User:Westnordost/AGM19 Cheatsheet

There are so many candidates this year, I need an overview

Disclaimer

I made this table originally for myself and only later decided to share this publicly, this is why it is written perhaps a bit frank and sloppy.

Since the link to this has now even be posted to weeklyosm and the osmf mailing list, I want to make this clear: I applaud the courage, time and commitment every candidate put into the application and I trust that every candidate in describing their vision for OSM and the topics that they find important has the best intentions for OSM to move forward. I do not want that anyone of the candidates gets the impression that they are not welcome, hated or something. Whatever I wrote below should only be about the things I read in the AGM19 manifesto / questions for candidates, not about the person.

That being said, since the document has been shared publicly, please feel free to correct omissions, mistakes and misrepresentations I made in the table, also if you are a candidate yourself (but keep it short please, the sense of the table is only to provide an overview). If you add a new column, it would be great if you added the relevant information for all candidates so that it doesn't appear as if only one or a few candidates have anything to say about that topic.

	Mapping and other activities	Affliation	Related experience	Uphold on-the-ground-rule over community harmony / bad press (Crimea)	Potential Treasurer?	Hot topics
Allan Mustard	very active, also in wiki		yes, retired US diplomat	yes		respect for craft mappers support local communities in developing countries
Clifford Snow	super active, also in wiki, street side photos, ML and a working group		yes, in labour union		yes	better cooperation with companies
Dietmar Seifert	very super mega active, also in forum, wiki, street side photos	Public transport corporation Baden-Württemberg				stricter rules for big companies stricter rules for software on osm.org empower local chapters transparency in membership, donations, conflict of interest
Eugene Alvin Villar	super active, also in wiki, HOT, github, ML and a working group		yes, in Wikimedia Foundation	yes		support local communities in developing countries
Gregory Marler	very active, also in wiki, help and SotM working group, OSM UK local chapter		yes, various, including SotM and OSM UK board	yes		better public relations for OSM empower working groups
Guillaume Rischard	super active, also in help, wiki, github and multiple working groups		yes, in city council and local politics	YES!	yes	prevent corporate entryism, conflict of interest support local communities in developing countries with microgrants support consensus making (tools)
Jinal Foflia	used to be very active, now rarely but a member of a working group, organizes local events	Grab				gender and diversity support Asian local communities
Michal Migurski	not really active	Facebook	yes, at Code for America, OSM US			focus on how to make use of OSM Code of Conduct work with Facebook on clarifying license requirements
Mikel Maron	casually active, but active on ML, HOT, OSM US and a working group	Mapbox	yes, at OSMF and HOT	NO! (overruled DWG decision)		continuity (4 years on the board)
Nuno Caldeira	very active, also in ML and a working group	Department of Civil Protection of a municipality on Madeira				clear rules on licensing focus on community
Rory McCann	very active, also in wiki an a working group	Geofabrik		no		gender and diversity
Steve Coast	not really active, author of "The Book of OSM"	(vague answer) TomTom			yes	less transparency in OSMF(?), less continuity more focus on operations, more budget focus on collecting addresses(?!)

Opinion

What is quite apparent is that all the candidates not affiliated with big companies are very active as mappers throughout and also active in the community (forum, wiki, working groups, mailing list etc.) while the candidates with an affiliation with big companies are not really active as mappers and mostly not active in the community.

This is a problem, because the board should represent the community's interest. If they are neither active as mappers nor in the community but are affiliated with a big company, well go figure whose interest they will tend to represent.

Additionally, none of the affiliated candidates gave any meaningful ("yes") response to the question whether the on-ground-rule should be upheld over "community harmony" (Crimea topic) nor on the topic of entryism / takeover of corporations (GlobalLogic topic), I think. Or perhaps I overread it. Though, since these were hot topics, it does not give me too much confidence that they will make the right decisions in the future.

I will not vote for:

• Steve Coast, as he is barely active as a mapper and not at all in the community, plus, he did not state his affiliation with TomTom, and has weirdly specific goals where the question arises why he has to be in the board for that, and he wants less transparency on the board (eh, wtf?)
• Michal Migurski, as he has almost no mapping experience, no ties to the community, just to Facebook. He acknowledges (in my understanding) that OSM should be less about the community and more about how (companies) can use OSM data. He also wants to implement a CoC, which is the wrong priority
• Mikel Maron, for overruling the DWG's decision on on-the-ground rule and not being transparent about the decision finding process, for blocking investigation in the attempted voting fraud by GlobalLogic and also not being transparent about it. Also, not clear for what he stands.
• Jinal Foflia only for the reasons stated for all the affiliated candidates and because I find there are other topics that are more important than the ones she stands for. She writes a lot, but little of substance in the manifesto / questions for candidates

My favourite candidates are:

• Guillaume Rischard. Super active as a mapper and in the community, thanks to him the GlobalLogic voting fraud scheme was uncovered - for which he received an OSM award, he'd be willing to take on the position as a treasurer, has prior experience in working groups and local politics and finally, the topics he stands for is something I can stand for as well. Additionally, he understands the current problems in the community (communication fragmentation, consensus building and iD) and has some ideas how to go forward here.
• Alan Mustard. Again, also very active as a mapper and a bit in the community, a craft mapper and very considerate in his answers to the community and his manifesto, as a retired diplomat, I think he might bring good skills in arbitration to the table and has no conflicts of interest
• Eugene Alvin Villar as he is, like the others both very active as a mapper, as a hacker and within the community, he also was active in the Wikimedia Foundation wich gives him some experience for this post

All three of my favourite candidates have one thing in common on their agenda, which is to support local communities (in developing countries)

Note

There is also Christoph Hormanns summary, I read it and I think it is a very interesting read for anyone wanting to make a more informed choice:

http://blog.imagico.de/2019-osmf-board-candidates-analysis-and-recommendations/