Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2005-11-07/ArbCom update

On Thursday, 4 November of this week, Sannse resigned from the Wikipedia Arbitration Committeee, citing health concerns and a lack of time. Sannse first announced her resignation on the Arbitration Committee mailing list, and Arbitrator Raul654 later announced the resignation on Wikipedia by removing Sannse's name from the list of Arbitrators, citing her resignation.

Sannse had already been listed as away for several weeks; the official reason was an extended wiki-break. However, last Monday, 31 October, Sannse had indicated on her talk page that she hoped to resume her ArbCom activity soon. First elected in the December 2004 Arbitration Committee elections, Sannse had been active for several months. Her term was not up for re-election until 2007.

Later, Sannse confirmed her resignation on the mailing list. "I came back from an extended wikibreak last week, and hoped to get back to arbitration work as soon possible. Unfortunately, it became clear as I tried to catch up that I am just not well enough at the moment to put in the time and commitment that the job needs. I didn't feel it fair to my colleagues on the committee to continue with that being the case," she stated. "I still fully support the arbitration committee and believe strongly in the job the committee does. In fact, I would very much like to rejoin the committee one day - if the opportunity arises and if my health improves."

Her resignation brings the total number of seats up for grabs in this year's election up to eight.

In other election news, two Wikipedians withdrew from the December 2005 elections and one user announced his candidacy. Carbonite and Jtkiefer both withdrew from the race, though for different reasons. Carbonite, in a brief statement on his user page, stated that he would be leaving Wikipedia. Jtkiefer, meanwhile, withdrew, saying that it would be highly unlikely that he would be picked by Jimbo Wales under the new elections procedure and that his statement was only "clog[ging] up the page".

Kim Bruning (statement), however, announced his candidacy this week. He stated that he wished to become involved and that he would "wait and see what happens with the appointment procedure first though, since there will likely be some changes."