Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2010/Candidates/HJ Mitchell/Statement

'''At this point, I have decided to withdraw from the election. I stood for this role not because I was overjoyed at the prospect of taking it on, but because we had a shortage of candidates and I wanted the community to at least have a choice and was willing to serve if necessary. Since there is no longer an issue with lack of candidates, I feel there's no need for me to stand. I'd like to thank everybody who took the time to pose questions or form opinions and apologise to anybody who may feel let down. I wish the remaining candidates the very best of luck and I will look forward to seeing the 2011 ArbCom take shape while having the time to continue to serve this project as an administrator. Thank you. HJ Mitchell'''  &#124;  Penny for your thoughts?   02:03, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

HJ Mitchell

 * Like Xeno and Jclemens, I've noticed that we seem to have a lack of candidates and, in the interests of the community having the best choice, I've decided to throw my hat into the ring.

My name is Harry Mitchell. I've been a Wikipedian since March 2009 and an administrator since May 2010. I've racked up approximately 35,000 edits with this account as well as 13,000 logged admin actions. When not working around the Main Page, particularly WP:ITN and WP:ERRORS, I try to make myself useful as a "general purpose" admin, dealing with backlogs at AIV, UAA, RfPP and permissions requests. I've also tried to enforce and uphold WP:BLP wherever such issues have come to my attention.

While there are many downsides to being an arbitrator, plenty of which have been voiced on the election talk page and at WT:ACN, the Committee performs a vital function in hearing the disputes that the community has been unable to resolve and in dealing with other matters of a sensitive nature or which the community is not well-equipped to deal with. By performing these functions, the Committee allows editors to get on with adding to, improving and maintaining the encyclopaedia.

Arbitration is also, by its very nature, the scene for some of the most heated disputes ever to grace this project. I believe I can have a calming influence on other editors by discussing and explaining issues in a cool but assertive manner. This closely relates to one of the most difficult tasks an administrator has: explaining to a new editor who may be upset or angry at the deletion of their article that the subject doesn't meet our notability requirements. Very often, I find that being willing to listen and discuss will buy one a lot of good will and make a dispute that bit less acrimonious and thus, that bit easier to solve.

Disclosure on alternate accounts: I own User:Whisky drinker, my main alternate account. I also own a doppelgänger, User:Harry Mitchell and User:HJ Mitchell (test). Aside from a few edit while accidentally logged out, I've only ever edited from those accounts, though User:HJ Mitchell's bot and User:HJ MICHELLE were both created by vandals to impersonate me.

While I don't think I would enjoy all aspects of being an arbitrator, I promise to the community that, if elected, I will serve them to the very best of my ability. After all, they deserve nothing less.

Thank you for your consideration. HJ Mitchell &#124;  Penny for your thoughts?   19:33, 22 November 2010 (UTC)