Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2023/Candidates/Robert McClenon/Statement

Robert McClenon

I am Robert McClenon, and I am submitting my name as a candidate for ArbCom. My activity in Wikipedia includes ten years at the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard, both as a mediator in content disputes, sometimes simple and sometimes complex, and by assessing and screening dispute filings to see which ones are suitable for moderated discussion.

ArbCom should avoid either hearing too many cases, in which case the arbitrators do not have time to consider each case with adequate deliberation, or hearing too few cases, so that conduct issues concerning editors or topic areas continue to trouble or divide the community. It is my opinion that ArbCom can and should hear somewhat more cases than it currently does, and in particular that ArbCom should accept cases that are referred to it by the community from WP:ANI, and ArbCom should let it be known that it will accept such cases. Occasionally a dispute at WP:ANI that involves both conduct and content becomes a great monster with tentacles. The community should have the option of referring the matter to ArbCom rather than finding an admin or panel of admins to try to extract consensus from a monster. This does not mean that ArbCom should go looking for trouble, but that ArbCom should let it be known that the community can bring their trouble to ArbCom.

The English Wikipedia ArbCom, the English Wikipedia community, and English Wikipedia admins are responsible for enforcing the Universal Code of Conduct, and ArbCom should establish that we enforce the UCOC, because otherwise either the WMF's Trust and Safety, which is unaccountable and inscrutable, or the WMF's emerging ArbCom, will intervene to enforce them on us.

I will be publishing some of the thoughts on ArbCom as this election progresses in this essay: User:Robert McClenon/ArbCom Thoughts.

I have never edited Wikipedia for pay or been paid to advise users how to edit Wikipedia, and will never edit Wikipedia for pay. I have signed the agreement for access to sensitive data. I have two alternate accounts, User:McClenon Test and User:McClenon mobile.

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