Yesterday a candidate was removed from running in the OTW elections in a highly questionable way. We, the undersigned five candidates, regardless of our stances or platforms, would like to declare together that we condemn the treatment of this OTW volunteer, and the manner by which she was removed from the organization: without due process, consideration or respect.
- Nikisha Sanders was removed from her OTW position without the due process that all volunteers and staff have a right to (source).
- Despite Board’s claims, her position was considered staff by various committees, including Volunteers & Recruiting, Elections, and Development & Membership itself, where she served.
- Her dismissal from the OTW voided her candidacy — a decision made by the Board, which includes a member who is a candidate herself. This appears to be a severe conflict of interest that was never disclosed or openly discussed by the Board, and there are no public records of any attempts at mitigating its effect.
- The removal of Nikisha Sanders from the ballot now, after the elections process has already started, was ordered by the Board over the protests of the Elections team (source). This undermines the legitimacy, fairness and independence of these elections, and worries all of us, as candidates and as OTW volunteers.
We’d like to make a commitment that, whichever of us are elected, we will do everything in our power to introduce binding and strict policies for Board behavior, including rules governing confidentiality, conflicts of interest in personnel issues, and non-interference with the elections process. We understand that there are longstanding issues at play, both personal and organizational, but this must not prevent fair treatment or due process.
Signed:
Alex Tischer
Aline Carrão (LilyC)
Atiya Hakeem (Lady Oscar)
Katarina Harju (tinypinkmouse)
Matty BowersIt’s hard to understand how anyone could think that these kinds of actions are okay. The way Board has handled all of this is just beyond wrong.
More is here as well. My personal note: sanders is not a candidate I would have supported in the election. But I don’t support how the Board chose to handle her termination and render her ineligible to run in this election.
…yeaaaaaaah. I would have not voted for her but this is *not* okay.
I’m a big believer in having the right people in charge, but to me most importantly OTW need organizational structure and rules that allow us to have consistency between leaders, that will support the organization and our leaders, as well as put in place checks and balances so leaders can’t overstep their bounds.
Right now the OTW doesn’t have the structure in place to be a successful, long term organization. The OTW (and AO3) have limped along, but not having a budget or a set of policies for the board is not sustainable.
It’s hard to completely change the course of a large, almost completely volunteer organization. I’m not expecting anyone who is elected to the board to work miracles and some how make all the volunteers and members 100% happy and fix every issue with the various projects associate with AO3, and make puppies and kittens gambol. What I *do* hope to see is a yearly budget and a publicly available definition of the duties, responsibilities, privileges, and policies for the board. Achievable, measurable goals that will help the org.
It’s $10 to become a voting member. Lots of folks have very legitimately asked why they should give $10 to an organization if you don’t trust their financial management. I chose to become a member because I think we have candidates running who will work to improve financial management and who have promised to push for setting board policies. While not everyone will come to the same conclusion, if $10 is within your budget and you care about AO3/OTW, I do think it’s worthwhile to look at otwelections-unofficial and at the candidates’ manifestos and bios and consider whether the candidates support what you want to see for the organization going forward.
Announcement from OTW Board about 2015 Ballot | OTW Elections
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