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The YMCA of Virginia’s Blue Ridge (YMCA VBR) issued a statement Tuesday in response to the recent decision to suspend the Rockbridge Advisory Board, saying that the decision “is not taken lightly, and not where we hoped to be, but it is necessary to allow all parties the space and professional courtesy to move forward in the interest of the community.”
The Rockbridge board was informed of the suspension by letter on April 21, following a vote taken at the YMCA VBR’s scheduled corporate board meeting the night before. The decision was also made by the board to cease negotiations to allow the Rockbridge Area YMCA to leave YMCA VBR and partner with Alleghany YMCA.
“YMCA VBR is solely focused on the growth and success of every branch in its service area and the decisions made at a corporate level are made with the community’s best interest in mind,” the statement continued. “We understand not everyone will agree with those decisions, but discussions that result in a stalemate only hinder success when our focus should be on enabling it.” The statement also addressed the firing of Rockbridge YMCA Executive Director Bobbie Wagner in January, noting that while YMCA VBR was “not obligated to share details, we can admit that we could have done a better job of communicating with the board and staff about the implications of this decision and our efforts to quickly identify new leadership and maintain high quality programming during a new executive search. For that, we apologize and are taking a hard look internally to understand how we can do better in the future.”
They went on to add that the corporate board has recommended “a third-party review” of the process so that they can “learn from this experience,” adding that the review process “has already begun.”
“The Board continues to stand behind this decision, but is committed to ongoing improvement. As we move forward, we remain dedicated to engaging with the community and all those who are invested in the Rockbridge YMCA’s success.”
In the past week, one employee has resigned from the Rockbridge Area YMCA. Former Programs Director Lori Miller submitted her resignation last Wednesday after more than six years working at the Rockbridge Y, citing “pervasive dishonesty of leadership” from the YMCA VBR, adding that “a culture of fear, intimidation, and conformity” has been in place within the organization “from the top down.” The catalyst for this change, Miller said, was the naming of a new chief operating officer for YMCA VBR.
“There’s an intimidation factor with [her], that staff need to conform with all of her ideas, regardless of what would be best for program participants or what is best for communities being served,” Miller told The News-Gazette in an email on Monday.
“People need their jobs so they deal with the intimidation and fear that’s been instilled. There’s seems to be a disturbing amount of trust from the CEO [Mark Johnson] to the other chiefs without any checks and balances in place. Current events at Rockbridge are a prime example of unnecessary escalation due to mismanagement and retaliation/fear.”
Miller noted that these are things she’s heard from staff members at other YMCA branches in the VBR organization, not just from Rockbridge employees.
YMCA VBR called Miller’s claims “false,” adding, “We soundly reject and deny any claim to this effect.” Paul Klockenbrink, an attorney who represents YMCA VBR, also told The News-Gazette that the claims were “patently false.”
On Monday, Miller sent a follow-up letter to the members of YMCA VBR’s corporate board in which she addressed some of the events that led up to her decision to resign. She noted that on the morning of Friday, April 21, that four members of VBR’s leadership team came to the Rockbridge Y to inform staff that VBR “would not give up the territory,” that Rockbridge would “remain a part of YMCA of Virginia’s Blue Ridge,” and that the local advisory board had been suspended. The VBR corporate board had taken votes to that effect at its scheduled meeting on April 20.
“All of this was quite a shock, which seemed calculating and harsh, to put it mildly,” she wrote.
She also noted that the same morning, Johnson told YMCA VBR Board Chair Wyatt Poats that he had “communicated with every key leader at the Rockbridge Y,” except for one, who was out caring for a sick dog. Miller said that the employee in question, Wellness Director Stefanie Carter, had been out the day before (Thursday) caring for her dog, but that she was “at the branch the entire time the VBR leaders were onsite and they never met with her.”
“There are many questions that need to be asked and if the board chooses not to, it’s only to the detriment of the communities you serve, the members you represent, and the staff you oversee,” Miller added.
In response to the claim that they were “preventing the Rockbridge YMCA from affiliating with outer YMCAs” YMCA VBR said that it was the national YMCA who made the decision “that the Rockbridge Area YMCA could not pull away from YMCA VBR to become an independent YMCA.” Both the national YMCA and YMCA VBR would have had to approve a merger between Rockbridge and another YMCA.
Among the benefits that the YMCA VBR points to for the Rockbridge Y over the past six years is “financial stability along with the critical resources and network necessary for success and longevity.” Rockbridge, they note, has seen a more than 200 percent increase in programming and has received “nearly $200,000 in capital investments” and the fact that the majority of the full-time staff – not just at Rockbridge, but at all of the YMCAs under the VBR umbrella – were able to remain employed by the association during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Rockbridge Advisory Board Chair Christy Harris told The News-Gazette that, since joining YMCA VBR and hiring Wagner in 2016, the Rockbridge Y has had a positive cash flow (profit after all expenses have been paid) of approximately $600,000. That money has gone into a bank account controlled by YMCA VBR. Of that amount, Harris estimates $134,000 has come back to the Rockbridge branch in the form of capital improvements, including replacement of flooring and new equipment. While part of the revenue generated by the Rockbridge Y comes from membership fees, camp and after-school fees and program fees, a “big portion also comes from annual campaign dollars and grants.” Most of the grant writing was being done “in-house” by staff at the Rockbridge branch.
“No one in Roanoke is applying for local grants on behalf of the Rockbridge Branch and at least five deadlines have now passed,” Harris said. “No one has even inquired to assist with writing these grants. They are just letting this all fall apart, basically.”
Since Wagner was fired in January, Rob Lough, the executive director of the Botetourt YMCA has been coming to Rockbridge a couple of days a week to serve as an interim director for the Rockbridge YMCA.
The Rockbridge YMCA currently has three full-time staff members and, by Miller’s estimate, around 100 part-time staff. While Miller mentioned that she knew of one parttime staff member who had given their two weeks notice, she didn’t know what the majority of the staff would do in response to the situation.
“Not only does the staff need their jobs, they also love the YMCA and our members,” she said. “The love for members and staff made my decision [to resign] extremely difficult, but I understand why others cannot just walk out. The Rockbridge YMCA is a unique and special community that brings people together on a daily basis and it’s been disturbing to see how corporate leaders in Roanoke have no regard for our local staff, members, or community.”
