On Wednesday, Sept. 18, the Redwood Coast Senior Center Board voted to fire Executive Director Charles Bush.
The vote has baffled and divided the community and confounded several board members who voted. Some board members insist Bush, who has been on the job for about five years, was not actually fired. But they can”t or won”t explain. Bush himself isn”t sure. He took a sick day Friday and hoped to be back to work next week.
The nine-member board is comprised of Kathleen Johnson, president, James Graham, vice president, Syd Balows, Robert Bushansky, Sandra Donato, Gin Paul Kremen, Lonne Mitchell, Ronalie Silveira and Lizette Weiss.
What is going on?
Apparently, the board plans to meet to consider the same action next week. This newspaper contacted eight board members, but most didn”t respond. Some gave only terse comments, saying Bush was not fired.
The move has divided the board and staff and inflamed the community, where Bush has numerous fans and supporters and no vocal detractors. Many stories have been published on the local listservs, often presenting contradictory accounts.
Many Senior Center users are outraged by the vote, which they feel was wrongly secretive, bungled and pedestrian. Apparently, the board never formally consulted with an attorney, either before or after the controversial vote.
According to several reliable sources, the vote was 4-2 for the firing with two abstentions. Board member Bob Bushansky walked out before the vote, saying the meeting had not been properly noticed or posted. The meeting came with no agenda and the board failed to go into closed session, he said.
“I informed the board, all eight other members, that any actions taken at an illegally held meeting had no legal standing. The board president said that she didn”t care what I thought, they were moving forward anyway,” said Bushansky.
The vote conducted was by secret ballot. Ballots in which votes are kept secret from other board members are always illegal under the Brown Act and under most bylaws.
If a closed session were held, the speaking out by the Bush supporters would also be a potential violation. Board members are required to keep confidential what happens in closed session, even if they don”t agree with it.
According to its bylaws, notice must be posted on the center”s website and on a public bulletin board three days before a special meeting and at least one week before a regular meeting.
Bushansky”s protests about improper meeting notice, agenda and procedures appear to be at least part of the reason why the vote didn”t “actually” fire Bush after voting to do so. He and fellow Bush supporter, board member Syd Balows, expect another meeting to be called next week.
Why did board members want to take the action? None of the board members who voted to fire responded to questions.
Charges against Bush in a document obtained by this newspaper include having a messy office, spending too much time in the dining room and not enough fundraising. Some board members were upset about the firing of one employee and about a cantankerous senior volunteer that Bush won”t fire. Board members are also unhappy the Senior Center has been operating in the red. They want Bush to spend much more time out in the community raising money.
None of the reasons for firing Bush, as presented to this newspaper, seem to involve any urgency or any hint of anything illegal. The Senior Center has shown clean audits, if still in the red.
2008-09 Grand Jury report
The former Senior Center board was slammed by the Mendocino County Grand Jury in 2009 for mismanagement in a report titled “Nobody (Is) Was Listening.” Bush, a board member at the time, stepped in as interim boss when executive director Joe Curren departed just before the report came out.
“Over a six-month period, jurors documented a striking absence of the active, visible leadership and board oversight that are critical to the success of direct service non-profit organizations,” the Grand Jury wrote.
The entire board from 2009 has since departed. Current president, Kathleen Johnson, joined the board in June 2009, after the Grand Jury issued its report.
As executive director, Bush made several popular moves, such as improving the food by hiring chef Sal Meza. Bush also created regular fundraisers paired with events at Cotton Auditorium next door.
Tonight”s event (Sept. 21) – the Fall Celebration Dinner – will be held from 5 to 8 p.m., board members said. Members of the board who have led the firing of Bush, along with a sizeable group of people new to the senior center, were preparing dinner this afternoon. At least one senior center employee, Waldi Helma, was helping get the dining room ready.
Bush also inherited a staff with a history of contention – a staff too often rocked by the previous board-ED controversies, from volunteer firings to internal strife.
Bush under fire
The effort to replace Bush began when two members left the board and were replaced by Lizette Weiss and Lonne Mitchell in May of this year. According to Bush supporters, those two have led the efforts to oust Bush.
The two biggest issues for the board members are staff discord and fundraising. “Lizette has charged that in five of the last six years the Senior Center has shown a loss,” said Bushansky. “What she failed to mention is the over $200,000 in cutbacks of funding that the center has experienced and that the losses have been less each year in keeping with a cooperative plan with the board. During this time, the center has maintained or increased services and until recently with the same staff. The staff has not received an increase for five years, I believe.
“In my opinion, the reasons for firing Charles had nothing to do with performance or lack thereof .. The reaction from the public, the volunteers and the employees has been overwhelmingly favorable towards and, unfortunately, extremely negative against the bad board members. As I said, there was no expectation of confidentiality and the names are out there,” Bushansky said.
Nearly everyone interviewed seemed baffled, confused, bemused and frustrated. “You”re confused? Join the club. And believe me, we know the pitchforks and torches are out. When I know more I”ll tell you more,” said board member Gin Paul Kremen. Kremen didn”t say which way she voted.
As stipulated in the Senior Center”s bylaws, the board”s annual meeting to elect officers and replace members who have retired or resigned will be held Friday, Sept. 27, 1 p.m. at the center, 490 N. Harold St., Fort Bragg.
