Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2023/Candidates/HJ Mitchell/Statement

HJ Mitchell
Hello, I'm Harry. I'm in a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, serving on ArbCom would mean taking a step back from the front-line admin work I enjoy and find rewarding, and instead focus on more abstract and internal-facing matters. On the other, SilkTork's resignation statement, encouraging people with a variety of experiences to put themselves forward, struck a chord and I began thinking that perhaps this is something I could be good at. There have also been calls for more arbitrators with article-writing experience and I have 39 featured articles to my name on a variety of subjects, some of them potentially controversial. Sitting on ArbCom is one of the few things I've never done in nearly 15 years as a Wikipedian and certainly brings a different intellectual challenge, which could be rewarding in a different way.

I'm familiar with much of ArbCom's work. I've been an administrator since 2010 and an oversighter since 2015. I've been one of our most active oversighters, I've participated in discussions on the functionaries' mailing list, and (although some years ago) I've participated in a handful of arbitration cases. I've also been involved with arbitration enforcement on and off for much of the time I've been an admin, so I have experience of evaluating patterns of edits and making sometimes difficult decisions. Not all my decisions are perfect, and I've always been open to discussion among admins on the best way to proceed. In real life, I'm a manager; although not entirely analogous, I do have training and experience in confidentiality and handling conduct issues in the workplace which is applicable to some of what ArbCom does.

I've been generally pleased with the direction ArbCom has been moving in in recent years. It has tried to become less bureaucratic, do more of its business in public, and devolve some of its non-core responsibilities to the Foundation or to the community. I would seek to continue this process; in particular, I would like to see most ban appeals turned over to the community except where the reason cannot be made public. Ultimately, my Wikipedia activity has always been focused on writing the encyclopaedia and defending it from people who would do it harm (maliciously or otherwise). That is what I would hope to continue to do as an arbitrator. And just to make four hundred words exactly, that's all folks!


 * Disclosures:alt accounts; I am over 18; as an oversighter I comply with all requirements for access to non-public information and have signed the NDA; I'm not a member of any other committees.