The Coalition of Neighborhood Councils’ board of directors meets tonight for the first time since last month’s effort to remove the nonprofit’s leadership and since our story about the nonprofit’s recent turmoil.
You can expect another lively discussion about the board of directors and the nonprofit’s mission.
When the Coalition of Neighborhood Councils fired its executive director in December, it sparked a chain of growing frustration among some southeastern San Diego residents who the prominent organization represents.
Apart from those who disagreed with the firing, some residents felt they should have at least been included in the discussions. When residents demanded to know why the executive director had been fired, the nonprofit’s board of directors declined to answer.
The board had a legal motive not to explain its decision — it was later sued by the ousted executive director for wrongful termination — but the process irritated the residents, who said they felt ignored.
Michelle Krug, a Paradise Hills resident, said the exchange represented a power struggle between the nonprofit’s board of directors and the residents they represented. And because the lawsuit wasn’t settled until earlier this month, she said that animosity has continued to escalate in the community.
“There’s been such a break of trust that I don’t see how that can be recuperated,” Krug said. “I think the smart thing would be for them to just step down.”
At the nonprofit’s general membership meeting in May, residents put a vote on tonight’s meeting agenda to recall several members of the board of directors. But later in the meeting, the recall vote was removed from tonight’s agenda.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. at the Tubman-Chavez Multicultural Center, 415 Euclid Ave. You can track my live coverage of the meeting by following me on Twitter through @keegankyle. You can also help me cover the meeting by e-mailing your questions, comments or background information to keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org.
— KEEGAN KYLE