Effective July 26, Tyme LaDow has withdrawn her candidacy for the 2020 Board election for personal reasons.
The Elections Committee wishes Tyme all the best in her continued work for the OTW.
In addition, Tyme provided the following statement for her withdrawal:
I regret to say that I feel I need to withdraw candidacy from this year’s Board election. The terrible acts of racial injustice, and racially targeted brutality are currently escalating in the US (my country) as are the protests supporting these minorities being targeted. After President Donald Trump made a statement that the government would be sending federal agents to other cities than Portland and Kansas City, my city has had a few potential run-ins with these forces, and some of the community and protest leaders in my city have been arrested. I hate to step away from any way I can help the OTW and other fannish spaces, but with things escalating so close to home, I feel I need to double down on my attendance at protests, and continue standing in solidarity with the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in my community. I’ll still be maintaining my volunteer position on the Policy & Abuse committee but pulling back on the number of hours I work to a more feasible level to accommodate the increase in my commitments in my local community. I’ll also still be around in fannish spaces, as I’m currently one of the moderators for the (unofficial) AO3 subreddit, and can be found in many other fannish places. Feel free to come talk to me any time! I do hope to run for the Board again in the future as I truly care about this community and the ideals of this organization. Right now just isn’t the time to be splitting my attention when both the Board and all that entails, and the current events situation here, deserve full attention and commitment, and I would absolutely hate to be elected only for things in my country to get even worse and force me into resigning early. I wish the rest of the candidates the best of luck and hope everyone who is ultimately elected is able to work toward making important and necessary changes with regards to racism and diversity within the organization. I also wanted to formally state an apology to anyone who might have been planning to vote for me in this election, and for the time the elections committee has spent on working with me to help prepare me for this campaign that is now ended. I truly appreciate everything and everyone I’ve come into contact with in my time within the OTW, and am excited to see how this election cycle turns out. I know this short run for Board has opened my eyes to more parts of fandom than I had ever seen before, and look forward to investing time, when I’m able, to exploring these new options and communities.
[Note: The above statement represents the views of the former candidate and does not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the OTW. This statement was posted unedited at her request.]
It will forever be bizarre to see people state their political opinions as if they were actual facts.