Over the summer, the Burke Conservancy will begin a search for a new executive director after the board of trustees decided not to renew Tom Wade's contract, which expires on Sept. 17.
At a board of trustees meeting on Thursday, May 13, the board voted on the contract, with four votes against renewing Wade's contract, two votes for renewing it. One trustee abstained from voting altogether. Maria Rojtman, Colette Sheldon, Luanne Smith and Phil Pool voted against a new contract, while Marc Flaster and Greg Smith voted for it.
Landings trustee Sam DiBartolo declined to vote.
"He's [Wade] not fired, he's just not being renewed. There's a big difference," Smith said, an at-large trustee and the president of the board.
Sam DiBartolo was elected to the board of trustees in March 2004, so he didn't feel he was in the position to vote on Wade's contract issue.
"I didn't have enough information to vote one way or another," DiBartolo said.
The board of trustees issued a formal announcement, which said, in part:
"The Board has decided to not renew the Executive Director's Contract, which expires Sept. 17. The board believes that it was in the best interests of the community to make this decision at this time to provide both Mr. Wade and the Conservancy adequate time to make follow-on plans. We believe Mr. Wade performed his duties in an excellent manner in many ways and wish him well in his future endeavors."
Wade became the executive director in September 2001 after a lengthy search.
BY EARLY JUNE, the board of trustees will decide on the criteria for hiring a new executive director and will begin the search. Smith is aware that a new person fitting the community's needs may not be available by September. The board plans to install Jeannie Winslow, the Conservancy administrator and communications director, as the acting executive director, said Smith. Winslow's position is a salaried position.
"By September, hopefully we'll have somebody," Smith said. "We might have a gap. Jeannie Winslow was the acting executive director last time. She did the job very well."
Winslow was unaware that the board might be looking for her to fill the position temporarily, though she remembered that she served in that capacity before Wade was hired in 2001. Not only was the executive director's chair vacant before Wade's hiring, several other positions needed to be filled at that time, some of which supported the executive director at the time.
"It was very difficult," Winslow said, adding that she was unaware that she might have to serve as acting executive director for a period of time. "I don't know anything about this."
Winslow had a baby in February and wants to focus on her family, but she did add that she won't abandon the Conservancy.
"It's hard to gauge what's ahead," she said. "I'm happy to help, but ... ."
CRITERIA that Smith and the rest of the board are considering hiring a new executive director includes knowledge of state rules concerning homeowners associations as well as the skills to manage volunteers. The board plans to advertise the position through the Community Association Institute.
"We've outlined some of the things they need to look at," Smith said. "It's a very challenging position."
Two new committees that Smith is focusing on to avoid a budget deficit like last year is the Budget Finance Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee. In February 2004, a $710,226 operating fund deficit was discovered in the 2004 budget. Part of this was blamed on $650,000 spent on operating costs when $395,000 was budget for that line item.
"It's going to take a very good, skilled person. Someone that can walk into the job and know all that stuff," Smith said.
Wade, the outgoing executive director, declined to be interviewed.