Today, I sent an e-mail to Amy Clarke, Executive Director of the Franklin County Community Meals Program (FCCMP):

Dear Amy,

Effective today, August 27, 2010 I am resigning as a board member of the Franklin County Community Meal Program. I have decided to take on a more active role in bringing a large retail store to Greenfield, and I deem any connection between the FCCMP and this sensitive topic will not only violate my very personal ethics system; it also does not serve the purpose of the FCCMP.

I will, nevertheless, continue supporting the FCCMP in any way I can.

Sincerely,
Wilfried F. Voss

The decision to resign as a board member came after writing a post about the current discussion on the proposed large retail store, the so-called “Walmart Issue.” At the moment of this writing, the post is still in draft mode (i.e. it is not published, but it will be soon). In the post I criticize Amy Clarke of “crossing the line” by publicly opposing a big box store, specifically its size, without the FCCMP’s board’s explicit understanding that her public activities will not interfere with her responsibilities at the FCCMP. In the same sense, I cannot possibly take a public position against the opponents of the project without doing for what I criticize Mrs. Clarke. I feel strongly about getting a big box store to Greenfield, but I am even more appalled by the opponent’s actions and statements, and that includes Mrs. Clarke. Staying on the board would not help the FCCMP’s cause.

In addition, I was not pleased with the choice of the new Greenfield meal site coordinator, who is a dear friend of Mrs. Clarke’s for years. I can’t help the feeling that her choice, supported by the FCCMP’s president, indicates that all other applications did not receive the attention they deserved, and that the applicants never had a chance of being seriously considered.

I talked with Mrs. Clarke about my concerns. She insists, she is acting as a private citizen when she opposes the retail store. Naturally, she defends her choice of meal site coordinator.

Supplement – August 30, 2010

Today, per request from Todd Clark – FCCMP president, I mailed a letter to the Board of Directors of the Franklin County Community Meals Program. After a fruitless telephone conversation with Amy Clarke, FCCMP Executive Director, on August 27, 2010, I took the liberty of extending my resignation letter to address Mrs. Clarke’s claims responding to my concerns.

To:
Board of Directors
Franklin County Community Meals Program
P.O. Box 172
Greenfield, MA  01302

RE: Resignation

Effective August 27, 2010 I am resigning as a board member of the Franklin County Community Meals Program. I have enjoyed the years working with all board members to alleviate hunger in Franklin County, Massachusetts, without the quest for personal gain and with regard to highest ethical standards.

My personal understanding of the FCCMP’s mission has, however, been challenged by recent public activities of the FCCMP’s Executive Director, Mrs. Amy Clarke, which I, personally, deem counterproductive to the FCCMP’s mission and damaging to its reputation. There appears to be a rift between my understanding of ethical behavior and her public activities, depriving me the foundation for continuing my involvement and finding myself incompatible with the current workings of the FCCMP.

It has always been my firm belief that a non-profit organization, such as the FCCMP, should not engage in sensitive political discussions, if such involvement could be – even remotely – construed as counterproductive to its mission. There is a thin line between expressing a personal opinion and the statement of the Executive Director of FCCMP, and Mrs. Clarke has crossed that line. Everybody has the right to a personal opinion on political issues, but the executive of a non-profit organization should, in the interest of the organization’s mission and under review of ethical standards, refrain from public statements that may be interpreted as contradictive to their task.

Mrs. Clarke’s recent public statements in the local newspaper – in reference to the proposed discount retail store – were rebuked by the community as lacking the facts and data to support her position.

Mr. Robert Sunderland, Executive Director of the local YMCA, stated that the directors of organizations, including the FCCMP, “told our panel stories of parents they know who struggle every week to pay their bills, buy clothes and feed their families. These families would benefit a great deal if there were a big box retailer in Greenfield.”

Mrs. Clarke’s public argumentation against a big box retail store (not just the size of it) may have not only undermined the FCCMP’s mission, but also resulted in loss of reputation for Mrs. Clarke personally and, disturbingly, for the FCCMP. I, personally, find it problematic that Mrs. Clarke may appear as putting her personal interests, in this case the traffic in her immediate neighborhood (See her article in The Recorder, August 24, 2010), over that of the FCCMP.

Personal interests may also have clouded her judgment when it came to selecting a new Greenfield meal site coordinator, though supported by the FCCMP’s president. I personally consider the choice of a personal friend as a slap in the face of all other applicants, who did not receive the attention they deserved and who never had a chance of being seriously considered.  I am personally appalled by Mrs. Clarke’s abuse of the board’s trust. It is acceptable to invite friends and friends of friends to serve on the FCCMP’s board without financial compensation for time and effort, but it is problematic when granting a paid position leaves room for interpreting it as returning favors.

Yet again, Mrs. Clarke states personal reasons (vacation) that pressed her to find a quick solution, which may suggest she did not think it necessary to spend the time fulfilling a task assigned to her. I am aware of her complaints in regards to workload and lack of compensation, but, until a solution is found, that should not affect the performance expected from the Executive Director of the Franklin County Community Meals Program. It was always my belief that working for the FCCMP was a mission, not a job.

Sincerely,

Wilfried F. Voss

Supplement September 15, 2010

Today I received a copy of the “Unofficial Minutes of the Franklin County Community Meals Board Meeting – Tuesday, September 7, 2010.” The meeting was unofficial since, for the second consecutive time, the board had no quorum. I quote the section addressing my resignation:

Wilfred Voss has submitted a letter of resignation to the board. The letter was read at the meeting but because we had no quorum, we could not officially accept it. He is unhappy about Amy’s article in the Greenfield Recorder about the “Box Store” issue and the hiring process of the Greenfield Meal Site coordinator. There as discussion about these issues and the Board present felt the hiring process was appropriate. The Board present also expressed their appreciation for the contributions that Wilfred has made to FCCMP.

Note: The typo in “There as discussion” and the misspelling of my first name are not mine. I simply copied and pasted.

Needless to say that I am not surprised by the vote of confidence for Amy Clarke, even though the board did not clear her from my claim of damaging the FCCMP’s reputation. As I stated in my letter to the FCCMP, I feel I am not compatible with their current workings.

Let me add some additional information about the new meal site coordinator: She worked for years in a management position at the Stoneleigh-Burnham School, a private school here in Greenfield, and in the end her annual contract was not renewed. Amy Clarke was on the board of trustees for a few years, and at least one of her daughters went to school here. Her daughter later went on to work for the person who is now the new Greenfield meal site coordinator. That same person is not new to nepotism as she had also both her daughters working for her at the Stoneleigh-Burnham School. My assumption is, now that she is without a job for a long time, that “FCCMP Meal Site Coordinator” looks better on the resume than “unemployed.”