The OTW Board of Directors voted at its regularly scheduled meeting on 22 November to appoint Andrea Horbinski to serve the remainder of the term vacated in 2014 by Anna Genoese, ending 31 December 2016. Filling board vacancies by appointment is a normal part of board work provided for in Article V §4 of the OTW Bylaws, and the Board has done so at multiple points in the past.
After discussion with the rest of the Board, Andrea Horbinski has decided to decline the appointment to the OTW Board for 2016. She has tendered her resignation from the Board effective 15 December 2015. Soledad Griffin, Jessica Steiner, Eylul Dogruel, Cat Meier, and M.J. MacRae are also resigning from the Board effective on that date. Those who currently serve as members of OTW committees will remain with the organization in their staff roles but not their Board roles.
The 2015 Board wishes the 2016 Board and the volunteers, staff, and membership of the OTW all the best for the organization’s continued success.
…now what happens…? I am assuming that the two people elected in the last election still take their seats … are the rest of the seats filled by other people from that election … ?
Hello, g!
The two newly elected board members, Atiya Hakeem and Matty Bowers (alphabetically), will definitely be taking their seats. Regarding the other open seats, we’ll be posting updates as soon as we have them.
Kind regards,
Kiri Van Santen, OTW Communications Committee Co-Chair
*gets mental image of La Cronies bailing out a window before the Righteously Indignant Pitchfork&Torch brigade lights a fire under their asses*
Basically.
Bye-bye, Cronies. Don’t trip on your way out.
Best outcome after the decision they made. Part of me isn’t sure they see it that way, and that this is likely rage!quitting, but end result is the same. Wishing the incoming Directors the best as they now have a clean slate to work from in rebuilding the reputation and functioning of the Board of Directors.
The resignations have some benefits — saving many hours of work figuring out the applicable bylaws and legal issues (if any) for one — but I hope the resignations are not seen as the solution to the OTW’s ongoing problems. I view it more as another symptom of long-standing issues. What deeply concerns me is how isolated the board seemed; they appear to have consulted with no one before making the contentious appointment, because surely anyone they spoke with would have pointed out what the likely membership response would be, a resounding no. The board’s apparent isolation is a problem that belongs to the entire OTW community, and I include myself, a longtime voting member, in that group.
I agree with mixed feelings. I don’t really understand what happened in any detail, but I hope this change will be the breath of fresh air that the OTW board needs. The isolation is a problem. Hopefully the new board will do a better job of connecting with members and their volunteers, especially the volunteers, and have better transparency wrt finances and activities.
Comical incompetence from the 2015 board, especially in regard to the election of their own successors. Here’s hoping we can move forward from this and that none of them ever have a voice in the community again. Ideally the new board will have some idea how to work with a community instead of lazing around in the background showing no face or progress.
Yes. They’ve proven they don’t value the organization enough to respect the members or to make decisions that are best for the organization. Their continued contributions to the organization in any capacity will always be questionable. I hope they will all do the right thing and part ways with the organization completely, at least until they can understand what it means to be professional, ethical, and responsible.