On OTW - some signal boosting, some ranting
For those of you who aren't aware, the OTW election season has begun.
The OTW Board, in its infinite jackassery, has decided to remove sanders from the candidates. This was done after elections began, after she had declared as a candidate, and her manifesto was published on the site. The Board did this after forcing her out of her position as treasurer, and then saying that her time as a staffer on different committees was only valid because she'd been treasurer, thus she had no time as a staffer and wasn't eligible to run for the Board.
This is, as someone else put it, ten tons of bullshit in a one-ton container.
Sanders' original explanation of events is here, and the paper trail is here.
You can also find a statement by several candidates here, and from there you can see other comments and posts. It's worth pointing out that even people who had issues with sanders in the past think this is bullshit, and that she was treated very poorly by the organization as a whole.
Yes, she's my iWife, and thus I'm biased in this situation, but there is frankly no way to look at what the Board put her through and say they had a valid argument, or that they acted in good faith. The Board found whatever loophole they could manage, forced her out, and is now trying to insist she wait six months before applying again to be a staffer.
A former Board member has to wait six months and then reapply to work for the organization? This makes no sense to me, or honestly anyone else.
For me, the OTW isn't getting any more of my money until they make a public apology at a minimum.
It's also worth noting that the Board is only planning on electing two people, because they want to decrease the size of the Board. Having been on the outskirts of the amount of work some people on the Board did, I think this is ridiculous to begin with. But the by-laws also say that 2/3 of the Board can vote to remove a director. If you think this sounds like the Board intending to run through elected candidates until they get directors they like, you're not alone.
This shouldn't have happened to sanders, at all. She didn't deserve any of this shit. She gave the org a ton of her energy and time, and they fucked her over. But if it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone else. If the Board feels they can act with impunity and remove staffers--note, they did this without going through any kind of mediation or anything else--what's to stop them from kicking out the next person who doesn't agree with them? What's to stop them from getting a 2/3 majority (in a group of six people) to kick out someone the OTW members voted in because the Board doesn't like him or her?
The committee on which sanders served as a staffer protested her removal, as did VolCom and Elections. That says an awful lot about her value to those committees and the lengths to which Board has gone to try and kick her out. She wasn't given due process; since the Board decided she wasn't an actual staffer but had been on DevMem because she'd been Treasurer, if they made her resign as treasurer they could kick her out of OTW entirely. Isn't that super?
OTW Elections Unofficial Tumblr has more info, should you be interested.
At this point I don't know what should or can be done for sanders, other than one HELL of a big apology and an offer to reinstate her on the committee/committees she wants to serve on. She's not trying to make noise because of what happened to her, but so she can stop it from happening to anyone else. Although frankly I think she should be yelling at the top of her lungs because this is so much bullshit and it deserves attention.
I told her she was crazy when she told me she wanted to run for Board again, and my opinion of OTW is not all that high to begin with, but even I didn't think they were capable of this much awfulness.
Did you?
This entry was originally posted at http://blueraccoon.dreamwidth.org/1355884.html. Please comment there. |
comments
The OTW Board, in its infinite jackassery, has decided to remove sanders from the candidates. This was done after elections began, after she had declared as a candidate, and her manifesto was published on the site. The Board did this after forcing her out of her position as treasurer, and then saying that her time as a staffer on different committees was only valid because she'd been treasurer, thus she had no time as a staffer and wasn't eligible to run for the Board.
This is, as someone else put it, ten tons of bullshit in a one-ton container.
Sanders' original explanation of events is here, and the paper trail is here.
You can also find a statement by several candidates here, and from there you can see other comments and posts. It's worth pointing out that even people who had issues with sanders in the past think this is bullshit, and that she was treated very poorly by the organization as a whole.
Yes, she's my iWife, and thus I'm biased in this situation, but there is frankly no way to look at what the Board put her through and say they had a valid argument, or that they acted in good faith. The Board found whatever loophole they could manage, forced her out, and is now trying to insist she wait six months before applying again to be a staffer.
A former Board member has to wait six months and then reapply to work for the organization? This makes no sense to me, or honestly anyone else.
For me, the OTW isn't getting any more of my money until they make a public apology at a minimum.
It's also worth noting that the Board is only planning on electing two people, because they want to decrease the size of the Board. Having been on the outskirts of the amount of work some people on the Board did, I think this is ridiculous to begin with. But the by-laws also say that 2/3 of the Board can vote to remove a director. If you think this sounds like the Board intending to run through elected candidates until they get directors they like, you're not alone.
This shouldn't have happened to sanders, at all. She didn't deserve any of this shit. She gave the org a ton of her energy and time, and they fucked her over. But if it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone else. If the Board feels they can act with impunity and remove staffers--note, they did this without going through any kind of mediation or anything else--what's to stop them from kicking out the next person who doesn't agree with them? What's to stop them from getting a 2/3 majority (in a group of six people) to kick out someone the OTW members voted in because the Board doesn't like him or her?
The committee on which sanders served as a staffer protested her removal, as did VolCom and Elections. That says an awful lot about her value to those committees and the lengths to which Board has gone to try and kick her out. She wasn't given due process; since the Board decided she wasn't an actual staffer but had been on DevMem because she'd been Treasurer, if they made her resign as treasurer they could kick her out of OTW entirely. Isn't that super?
OTW Elections Unofficial Tumblr has more info, should you be interested.
At this point I don't know what should or can be done for sanders, other than one HELL of a big apology and an offer to reinstate her on the committee/committees she wants to serve on. She's not trying to make noise because of what happened to her, but so she can stop it from happening to anyone else. Although frankly I think she should be yelling at the top of her lungs because this is so much bullshit and it deserves attention.
I told her she was crazy when she told me she wanted to run for Board again, and my opinion of OTW is not all that high to begin with, but even I didn't think they were capable of this much awfulness.
Did you?
This entry was originally posted at http://blueraccoon.dreamwidth.org/1355884.html. Please comment there. |
comments