[foundation-board] URGENT: Problems with a specific individual and OKF projects
paula le dieu
paula at ledieu.org
Tue Nov 16 09:53:14 UTC 2010
I am following this thread. Apologies that this is no more thoughtful than
an alert but this issue seems to go to the heart of organisation and its
future - want to spend sometime thinking about it rather than responding
between meetings.
p
On 15 November 2010 11:40, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> *Sorry to impose on board members time but please read and respond to
> this email.*
>
> As some board members already know we have had persistent problems
> with one individual (Paola Di Maio) behaviour's within the OKF
> community, specifically in her posts to various OKF mailing lists (see
> section below and forwarded email)
>
> While Paola's existing reputation is such that it is unlikely these
> sort of statements will be given any consideration, dealing with this
> absorbs time and does undermine the work we are doing (e.g. Paola's
> interventions on the coord group have already put off some people [3]
> and unfounded criticism of our project by someone who claims to be
> part of our community is obviously not help especially to those more
> on the 'outside').
>
> [3]: http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-coord/2010-September/000195.html
>
> Our general approach is be ultra-tolerant of discussion in the wider
> community. However, the situation has now reached the stage where I
> feel some action must be taken, especially where Paola claims to be
> part of the 'OKF(n) Community' or representing an OKF project. (I note
> also that several efforts have been made by e.g. Jonathan and myself
> to talk with Paola in person about her issues with little positive
> result).
>
> I therefore propose that:
>
> a) Jordan or I will write directly to Paola on behalf of the
> Foundation stating something along the lines of
>
> a) no merit in the claims she has been making
> b) she is not running an OKF project
> c) she has no authority to speak as an OKF community member or on
> behalf of the OKF
> d) she should consider her "membership" (if she thinks she is a
> member) terminated (the current governance document specifically
> provides for this
> <http://okfn.org/governance/#membership-change-and-revocation>)
>
> b) We will turn on moderation for her posts on relevant lists
>
> In addition I think it would also be good to send a public email to
> the coord group explaining this decision -- it may even be better for
> this discussion to take place on coord (Jordan and I can represent the
> board) though this could be difficult if it involves publishing
> Paola's email to Soren which was forwarded to us directly.
>
> Please respond to let me know whether this seems sensible.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rufus
>
> ### Paloa Issues
>
> On several occasions Paola has made unsubstantiated criticisms of both
> of specific OKF projects as well as the Foundation generally. More
> worrying she has now claimed to be acting on the OKF's behalf or
> otherwise involved in an OKF project (e.g. LOD2) and has written to
> the project lead (Soren Auer) and, apparently the Commission, alleging
> various failings at the OKF together with a veiled accusation of fraud
> (see email forwarded below). [1][2][3]
>
> [1]: See forwarded email below and this email [2] sent yesterday in
> which she claims (incorrectly) that she has started an OKF project for
> which the OKF is seeking to find funding
> [2]:
> http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/open-government/2010-November/000466.html
> [3]: http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-coord/2010-September/000237.html
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Sören Auer <auer at informatik.uni-leipzig.de>
> Date: 12 November 2010 13:09
> Subject: Re: re. problems with OKFn
> To: paoladimaio10 at googlemail.com
> Cc: Jordan S Hatcher <jordan.hatcher at okfn.org>, Rufus Pollock
> <rufus.pollock at okfn.org>
>
>
> Paola,
>
> Thank you for writing. However, I don't share your concerns at all. If
> you have these concerns I suggest you take them up with the specific
> project partner, i.e. the Open Knowledge Foundation. I am therefore
> cc'ing Jordan Hatcher and Rufus Pollock and suggest you discuss this
> further, if need be, with them.
>
> Best,
>
> Sören
>
>
> On 12.11.2010 11:06, Paola Di Maio wrote:
> >
> > Soren
> >
> > Thanks for reply.
> >
> > No, the problems are not of personal nature at all, and are not with
> > other activists
> >
> > (however other members of the team and OKFn foundation may be having
> > problems of personal nature among themselves, that may contribute to the
> > collaboration between various team members having weakened in recent
> weeks).
> >
> > I am afraid that what you are getting from the legal representative is
> > only part of the picture.
> >
> > Jo said she did not get to talk to you much to her when she came to
> > Berlin (in the sense that you were busy talking to other people). (Jo
> > was my primary contact with this project at the time, but she says that
> > now she is not working on the deliverable anymore
> >
> > The problems are of 'organisational' , transparency and management
> > nature if the way OKFn manages its participation into LOD2, and the
> > participation of OKFn community members (in which case me).
> >
> > Some of us (the wider OKFn community) have already started working
> > towards the deliverables of the package. Have you been informed of this?
> >
> > The legal representative does not seem to be informed of such
> > activities, or is deliberately concealing from you information about
> > them, because the organisaion designed to run in a dysfunctional way.
> >
> > They can tell you what they want, it does not correspond to fact.
> >
> > I understand you have to deal with the legal representative, but I hope
> > you consider your duty also to verify the informatin you are supplied
> with
> >
> > In open collaboration with OKFn representatives, as well as other
> > researchers, work toward the data repository and toward the guide to
> > publishing open data started and is currently taking place, in various
> > distributed groups, and I have all the correspondence to support the
> > exchange.
> >
> > I am not sure this information has been presented in the meetings you
> > mentioned?
> >
> > I think as a project coordinator it is your duty also to establish what
> > is prior art
> > you should be interested in learning of the efforts being made toward
> > the project irrespective of what the legal representative tells you.
> >
> > I obviously I intend to do something about this situation, as there is
> > no point in spending public money to pay for work that has already been
> > done for free by community members
> >
> > If as a project leader there is no further action you feel you can/want
> > to take, I ll progress my by publishing a dossier with all the
> > documentation on this case and informing the Commission accordingly that
> > there may be possibly even some fraud going on.
> >
> > Best regards
> >
> > Paola Di Maio
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 8:42 AM, Sören Auer
> > <auer at informatik.uni-leipzig.de <mailto:auer at informatik.uni-leipzig.de>>
> > wrote:
> >
> > Hi Paola,
> >
> > I noticed, that there seem to be some personal tensions between some
> > OKFN activists and you. However, I think nether me nor LOD2 has
> > anything to do with that. Please understand, that I as LOD2
> > coordinator have to communicate primarily with the legal
> > representatives of OKFN and the people that were assigned by them to
> > work on LOD2. So far, I can not say that the collaboration of OKFN
> > in the project lacks any commitment or management problems. We
> > already had a number of meetings in Leipzig, Berlin, London with
> > various people - e.g. Jo and William visited us recently together in
> > Leipzig as were Jonathan and Friedrich a little earlier. The
> > development work seems to be progressing. Also, OKFN is very
> > actively organizing and participating in events. Taking this into
> > account I can not see any issues with OKFN's involvement in LOD2
> > and/or the management in general.
> > Given that the problems between you and OKFN seem to be primarily of
> > a personal nature, I would strongly advise to try to resolve them
> > also as such and not escalating this personal problem to projects
> > (e.g. LOD2) and organizations (the commission) having neither a
> > stake nor any influence on that.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Sören
> >
> >
> > On 11.11.2010 7:11, Paola Di Maio wrote:
> >
> > Hi Soren
> >
> > I hope you are well
> >
> > I presume you may have not be informed of the background that
> > led to my
> > involvement with OKFn.
> >
> > I have correspondence between Jo, Rufus, Jonathan and myself
> > showing
> > that I was asked to work
> > as organisational consultant by OKFn board member, and various
> > exchanges
> > in relation to my work for an open government directory and all
> > discussions that emerged.
> >
> > I intend to put forward an official complaint to the commission in
> > relation to how OKFn participation to the LOD2 consortium, as
> > it is a
> > highly unreliable organization with serious transparency and
> > management
> > issues.
> >
> > I am not sure if the 'deceit' is intentional, or the result of
> the
> > deliberate fragmentation in formation flow, I do however
> > have full documentation,
> >
> > I am in informing you in advance as a matter of courtesy, as you
> > are the
> > project coordinator of LOD2,. that I have some problems I intend
> to
> > address, in case you may be able to resolve the conflict before me
> > officially blowing the whistle.
> >
> > It is not my intention to disrupt the progress of the LOD2
> > project, but
> > I am not at all happy the way the foundation has
> > handled the project proposal so far nor my relation with you as
> > coordinator (ie, effectively prevent my further participation in a
> > project that I initiated). This is really evil.
> >
> > I hope this does not become an headache for you, but I intend to
> > take
> > legal steps if nothing can be done to rectify
> > the situation from your end
> >
> > Let me know if you have questions or need more info
> >
> > Best Regards
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > PDM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> --
> Co-Founder, Open Knowledge Foundation
> Promoting Open Knowledge in a Digital Age
> http://www.okfn.org/ - http://blog.okfn.org/
>
> _______________________________________________
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> foundation-board at lists.okfn.org
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>
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