Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2016/Candidates/Doug Weller/Statement

Doug Weller
I'm Doug Weller and have been a member of ArbCom for two years. I've had this account for $10 1/2$ years and have a dormant account, User:DougWeller, which has 2 edits, the first six months before I created this account. I've been an Admin for just over 8 years. I wasn't planning to run and told several people I wouldn't, but the dearth of candidates has changed my mind.

It's been an interesting two years for me, and very different years. As others have pointed out here and elsewhere, 2015 saw many more cases than this year - 18 vs only 4 this year. I think that this year's committee has by and large managed to deal with cases faster than last year but we've still had some problems, particularly with scope (as noted by other candidates as well).

DeltaQuad is absolutely correct when she suggests that cases shouldn't be left just to the drafters and that all of us need to be more active at the opening phases of the case. I'd also like to see more Arb input at the Workshop phase, particularly with drafters making proposals at that stage rather than wait for the Proposed decision stage. I did that when I was a drafter at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Christianity and Sexuality/Workshop. The workshop phase should be the heart of the process.

Another area which definitely needs improvement and isn't obvious is dealing with email. It's all too easy to let it fall behind and weeks later find issues that haven't been resolved. Nagging sometimes helps (thanks User:Opabinia regalis for your nags) but isn't enough. We already have regular phone conferences with the WMF, usually once a month. I think I've been part of all of them, and at times we Arbs have stayed in the conference after the WMF have left and discussed issues, which has been useful, depending on how many Arbs were around. A few weeks ago DQ organised an Arb-only phone conference, and we were able to go through the list of outstanding items with an efficiency I haven't seen at any other time on the Committee. I see that she has mentioned regular meetings in her statement, and it's something I will definitely push for if I'm elected. We should always have one in the opening stages of a case, particularly to make sure whether the case is really necessary and the scope. The mailing list is good but not good enough for this.

As for my non-ArbCom activities, I'm still a relatively active editor in a wide range of areas, although I'm most interested in archaeology. And there's the usual anti-vandal work, chasing sock puppets, etc.

I'm identified with the WMF and meet the requirements specified in the access to nonpublic information policy.