Operator of Wikipedia didn't check operations chief's background

[Judi Lynn]

Dec. 21, 2007, 11:45PM
Foundation under fire
Operator of Wikipedia didn't check operations chief's background

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN
Associated Press

http://images.chron.com.nyud.net:8090/photos/2007/12/18/9237882/311xInlineGallery.jpg

The foundation that runs — and accepts donations for — the online encyclopedia Wikipedia neglected to do a basic background check before hiring a chief operating officer who had been convicted of theft, drunken driving and fleeing a car accident.

Before she left in July, Carolyn Bothwell Doran, 45, had moved up from a part-time bookkeeper for the Wikimedia Foundation and spent six months as chief operating officer, responsible for personnel and financial management. In March, she signed the small nonprofit's tax return, which listed more than $1.3 million in donations.

At the time, she was on probation for a 2004 hit-and-run accident in Virginia that had landed her seven months in prison. Doran had multiple drunken-driving convictions, and records show earlier run-ins for theft, writing bad checks and wounding her boyfriend with a gunshot to the chest.

The revelation comes as the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the volunteer-written Wikipedia and its sister Web encyclopedias in other languages, is staging a fundraising drive and trying to expand beyond a ragtag startup.

"This is indicative of poor management of the Wikimedia Foundation," said Charles Ainsworth, a frequent Wikipedia contributor. Ainsworth said he had been considering donating to support the encyclopedia, but won't "unless they clearly get things fixed."

More:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/news/5398576.html

[papau]

1. Got to love DUI mug shots - she seems like a strong personality/leader :-)

[Richard Steele]

2. They tried to check her backround, but some bunch of yahoos kept editing it? nm

[NorthernSpy]

3. ha!

:spray:


Good one!