[Foundation-l] [Announcement] Brad Patrick Resigns as General Counsel
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 To the Wikimedia Community: I am stepping down as General Counsel to the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., effective March 31, 2007. I tendered my resignation to the Board some weeks ago, which was accepted. In the context of Danny Wool's announcement earlier today that he has resigned, some will speculate the two are related. They are not. The timing is just unfortunate. Many people who decide to leave the projects do so by invoking the right to disappear. That isn't me. I am very proud of my association with WMF and will carry the distinction of having been a part of its growth with me for the rest of my life. I care deeply about the future of the Foundation, and am more dedicated in my beliefs about the free culture movement than ever before. With respect to my relationship with the Foundation and those of you whom I have come to know, I hope we are on good terms. This community understands implicitly that people of goodwill can (and do) have strong differences of opinion about important matters. Should I choose to comment about these sorts of things at some point in the future, it will be as a person who cares about the vitality and success of the Foundation. I intend any such criticism to be constructive and based on a well-founded, good faith belief in making the Foundation stronger. I certainly wish for nothing but success for the organization. To the extent I, (like any person who has had anything to do with the workings of the Foundation), have opinions about what I think is good, bad, ugly, etc. about how the Foundation does things, they are my own. One of the last things I did before stepping aside as interim ED was retain the firm of Phillips Oppenheim to conduct the ED search process for WMF. I hold them in the highest regard as professionals who are exclusively in the business of non-profit executive search, and I have a high degree of confidence that they are the right people to aid the Foundation in its next steps. They can make a difference. It is my earnest hope that everyone who cares about the Foundation, but has concerns about what is happening at the Foundation now, will say so. This community is strongest when it is vocal, not silent. If you have questions you want answered, be bold, speak up, and ask them. The Board members -- the ones who are accountable, since it is they who are running the Foundation -- deserve the support of the community when they earn it. But, since this is real life, {{SOFIXIT}} isn't as simple as clicking on an article. It's really hard work that takes a great deal of time and energy. So, I'm leaving as of March 31, 2007. I am not going away or deleting myself out of wikiexistence. I'm just not going to be WMF's General Counsel. Brad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:BradPatrick -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFGAtJ65txwQhyxnbIRAtC/AJ4xaN8hjmS4Zf/RWAKaiy2HapSd3wCdGhdJ fe6Nz7wYcObeRG+JMLfq4TI= =a75c -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Brad Patrick, former General Counsel for the WMF
Brad Patrick and Danny Wool announced their resignations from the Wikimedia Foundation last week.

Danny Wool, previous Grants Coordinator for the Foundation made his resignation first known on March 20, by removing his name from the current staff listing on the Foundation's website. Unlike Patrick, this was the first indication of Wool's resignation.

According to a  mailing list post by Wool, he will be running for a seat on the Board of Trustees, the Wikimedia Foundation's governing body, in June. Earlier in the same message, he says that he is unwilling to discuss the reasons of his resignation with the community.

Danny Wool, former Grants Coordinator for the WMF

Brad Patrick's resignation was known to the Board of Trustees about a month previously and was made public on March 22. Patrick says in his  mailing list message that his resignation is not related to Wools, and that "the timing is just unfortunate". Patrick says that he will not be leaving the Wikimedia projects, just "not going to be the WMF's General Counsel" anymore.

In an interview with Wired News, Patrick criticized the Board's ability to "handle things", as well as concerns with the "informal structure of the Board" and "the inexperience of its seven members". When contacted by phone, Jimbo Wales said that he was confused by Patrick's statements.

"What I hope for is for the board to decide to choose a future that will be conducive to a very powerful executive director who can provide some much needed leadership right now," Patrick said.