Well if that’s all I need, and it’s fine to back out of it down the line then I reckon I can definitely swing it. In that case, fuck it, I’ll stop overthinking and just finally commit. Sorry for the indecisiveness and thanks for the clarifications! 05:36, 15 July 2021 (UTC)

Do we even need a vote?
We have four nominees and one already volunteers for the one-year term. 18:23, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Legally required by the board's bylaws, but yeah it'll be a complete formality. Techpriest (talk) 18:44, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Nominations are still open Shabi  DOO  21:48, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Yeah, Shabi. There’s still time for you to take back your denial and run for office. Do it! 21:49, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Ahh ha ha ha. No thanks Shabi  DOO  22:05, 18 July 2021 (UTC)

Nominations close in 2 hours
Just saying, last chances. If anyone wants to contact FCP or Nutty, be my guest. Techpriest (talk) 22:07, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
 * And we're closed up (going by UTC time). Campaigning time has began! Techpriest (talk) 10:30, 19 July 2021 (UTC)