I saw an article in today's Union Tribune by Phil Diehl, about two Ecke YMCA board members being forced off the board. The story is quite interesting. Two members of the Ecke family (Lizbeth Ecke and Paul Ayers) whose family donated the land, and funded the construction of the Encinitas YMCA were opposed to a dramatic change in the YMCA membership and participation fees that were being forced upon them by the San Diego regional YMCA director. Instead of allowing children to join or take classes for a cost of $100 or less, they now require payment of $1000 per year as a "family membership." Ecke and Ayers have set up a website with additional info and their side of the story: http://www.ynowsd.com/. They also have a facebook page
I did find that there has been a LOT of information about it and a lot of discussion online. First I found this KPBS posting:
Two Encinitas YMCA Board Members Forced Out Over Youth Membership Dispute | KPBS
There was an article on San Diego Sun Times,
I understand the concern of Lizbeth Ecke and Paul Ayers. The YMCA's primary goal in my mind is to serve the children in the area who don't have access to other, higher cost, facilities and supervision. They apparently now serve 2400 children in the area. Families who can afford to pay $1000 to obtain a membership don't seem to be the ones in the "target" demographic. If a family can afford to pay $1000, they can afford to send their kids to private coaches and facilities. Why would the public be willing to donate funds to support that group? Why would the Ecke family have donated their land and money for construction of a facility to support that group. If the YMCA wants more adult memberships, the $1000 membership cost also seems high in comparison with the much more modest cost of gyms such as 24 Hr Fitness, LA Fitness etc which also have beautiful facilities.
The article pointed out that Herdelin Doherty, the San Diego County YMCA Executive Director was hired in 2010 with a salary of $400,000. He is apparently pulling funds from all of the local YMCA's --apparently to help give himself a raise! I do understand that managing such a large regional organization is a lot of responsibility. It does have to be run like a business to make sure that it meets its organizational goals while also keeping the financial books balanced. The Executive Director job does require some skill at management as well as fund raising. However, I'm not sure that the position should be one that pays such a high salary. It would seem to me that there are plenty of retired, highly skilled executives who would "volunteer" their time for a much lower amount of compensation.
I have served on boards, and I don't think this is the correct dynamics for a board. If members of a board have a minority opinion, the board, or management shouldn't try to kick them off the board. A board should allow, and encourage all members to speak freely. Otherwise why have a board that just says "yes" to everything that management proposes?
I am very surprised that if Herdelin Doherty has not responded publicly, nor has any of the other YMCA board members to explain their side and rationale for making the changes they are proposing. This sort of controversy is clearly a "black eye" to the YMCA and could affect future donations. If Doherty is truly a leader, as he was hired to be, he should be out managing the news, explaining his side etc.
I can see how the YMCA might want to offer family memberships, and then offer discounted rates, priority or early registration for classes to family members. Non-members could then sign up for space-available in the more over-subscribed classes. I think it would also be good for the community if a certain number of "slots" were set aside in each class for non-members. I agree that requiring families to apply for "financial assistance" when signing up for classes is somewhat demeaning, and would keep children who really need this type of activity from being able to take advantage of it.
It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out.
I did find that there has been a LOT of information about it and a lot of discussion online. First I found this KPBS posting:
Two Encinitas YMCA Board Members Forced Out Over Youth Membership Dispute | KPBS
There was an article on San Diego Sun Times,
I understand the concern of Lizbeth Ecke and Paul Ayers. The YMCA's primary goal in my mind is to serve the children in the area who don't have access to other, higher cost, facilities and supervision. They apparently now serve 2400 children in the area. Families who can afford to pay $1000 to obtain a membership don't seem to be the ones in the "target" demographic. If a family can afford to pay $1000, they can afford to send their kids to private coaches and facilities. Why would the public be willing to donate funds to support that group? Why would the Ecke family have donated their land and money for construction of a facility to support that group. If the YMCA wants more adult memberships, the $1000 membership cost also seems high in comparison with the much more modest cost of gyms such as 24 Hr Fitness, LA Fitness etc which also have beautiful facilities.
The article pointed out that Herdelin Doherty, the San Diego County YMCA Executive Director was hired in 2010 with a salary of $400,000. He is apparently pulling funds from all of the local YMCA's --apparently to help give himself a raise! I do understand that managing such a large regional organization is a lot of responsibility. It does have to be run like a business to make sure that it meets its organizational goals while also keeping the financial books balanced. The Executive Director job does require some skill at management as well as fund raising. However, I'm not sure that the position should be one that pays such a high salary. It would seem to me that there are plenty of retired, highly skilled executives who would "volunteer" their time for a much lower amount of compensation.
I have served on boards, and I don't think this is the correct dynamics for a board. If members of a board have a minority opinion, the board, or management shouldn't try to kick them off the board. A board should allow, and encourage all members to speak freely. Otherwise why have a board that just says "yes" to everything that management proposes?
I am very surprised that if Herdelin Doherty has not responded publicly, nor has any of the other YMCA board members to explain their side and rationale for making the changes they are proposing. This sort of controversy is clearly a "black eye" to the YMCA and could affect future donations. If Doherty is truly a leader, as he was hired to be, he should be out managing the news, explaining his side etc.
I can see how the YMCA might want to offer family memberships, and then offer discounted rates, priority or early registration for classes to family members. Non-members could then sign up for space-available in the more over-subscribed classes. I think it would also be good for the community if a certain number of "slots" were set aside in each class for non-members. I agree that requiring families to apply for "financial assistance" when signing up for classes is somewhat demeaning, and would keep children who really need this type of activity from being able to take advantage of it.
It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out.
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