Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2013/Candidates/Roger Davies/Statement

Roger Davies
I've served five years on the committee now. My two terms have been personally rewarding, though at times a steep learning curve. What have I found most challenging? Trying to do my best to balance the conflicting needs of policy, individual editors, the community and our readers.

In my first term, I was active in pushing through major committee reforms. I followed this by negotiating with the community the first update to Arbitration policy in six years. It ended up gaining solid (85%) support.

I’ve participated in more than seventy cases, drafting/co-drafting the decisions for about sixteen of them. I’ve served in every aspect of the committee's work, including my work on two subcommittees, "BASC" and "AUSC". I helped draft the committee’s CheckUser and Oversight procedural policy, and I’ve supervised/organised several appointment cycles. For five years I’ve moderated ArbCom's mailing lists, typically involving about 75 emails a day; this is mundane stuff, but it still needs doing. I take an interest in arbitration enforcement and I’ve drafted or co-drafted several of its procedures. I'm currently working on a discretionary sanctions update.

Arbitrators should regularly stand back and take stock. I’m aware of a growing distance between the committee and the needs of an evolving community. To focus on core functions and perform them better, I believe the committee needs to shed some of its numerous responsibilities. This won't happen overnight, and the transition must be orderly, but the community and the WMF must start sharing some of the load. In this context, I have been one of the arbitrators tasked with WMF liaison, which requires great patience.

Content-wise, these days I tend to either copy-edit or add refs/sources. Before I joined ArbCom I was very active both at Milhist and FAC. I've added significant content to five FAs, and extensively copy-edited another eight. The subjects have varied enormously, for example, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Welsh rugby, Emily Dickinson, the Roman emperor Maximian, the Battle of Arras, and the First Indochina War.

Addendum: I'm delighted that the WMF has agreed to change access to CU/OS, paving the way for the election of non-admin arbitrators. I've advocated this for years, and believe it will help bring ArbCom and the community closer together.

Mandatory statements: ''I have never edited from any account other than Roger Davies and (occasionally) User:Red Dragon, which prior to renaming was called Roger Davies II. As a sitting arbitrator, I am already identified to the WMF and will continue to comply fully with the non-public data policy.''