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Editorial: What’s going on, YMCA?
Published 4:41pm Wednesday, July 4, 2012Something stinks at the Niles-Buchanan YMCA, and it’s not the gym socks.
There’s certainly some dirty laundry, however.
It’s been nearly two weeks since word spread that employees in all levels of management were being axed as they arrived for their shifts. The most notable termination was that of 16-year executive director Bret Hendrie.
The buzz around the office water coolers — not to mention the gym — is, what is going on at the YMCA? A facility of 10,000 members in a
small community like Niles means many people have a stake in the YMCA, whether through membership or donations.
While firing employees is a normal part of any business — even a nonprofit — the manner in which they are conducted and magnitude of them is highly unusual. Nearly the entire staff of supervisors and managers was eliminated; most claim they had no idea they were going to lose their jobs. Terminations have continued since June 22 at the YMCA.
What is more perplexing than the staffing changes is the response — or lack thereof — from the board of directors.
A press release sent to media from board president Sara Bell — an attorney — and Hendrie indicated he resigned, as did some other victims of the staffing changes. While the release explained that services would continue as usual, it did not answer any questions about the terminations.
The board directors have also been instructed to keep their mouths shut.
The Star continues to interview current and former employees at the YMCA; some have gone on record, some will not and others eventually will. The one recurring theme is that no one knows for sure why the former employees are gone.
There are theories and talk of scandal, but until the YMCA confirms or denies anything, the stories remain purely gossip.
And unless the YMCA board decides to speak up, the rumor mill will continue to turn.
This editorial represents the views of the editorial board.
Well said! Someone needs to crack this case! There is definitely more to this story and the community should have the right to know what’s going on. If the truth hurts the y’s reputation, members should be able to cancel memberships. If the truth supports the terminations, people might be ok with keeping their membership. If the “C” is no longer part of the YMCA, a lot of people would want to cancel memberships. Just my opinion. And if no scandals, why did the fired people never have a chance to tell their side of the story. If the y was just changing directions, why not ask the employees to change with the y? I also smell dirty laundry. It stinks bad! If these employees did something wrong, prove it so people can deal with it. If they are innocent, come out and state that instead!!! We just need/deserve answers!
Greetings! Im home from vacation!!
I agree with the comments stated in this editorial portion of the newspaper. However, the YMCA is an organization that has both positive and negative actions attached to it as any other corporation or non-prof. With that being said, we can all throw darts at the conclusion board and point fingers but the essential question remains to yet be answered.
I have noticed that many fingers are being pointed at the board of directors for terminating the employment of these individuals, but there must have been a VERY good reason for this, dont you think? I highly doubt all 17 board members woke up that morning and decided to terminate 7 employees for no reason. Im sure the reason greatly benefits our community and the 9,998 members besides my wife and I. (we just rejoined now that the place is free and clear of negative attitudes)
Mom2Chris- I must say, I receive great pleasure when reading your post! I admire and respect your opinion and comments and your detective/reporter like skills. You remind me of a modern day Barbara Walters( I hear the View is looking for a new co-host, consider applying)
Please clarify and support the following, as you have them open ended thus making your point less valid:
1.If the truth hurts the y’s reputation, members should be able to cancel memberships.
(what do you feel the truth is that would hurt the reputation of the YMCA? Why would members cancel their memberships? I think the problem(s) have already been removed?)
2.If the truth supports the terminations, people might be ok with keeping their membership.
(WTF! Please explain this!!! I dont get it!! If the truth supports the terminations, why would anyone be angry!!! DUHHHHHHH)
3.If the “C” is no longer part of the YMCA, a lot of people would want to cancel memberships. Just my opinion.
( You are correct, it is your opinion! Although, I highly doubt that anyone really joins the YMCA because of the “C” word! How exactly is the “C” word incorporated into the daily practices of the YMCA? Where is the prayer chain? Where is the pastor on duty? Where are the biblical verses posted? Shall I continue?? Most importantly how do you practice the “C” word?)
4. And if no scandals, why did the fired people never have a chance to tell their side of the story.
(RED FLAG!!! How exactly do you know that they did not get to tell their side of the story? Inquiring minds would to know! Secondly, if they were terminated there was obviously a great deal of supporting evidence which did not require them the opportunity to justify their wrongful actions. For example, If I stole money from you, and I was proven guilty, would there be a reason to hear my side of the story?? Come on Barbra Walters, your sleeping on the job!!)
Besides being a AT WILL employee does not require the board of directors to give each employee the opportunity to “Change directions” with the new focus of the YMCA. Its clear that these people were not capable/able or competent enough to handle the new direction of the YMCA. For example, if I had cancer, would I want it removed or keep it? As in the situation the cancer was REMOVED!!! Let the community rejoice!!!
Mom2Chris AKA Barbara Walters, its clear that you are not fully aware of the AT WILL policy in addition to regulatory laws of employment. What the “Mighty 7″ did to cause such a termination must be withheld for a variety of reasons such as liable/slander, legal confidentiality, employee/employer separation clause. Also, if either of them signed a severance package then they also agreed to keep their traps closed in order to save their own back sides!
It is clear that you need to accept the fact that this has happened and move forward! I do applaud your attempts to clear the mud from the names of your friends/co-workers and your “Awesome Boss” within your “tight-knit” group.
By the way, since you are such a cheerleader for these people, does this reflect your character? My grandmother used to say ” those who flock to crap, usually are full of crap” does this apply to you? Just take a moment and reflect upon that statement.
Have a great day and enjoy the weather
Letthetruthbetold-
I don’t care what you think and don’t need to explain any of my comment (s) to you. I have no problem “sticking up” for the terminated employees. I would haved hoped your grandmother would be the kind of person who taught you to stick up for your friends/co-workers if you thought they were being wrongfully terminated.
You are making assumptions that the employees were terminated for doing something wrong. Where is your evidence to support that??? I don’t see it…no one has seen it! Just because 17 board members agreed to terminate these people, it doesn’t mean that their decision was right or that they are not corrupt in some way. There could be a scandal involved and someone needs to investigate, IMO. You should also be wanting the board to speak up about these terminations. If these people did something wrong, we should know what it is so we can decide if their actions were justified or not. Instead, you seem to want to move on and “cover it up” as well. Seems to me like you might be involved on the “scandal” side of this story.
And just FYI, If you stole money from me and was PROVEN guilty, obviously you would have been given a chance to tell your side of the story during the trial. Duh!!!!! Thanks for proving MY point!
Mom2Chris-
I can accept the fact that you dont care what I think, but I am concerned with the fact that you wont answer or elaborate on what your posting. If you chose to post, please be ready for questions and answers. Is this not what you are asking of the board?
The board as issued a statement and that is all we as a community can ask for. Put yourself in their shoes, would you like your dirty laundry aired in the media of a small community such as Niles?
As for my Nana Dear, she always taught us right from wrong and when to decide if something smells like crap! I am a firm believer in defending friends when the time is appropriate, but in my opinion this situation is not worth the fight.
Also, the board does not care if you feel that the terminations were justified, if they did, I suspect they would have asked for your opinion.
In response to your statement of “cover it up” and move forward, I wouldn’t mind knowing the truth, but all we have to go on is speculation.
Again, you keep repeating yourself of pointing the finger at me by assuming that I am “part of the scandal”! Please support this with details or your assumption. Remember, those who assume make a.. out of you and me!
What point was proven other than the fact that you have mush for brains! Why don’t you try answering the questions instead of avoiding them. And if I was guilty, I would take a plea bargain to avoid the embarrassment of a trial.
Mom2Chris I am very intrigued by the way in which your mind functions! I hope that you and I can workout next to each other and have a discussion about this issue, I need a good laugh before I return to work next week! It has been awhile since I have had the opportunity to speak with someone that will not require me to think very much!
Enjoy your day!!!
If the board wants to go a new direction ,how can you change something that seems to be working ? New Y,membership is up!New Board ?
As a member that does not know what is going on, I feel the problem is being swept under a rug of secrecy.
If the Daily Star staff wanted to know what is going on, they should look into the I.P. address of the poster letthetruthbetold12 and alleged background he is reporting is true. He is hiding something. Michigan law states that there is no reason required for termination. Something that letthetruthbetold12 as an alleged attorney would know. Yet he claims a cancer has been cleansed. I don’t know how someone whom claims to not know the particulars can claim such.
What is going on? Who is hiding what? Is it money? Corruption? Let the ignorant masses such as I know. The board is not talking. All I have are rumors, gossip and an imposter on the internet.
First, I speak as someone who is not at all associated with the internal structure of the YMCA, however, I have noticed several things that should be pointed out.
1) Whoever “Let the Truth be Told” is, if he (or she) is truly a member of the board, is acting very unprofessionally to talk about this in a chat forum.
2) “Mom 2 Chris” has a right to investigate and share her opinion as long as she does not use information that she obtained that she obtained through work at the YMCA. However, I have to agree with “LTTBT” on one point: the YMCA is has not been a Christian organization for years.
3) The Niles Daily Star should not, ethically, ever release the true names of writers except in the case of a court order.
Just a comment on my previous comment: the Niles Daily Star has not been releasing names; I have always been impressed at the high ethical standards of the Star. I am just referring to the fact that one of the comments seemed to indicate that this would be a good way to find out what was going on.
Truth, does it say somewhere it was a unanimous decision by the board? You say all 17 voted to fire them, wouldn’t it only take 9? Maybe I missed it amongst all the drivel? You my friend are a classic example of why I’m not a member.
Obviously too many dollars and not enough sense. I’m sure any employment contract (if there were any) has enough loopholes to fire any of them for just breathing if that offended anyone. (Pious blowhards such as yourself included) Time and loose lips will let it all out in due time, good ole Niles works well in that way!
Niles@home,
I appreciate your comments but to be honest with you, Mom2Chris does have the right to her opinion as do you! However, if you opt to enter a public arena such as this, be prepared to answer questions and support your comments.
Secondly, I am not a member of the board! The speculation is very comical, especially the ridiculous assumptions that I am a board member! I have the same info that you all have! Just reread the papers and Facebook comments and various social networking sites and open your ears in the community and you too can have the same info that I do!
Vern,
If only you knew what you were talking about! And I too am glad that you are not a member at the YMCA! You should realize that you are not at the old YMCA and you clearly do not know the type of people that operated the YMCA as well as you THOUGHT you did, sad to say. So with that being said, do not place judgment on me as I have not placed judgement on you. And to continuously argue that money had something to do with it is simply outrageous! Learn your facts my friend!
Dick Wallace,
I have no comments for you! You come across as a real know-it-all and ***hole. I would be happy to email you my contact information, but you will not get the district I work in, are you that dumb to think that I would post my personal information in a chat forum? Where is it that you work? Please post that information my friend! And my reference was not to Mike Wallace, maybe you should become more cultured and research the person who shares your name.
God Bless All,
LTTBT
Ha! I’m not the one on here bragging about my monetary donations, talking smack on people, or professing all this worldly knowledge from being a lawyer or school principal pal. THOSE are FACTS easily seen by reading YOUR posts.
As for all the “Dorothy you aren’t in Kansas anymore” about the old Y, I never spent that much time there either. The thing that originally piqued my interest in this whole affair is the Y has many KIDS whom pass through it’s doors and them and their impressions impacts all of us. Regardless if our names adorn the hallowed wall there or not.
This whole thing reeks of political BS!!
Lower your nose, you’re breathing too much rarefied air!
Letthetruthbetold-
“Dick Wallace,”
Typical lack of substance ad hominem.
“I have no comments for you!”
Good, this will be brief…
“You come across as a real know-it-all and ***hole.”
Geez…what is with the lack of no comments. Not only that, you are the pot calling the kettle black my friend.
“I would be happy to email you my contact information, but you will not get the district I work in,”
You said “in the district” which would be Niles, or at least Buchanan since it is a story related to Niles. Unless you are not telling the truth.
“..are you that dumb to think that I would post my personal information in a chat forum?”
Typical lack of substance ad hominem. I am not dumb enough to think so, nor am I dumb enough to propose this is a chat forum instead of a comments thread on a local newspaper. You were puffing your chest out, not I.
“Where is it that you work? Please post that information my friend!”
I work on my farm just south of Berrien Springs. I also do side construction work.
“And my reference was not to Mike Wallace, maybe you should become more cultured and research the person who shares your name.”
Ah, clever ruse to use well known journalists as an insult to my inquiries and for me to imply the mis-use of my name with one of the best in the trade. Well played. How could I have been so daft. Please forgive me. Speaking of culture, I am convinced you think you have an edge over everyone in the community. Your prose proves otherwise.
Do you ever have meaningful discourse or are you always brash and immature?
Please refrain from commenting to me unless you would like me to embarrass you further.
mom2chris,
Thank you for standing up for the truth! It is rare that people will take a stand against a tyrannical individuals such as “letthetruthbetold12″. The person is clearly not who he claims to be and is employing his masquerade as a ruse to gloat about what he has accomplished on his witch hunt. However, God know who he is and he will answer for his misrepresentations and falsehood he has committed in this YMCA firing debacle.
Remember the Passage:
Psalm 37:5-7
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
I pity you letthetruthbetold12 for you are a bitter and vindictive individual.
Mom2Chris-
Clearly you are an absolute IDIOT!!! You continue to make false claims of who I am. Perhaps, you should try standing up to the truth! Who exactly are you? You continue to point the finger by saying 1 person caused the firings at the YMCA, its clearly not possible for someone to cause that without evidence that indicates the person or persons involved as being guilty.
I appreciate the fact that you are trying to quote scripture! If I wanted to listen to you quote anything, I would gear up in my sanitary suit and visit the trashy community where you reside. I pity you and your family! But as the old saying goes “every family has a dumb B*tch” and in this case, its you
Mom2Chris-
Its pretty clear that you are not smart enough to write your own post. Looking back at your previous post and comparing them to your most recent post, the tone,dynamics, and use of words are far above your educational level. Way to teach your children to be a low life and a cheater! I cant believe what the world is coming too!
mmoore54-
I applaud your efforts to employ scripture! However, you should look to those that are not telling the truth and demand that the truth be told! I have sneaky feeling that you are a passenger on the “IDIOT Express”
Mr. Wallace,
You could never embarrass me!You have yet missed the mark again, I am not employed by either Buchanan or Niles! The community stretches far across Michiana. Didnt you read that in your farmers almanac?
letthetruthbetold12,
Since you are so self righteous about the integrity of the people commenting on this issue, I would like to correct your improper debating techniques. However, I feel that you are exposing your true colors by failing to address the issues at hand and instead impugning the participants in the debate. The problem with lying is that you begin to get caught up in the plethora of lies and it begins to be difficult to keep all of them in check. This is exactly what has happened with your LIES about who you are. Now you cannot remember if your an administrator of a school, TEACH at a school, are a lawyer, young and working, old and retired, live in Niles, Buchannan, Dowagiac, or live on Mars. The truth might be hard to admit but it will set you free. Confess who EVERYONE posting in this discussion already knows you are. If the UNELECTED board of directors had any courage they would hold OPEN hearing where the TRUTH (not your letthetruthbetold12 lies) could come out. This is exactly what a honest person would want.
Rule number one: it is nearly always wrong to personally attack those who hold opinions different from yours. When done deliberately, attacking your opponents instead of their views is dishonest because it purports to be about one thing – the public policy in question – but is actually about something else, the destruction of your opponents’ credibility or integrity. It can also be self-defeating. When seen for what it is – basically, character assassination – it can undermine whatever validity there is in your policy position.
http://www.chumirethicsfoundation.ca/main/page.php?page_id=215
P.S. This letter was ran through spell check but attack if you must!
Once again letthetruthbetold12 shows his lack of maturity.
“You could never embarrass me!You have yet missed the mark again, I am not employed by either Buchanan or Niles! The community stretches far across Michiana. Didnt you read that in your farmers almanac?”
Ah, but you said “in the district”, not I. “In the district” denotes very definite geographical boundaries. I was being generous including Buchanan since the YMCA is the Niles-Buchanan charter. Perhaps you should have used community if that is what you meant. You seem to find it hard to keep track of your lies. You are right, I cannot embarrass you more than your own words. My apologies.
Again, you are patient zero. I suspect you are the alleged disgruntled employee alluded to by others. You then post in these threads to gloat over your spoils. You “argue from authority” and “argue against the person”. Both are classic traits of an individual with no substance to their claims. I am not an imaginary attorney like you are pretending to be, but clearly I can smell the stench of personal involvement.
Please be a dear and go away. I know your “internet troll” persona will not resist. I expect more childish ranting of someone in their 20′s puffing out their chest pretending to be important when reality doesn’t offer the same rewards.
Please stop pretending to be educated, respected, an attorney, a principal, important to anyone but yourself.
Your egoist, childish remarks say something about your character, don’t you agree?
Letthetruthbetold12-
I have posted 2 previous comments about this article. This post makes it 3-just in case you are having problems adding. I only have 1 user ID as I have no reason to make up multiple ones. Your detective work sucks!
As for who I am, you should have already been able to figure that out. Hmmm. Maybe you are the one who is unintelligent. I posted quite a while ago who I was…try using your keen detective techniques to figure it out. Come on-put on your dunce…ur… oopps…thinking cap. I’m sure you can “blow” my identity wide open seeing as you claim to be so much smarter than anyone else here. (Shhhh! On the down low, everyone else on here has already figured it out. You are just a little behind aka “slow”). If you can’t figure it out, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to “Dumb it Down” for you a bit. You think you’re all big and bad but, in reality, you just hide behind your “big” words and cowardice comments. Have a great day. I can walk with my head up and happy as I have integrity and great character. I wonder where your head is hanging. Must be in a very, very dark place.
mmoore54-
Thank you for backing me up! I appreciate it! LTTBT is trying to attack everyone’s character when, in reality, he is doing nothing but letting everyone see his true pathetic character. It’s funny how no one has to make any degrading comments about him. He manages to make himself look like an idiot all on his own. I am so thankful that I am raising my children to be respectful, courteous, honest and also to fight for what they believe in. I hope and pray that LTTBT does not have children or grandchildren. If he does, I feel so bad for them for having to deal with someone who is a low life, egotistical, degrading sorry excuse for a person. His failed attempts at making me look uneducated and stupid will never bring me down. It’s just funny watching him carry on. I can imagine him sitting back and laughing at me when, in reality, it is I that am laughing at him. What a looser! But again, thank you so much for helping out!
Saddens me to read the fighting on this and I understand it’s my choice to read. Honestly, I read this for any information on how our community feels on this issue. I’ve spoke with a current employee and a board member at the Y about this issue and feel better since I have done so. No, all my questions were not answered. But I went and ask and did not believe all the rumors.
I’m still stuck on one thing…letthetruthbetold, PLEASE remember in another post you said you were an experienced school administrator and a lawyer. As a school administrator please remove yourself from this hostility and frustration…let it go. As a teacher and sending my children to local schools…focus your energy on me and my children! So much anger and hateful words. You are a role model to parents, children, and community members…I want MY ADMINISTRATOR to act like one.
Just like the previous post I made a while back, I’m not going to engage in arguments or a battle on the NDS site…I’m preparing for my upcoming students and spending quality time with my family. PLEASE do not let school employees get a bad rap because the name calling and ridicule you are doing on this. Thanks and relax…it’s summer break, enjoy it!