Private vs Public

Reps
#1

There is currently a discussion on the mailing list about improving transparency. I think for this discussion to really move forward it’s necessary to:

  • Understand what is currently considered private
  • Understand why those things are considered private
  • Discuss which of those things should or shouldn’t be private

I’ve started an etherpad here - https://remo.etherpad.mozilla.org/privatevspublic to keep track of what is considered private and the arguments for or against.

Because Discourse allows you to link topics to each other, I think this is a good place to discuss the different topics so that they aren’t lost in one thread, but are still easy to follow.

Let’s start by figuring out exactly what council/leadership considers private and should be for council discussion only, and what the reasons are.

2 Likes
#2

From being a former council member, and being a former peer, I know that the ruling guideline is that when you’re talking about a specific person it should be private. So off the top of my head that would include:

  • Dismissal requests
  • Budget requests
  • Mentor nominations
  • Deciding invite list to special events

I think there may be other reasons why budget requests need to be private, @couci?

#3

yes budget can not be public because:
a) we are not able to publish our monthly and annual budget
b) we had cases in the past that when council members voted against a budget, they got abused by Reps (why you voted no etc) so we want the council members to decide objectively.

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#4

@konstantina have heard of b) from former council members and it seems like if reps are abusing council members we need to deal with the bad actors by pointing out the participation guidelines?

This post is pretty interesting it talks about Good. Bad and Ugly reasons for not working in the open:
http://stormyscorner.com/2015/02/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-why-i-dont-always-work-in-the-open.html

I think bad actors abusing people because of how they vote or work in the open sits somewhere between a Good and Bad reason :slight_smile: it is a tough one and I do hope we addressed those people.

1 Like
#5

Yes, thanks @couci for replying so quickly.

I also would like to talk more about what to do when someone behaves poorly towards council, if other people are interested in having that conversation.

1 Like
#6

Seems like that might be another thread :slight_smile: