Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2008/Vote/Jayvdb

Edit Analysis

A detailed breakdown of this candidate's edits in article and Wikipedia spaces can be found here. Franamax (talk) 02:12, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Personal statement from User:Jpgordon

I would be extremely happy if John were to be elected to ArbCom. I'm certain he could do a much better than job than I was able to; he's shown himself to be better suited to the task. Good luck, John. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 02:15, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Thank you Josh. Much appreciated. John Vandenberg ^(chat) 02:48, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Comments

LessHeard vanU As I do not believe in a system where my support may be rendered ineffective by the considerations of Jimbo and the existing ArbCom I shall only be supporting Risker; however, had my vote potential been not been constrained by the apparatus employed I would have supported this candidate. LessHeard vanU (talk) 00:47, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Replied at User talk:LessHeard vanU#Voting

John Vandenberg ^(chat) 02:04, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

AA involvement

I sadly note a number of Azerbaijan-Armenia related users have voted to oppose on the issue of my involvement in their topical area. This is an area I have recused, due to involvement in the editing and dispute resolution. I've posted an explanation here, and if there are questions not asked on my questions page, please do ask them. John Vandenberg ^(chat) 17:20, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Very troubling

Anyone else notice seven people attempting to oppose but are not eligible to vote? Ottava Rima (talk) 22:00, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Yep. Quack quack on off-wiki canvassing... Sceptre ^(talk) 22:19, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

I wasn't going to go that far, but now that you mentioned it... :) They are all seemingly connected around the same pages, and haven't been editing in a while. They also seem to edit during disputes. Hmmmmm. Ottava Rima (talk) 22:26, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Azeri-Armenia. Sceptre ^(talk) 23:23, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

I've raised this issue at WP:AN#Possible ethnic block voting in ArbCom elections?. In my view, there's very clear evidence that editors have been canvassed off-wiki to oppose this candidacy. -- ChrisO (talk) 00:38, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Endorsing Jayvdb - please don't strategically oppose this candidate

Jayvdb is a great Wikipedian with a long history of service to the project. Because I'm running myself, I haven't commented at length on the other candidates, but this is a special circumstance. I feel Jayvdb has been unfairly attacked by off-site canvassing.

Because Jayvdb and I are now very close in the polls, I'm concerned that my supporters might want to strategically vote against this candidate. That would be unfortunate. Although I hope to be elected by the community, I want want's right for Wikipedia first. The campaign orchestrated against Jayvdb is not right, so I must oppose it.

Admittedly, Jayvdb and I very different answers to some questions. He's even voted, in good faith, to oppose my candidacy. We're clearly not clones of each other. That said, I do not doubt that he's a great editor, and I think he'd be a good addition to ArbCom. So, let me say unequivocally:

• I have reviewed the allegations against him and find them to be baseless. From what I can tell, he has conducted himself appropriately, and he has made a solemn promise to recuse himself from any cases involving AA. That isn't the behavior of a POV-pusher, that's the behavior of someone who cares deeply about our project.
• I support Jayvdb. Originally I cast a small number of support votes. I thought I would be done with voting, but I'm going to cast one more vote for Jayvdb. He deserves it, if for no other reason than to offset some of the opposes unfairly attacking him.
• If anyone is thinking about strategically opposing Jayvdb, DON'T. I especially urge my own supporters to not strategically oppose this candidate. You should evaluate this candidate on his own merits, and not oppose him just because you want me, or some other editor, to be elected arbitrator. Jayvdb has more than enough directed opposition.
• Even if you must tactically oppose Jayvdb, you should condemn the character attacks against him. I know some people will practice "tactical opposes", and no matter what I say. If you do, I insist, that you honestly list such vote as a tactical vote. Make it crystal clear that you do not oppose him because of these AA-related character attacks. It is important to the independence of our community that we resist these off-site overtures.
• Lastly, if there is anyone who is trying to "get back" at Jayvdb for some past content dispute, I'm not your candidate. I don't want that kind of support.

Thank you. Cool Hand Luke 15:23, 4 December 2008 (UTC)