Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2011/Candidates/Maxim/Statement

Maxim

 * Co-ordinator note: This candidate has withdrawn from the election.  Skomorokh   15:26, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

I've been considering stepping forward for this role pretty much since the elections started, but with time running down, I've made up my mind. Simply put, my background in article-writing, adminship, and bureaucrat work would make an effective arbitrator.

I am finishing my fifth year as an editor, have over four years admin experience, and am closing in on six months as a bureaucrat. Despite the two hats, I still find time for article-writing, and I am not disconnected from that part of Wikipedia. I have produced plenty of FAs, FLs, GAs, and DYKs.

Article-writing isn't exactly the "role" of an arb, but it's important to be able to relate to the users whose dispute you're trying to resolve. While Arbcom doesn't rule on content, most disputes reaching the Committee have some relation to content development. An arbitrator with the experience of writing quality has an advantage when it comes to a case.

I don't comment on the big dramas of day; I prefer to make my observations, and I will generally keep them to myself unless I feel I have something major to add. An arbitrator has to be impartial, and as a bureaucrat, I have to be able to provide a dispassionate assessment of a heated RfA when called upon, which is certainly different but not totally dissimilar to making a decision as an Arbitrator.

If elected, I would prefer to be more active with regards to the cases themselves (e.g. assessing evidence, writing decisions, posing questions to parties at the workshop if necessary). It's where I consider myself to potentially be most useful.

Now, too clear out some "paperwork". To explain a recent lapse of inactivity: I'm in an occupation where at times I'm in the field and hence inactive; I would not be submitting myself for this role if I did not have the time for it. My alternate accounts are listed on the Candidate Guide page. Finally, I'm willing to identify myself to the Foundation if elected.

 Maxim (talk)  23:04, 21 November 2011 (UTC)