Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-07-03/Angela's resignation

Angela Beesley has indicated that she is resigning from Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation after two years of service. The seat will be filled in an election later this year. Beesley was first elected in June 2004 for a one-year term; the election will be for the balance of the two-year term to which she was elected last year.

The news was first reported on Saturday in the Wikizine, after which Beesley confirmed it in a message to the Wikimedia Foundation mailing list. She said she would remain involved in the projects and organizing a Wikimedia chapter for Australia. The only trustee to oppose the resolution to hire an interim executive director, she did indicate some concern about deterioration in "the collaborative consensus-based nature Wikimedia had before the start of this year". However, she expressed confidence that remaining Trustees Jimmy Wales and Florence Nibart-Devouard would continue to manage the Foundation for the benefit of the Wikimedia projects. Looking back, she said, "It's been a great two years and I've enjoyed the role".

Beesley made the decision to resign a month ago, intending for the resignation to go into effect 1 July. The Board of Trustees had been trying to find someone to fill the vacancy on an interim basis, but was unable to do so in that time. Instead, Beesley's resignation is effective once her replacement has been elected. The Board passed a resolution accepting her resignation on 26 June.

According to the resolution, the election is scheduled to start 1 September; additional information should be forthcoming. It is not known how many positions will be open in the election. The possibility of creating additional seats on the board has been mentioned before, but it is not known whether those would be elected positions. Discussions of expanding the Board of Trustees have explored bringing in outside perspectives as well as adding more people from the project communities. Wales has indicated that some or all of the additions might be appointed rather than elected.