Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2016-02-03/In focus

 ''Editor's note: In December, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees voted to remove one of their own, community-elected trustee James Heilman. Since that time, the exact reasons for the dismissal have been a matter of community debate and even public debate amongst members of the Board themselves about the few details that have been revealed. Heilman has previously spoken out on the matter of transparency and his dismissal in a previous Signpost op-ed.''

This timeline is being published in response to the following statement made by the Board in early Jan 2016 at Jimmy Wales' request:

Timeline
Jimmy Wales tried to build a search engine, Wikia Search, without success.
 * 2006–09

The Search and Discovery team came into existence with eleven members.
 * Apr 30, 2015

commented on this very well supported team.
 * May 30, 2015

I was selected by the community for a position on the board.
 * Jun 5, 2015

The Knight Foundation grant was awarded for “stage one development of the Knowledge Engine by Wikipedia, a system for discovering reliable and trustworthy public information on the Internet."
 * Sept 1, 2015

The Knight Foundation grant was presented to the board, after which I requested further documents surrounding the grant. They were eventually provided after some resistance from other board members and the executive director, Lila Tretikov.
 * Early Oct

My email to the board about my concerns regarding this grant:
 * Oct 7, 2015

I emailed the board list offering to write up an overview of these ideas for the Signpost, which was met with negative comments by some board members.
 * Mid-Oct, 2015

The board approved the Knight Foundation grant. I supported its approval following pressure which included comments about potentially removing members of the Board. Assurances were provided that the Knight Foundation and Wikimedia Foundation were on the same page regarding the grant.
 * Nov 7, 2015

My removal from the board.
 * Dec 28, 2015

Publication of the press release about the grant.
 * Jan 6, 2016

Request for release of the grant application and statement by Wales that he will look into it.
 * Jan 8, 2016

As the request for release of the grant application was not replied to, the request was repeated.
 * Jan 21, 2016

Archiving of the page per Wales' request without the question being answered.
 * Jan 25, 2016

Release of further details by Tretikov with the statement that the grant paperwork could not be released due to “donor privacy”
 * Jan 29, 2016

So yes, the majority of the board and I clashed, and yes it was partly about our strategy and whether or not the community should be made aware and involved in these discussions. While the board prefers I not release this information, in the face of contradictory statements, I intend to let the facts speak for themselves.

James Heilman is a Canadian emergency room physician, a founder of Wikimedia Canada and the Wiki Project Med Foundation, and a former member of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.