A lawsuit involving board members at Edmonds’ senior center now looks possible, perhaps even likely, as the brouhaha at the South County Senior Center continues.
At issue is a power struggle that has raged for months.
After a series of unpopular staff dismissals by the board this fall, members of the center began asking for the right to nominate and vote for the board’s officers — the president, the vice president, the secretary and the treasurer.
Officers wield massive influence over the center, as they hire and fire staff and create committee assignments.
While the center’s bylaws forbid such a vote, the center’s Articles of Incorporation grant it. Members have not voted for officers in the past.
Nevertheless, there is a provision in state law, RCW 24.03.025, which says that “whenever a provision of the Articles of Incorporation is inconsistent with a bylaw, the provision of the Articles of Incorporation shall be controlling.”
“That is a standard law,” said Ben Goodwin, an attorney advising the membership. “It is clear enough in Washington state.”
A scheduled Nov. 21 officer election was tabled when the conflict between the bylaws and the articles was highlighted.
If the members got the vote this year, they would likely cast aside a number of the current officers, including president John Wagner. Wagner is also the center’s co-interim executive director.
A letter and 38-signature petition to Wagner from the membership dated Dec. 7 and signed by board member Liz Windgate threatened a lawsuit if a vote of the membership didn’t occur before Dec. 21.
In response, Wagner conducted a telephone vote of board members, who voted to cancel a scheduled Dec. 19 board meeting entirely. Notice of the cancellation was posted the day before the would-be meeting.
The Friday before the announcement, Wagner said that “whatever is required is what we are going to be doing. I don’t know what that is right now.”
No other public board meeting is scheduled until Jan. 16. An executive session is scheduled for Jan. 3, 2008.
Wagner did not respond to requests for comment after the cancellation was announced, nor did co-interim executive director and board member Jane Jones.
“Personally, I am not surprised,” Windgate said. According to Windgate, Wagner said a lawyer contacted by the center advised the center to cancel its meeting.
Windgate acknowledged that the Dec. 7 letter said that she and the members “will consider filing a lawsuit against (Wagner) and the (South County Senior Center)” if their demands weren’t met. A lawsuit is still in consideration, she said.
“We have already begged and pleaded. That doesn’t seem to work. Reasoning doesn’t seem to work. Now, it will depend on what the membership wants to do,” Windgate said. “I fully support the membership’s desire to vote.”
That desire is strong, members said.
The board is very close knit, said Glen Ackerman, the vice chair of the Grassroots Committee, a group organized by the board. The membership wants to give input into how the center is run, he said.
“We just want this thing to function like it is supposed to,” Ackerman said Dec. 14.
While the next steps in the process were unknown at press time, newly appointed executive director Hallie Olson is planning to assume that role Jan. 1, 2008.
Olson became a board member at the senior center in September, and she stepped down at the November meeting. She was appointed executive director from a field of 14 applicants, said co-interim director Jones.
After a contentious October meeting, then executive director Farrell Fleming was fired. Fleming’s dismissal helped spark the months of controversy.
Olson hasn’t worked in senior centers before, but has extensive work as a volunteer with other organizations, and recently earned a doctorate in non-profit leadership in the field of aging.
She plans to meet with members of the center and work together with everybody as a team, she said.
Olson is aware of the controversy swirling around the center. The membership’s role is important, she said.
“It takes a tremendous amount of courage (for seniors) to get their voice, and once they get it, to exercise it is really important,” she said Dec. 14. “Everything that people are saying needs to be listened to.
“What they are speaking about, I cannot comment on. But I can say that it is a courageous move, and I appreciate that,” she said.
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