By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor
Those members of the South County Senior Center banking on change are pinning a lot of hope on a Nov. 21 board meeting.
It will be held at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, at the senior center.
After two recent meetings each attracted 100-plus angry audience members, Nov. 21 figures to be explosive.
At the meeting, the board of director’s nominating committee is scheduled to make nominations for next year’s board.
It is unclear if the board’s nominations will match with the members’ recommendations, which are not binding.
A series of recommended nominations has been submitted to the board of directors and posted inside the senior center, said Rose Cantwell, a member of the Sound Singers group.
Pushing for nominations won’t be the membership’s only contribution next week.
Members say they will also request a larger voice in the center’s ongoing operations. A petition expressing ‘no confidence’ in the current board of directors could also be presented, Cantwell said.
The center has been in turmoil for weeks.
Since Oct. 17, the board has fired the center’s two top employees — executive director Farrell Fleming and program director Kathy McNaulty.
Neither dismissal had the board’s full approval, and discord has since been the center’s constant companion. Fleming’s firing still hasn’t been explained, either to Fleming or the center’s 1,500 members.
McNaulty’s dismissal came immediately after an incident to which Edmonds police responded. McNaulty alleged she was assaulted by three board members, including interim co-directors John Wagner and Jane Jones. Wagner denied any assault, but declined further comment. He said Nov. 5 that the center would issue a press release explaining the incident, but after multiple inquiries, still had not released any information at press time.
“Right now, this senior center board is not operating like a reliable corporation,” said Jim Buchanan, a board member and vocal critic of the board’s recent actions.
Recently, Buchanan was blocked from viewing minutes from the board’s October meeting by board members he has criticized.
The center’s problems have attracted wider attention.
In a recent letter to the board, Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson criticized the board’s lack of communication with its membership. He also met Nov. 6 with the membership and a number of board members.
The center’s problems seem to be expanding.
When the center’s bookkeeper stepped down recently, that left the center operating with three openings and only four full-time employees, said interim co-director Jones, who also sits on the board.
The members keep expressing concern about their inability to influence the board.
Because the center’s bylaws state that board members must be nominated and approved by the current board of directors, there is no formal way to force the board’s hand, or create turnover, members have said in recent weeks.
At the Nov. 6 meeting between the membership, the mayor and senior center leadership, officials suggested that because some board members were critical of the current situation, the membership did have representation on the board.
Not so, said Liz Windgate, a board member and a critic of the center’s recent direction.
“While I understand (the membership), I do not represent them,” Windgate told the Enterprise Nov. 9. “I was nominated, appointed and accepted by the board.”
That process, members say, is what they want changed.
And while the turmoil is clearly hurtful, Buchanan is hopeful change will come.
“I really hope this all ends up healing the senior center and its membership,” he said.
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