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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Ex-director snapped up for new job

By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor

Farrell Fleming, whose abrupt and unexplained dismissal from the South County Senior Center in October has sparked months of discord there, has been hired as the new executive director for Seniors Services of Island County. He began work Jan. 1.

Fleming's new job will have much larger responsibilities than his old one.

SSIC is the largest non-profit senior agency in Island County and has about 50 full- and part-time employees, according to the group's Web site. It operates three different senior centers in Island County, two apartment complexes, a food bank and a thrift store .

"(I am) looking forward to working at SSIC serving seniors and disabled adults," Fleming said in a press release published in SSIC's January 2008 newsletter. "SSIC is a strong organization with an effective board and staff. It has a proud history that we will build on."

According to Fleming, the SSIC job offer was not the only one he received.

With over 30 years spent working with seniors, Fleming is a exciting hire for SSIC, officials said.

"(We are) pleased to have a professional of Farrell's caliber to lead the organization into the future," said Betty Ellingwood, president of SSIC's board. "He brings a wealth of experience in the management of non-profit organizations, including strategic planning, program development and financial management."

Fleming's dismissal continues to haunt the 1,500-member South County Senior Center, where members irate with his firing are attempting to wrest control of the center away from the center's board of directors, which decided to fire him.

That power struggle is continuing. (See related story).

For his part, Fleming has now moved on.

"The dispute that the members and the board are embroiled in really is between the members and the board," Farrell's wife Delaine Fleming told the Enterprise Dec. 31. "He has stayed out of it."

Fleming declined to comment.