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

PaoloNapolitano

 * It is time to once again elect our Arbitrators. The ArbCom is intended to be the last resort of dispute resolution. The major problem of the Committee is that the its composition does not reflect the true range of Wikipedians. The ArbCom has never had a non-administrator member and that is in my eyes a major issue. The main concern is that many users involved in Arbitration procedures feel that they are being judged by a court of Wikipedian "elders". That is a very serious issue for Wikipedia and I believe that the Committee would only benefit from having a non-administrator Arbitrator. If I was a party in an Arbitration case I would be relieved to find a non-administrator in the committee that sees Wikipedia through the eyes of the vast majority of the community.

The other major concern is that the ArbCom deals with Administrator misconduct. I believe that it is unfair that the people who judge administrators' actions are administrators themselves. It gives the average user no say about administrators' actions. The administrators deals with the average users' conduct, but the average user does not deal with the administrators' conduct. Is that fair?

If I become the first ever non-administrator to be elected to the Committee I will be the voice of the "average Joe" of Wikipedia. While others might see my lack of administrative experience as a weakness, I see it as my strenght. Why? Because it gives me the advantage to make my statements and votes without any administrator bias.

A vote for me is a vote for a free and independent voice that represents the average user. Tick off my name when you vote. The Arbitration Committee needs an average guy the next years!

This candidate is willing to identify upon request.