This is the post from KBOO board pres. that a couple of employees decided to remove from the kboo web site without the author knowing about it. In an attempt to inform the membership about truth, was she was censored?
A personal statement about outgoing station manager Arthur Davis
Submitted by Becky Chiao on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 8:47am
I'm sad to have to write this, but the KBOO community is broken in that the values that supposedly guide our interactions with each other stated in the house rules and non-violence policies have not been followed and the system of governance set out by the bylaws of the foundation have not been respected. In particular, the way that the former Station Manager Arthur Davis was treated was shameful.
I personally witnessed acts of disparagement, malicious gossip and lies against Arthur in the form of fraudulent negative performance evaluations, a hoax resignation, internet posts that lacked factual basis, and offensive broadcasts on the radio.
I’ve heard statements against the board as a whole and some individual board members, charging us openly with conflict of interest, inaction and incompetence in our oversight of the Station Manager and whispered hints of other misdeeds that I'm not party to.
One reason I have not been more outspoken is that in the midst of attacks against Arthur, a complaint of sexual harassment was brought against him which I felt presented issues of confidentiality that needed to be respected. I'd hoped to wait to make a public statement announcing reconciliation between Arthur and the person making the complaint. However, while I think a mutually agreed upon resolution is still possible, I find it necessary to set the record straight now that the complaint has been mentioned in open board session, on the Web and person to person.
I still don't feel comfortable characterizing the allegations for the complainant who herself has been unsure how to label her complaint. What I can say is there was no allegation of touching of any kind or any type of sexual or gender-based comments, and that prior to hearing about the complaint, Arthur had no idea that his actions had caused the volunteer to be uncomfortable.
It’s my impression that the situation arose because of miscommunication and had hoped that it could have been resolved through mediation between the two parties. However, because a request was made to investigate the complaint as a personnel matter which might result in discipline against the Station Manager, the board investigated it as such. All individuals with personal knowledge of the situation were interviewed by a panel of board members who were able to convene on short notice during December of last year.
After considering the factual findings, the board (elected with the primary responsibility of supervising the Station Manager) voted and determined that Arthur had not violated KBOO's rules against sexual harassment or harassment. In addition to the complaint brought by the volunteer, the board seriously investigated the possibility that this complaint was part of a pattern of behavior, but inquiries through the KBOO staff turned up only old rumors that were never brought forward.
Although the complainant has not challenged the findings of the board, or offered any new information, she has objected to the process used to investigate the complaint. In response to this concern, the board has agreed to seek an outside legal opinion of whether the investigation was handled properly.
The fact remains that the board has already determined that Arthur's conduct was not improper. It is absolutely false for anyone to claim or suggest that the decision of the board in January to restructure the manager’s position and lay-off Arthur was an attempt to cover-up or avoid taking disciplinary action against him.
The need to reexamine the Station Manager job description and KBOO’s overall organizational structure has been on the board’s agenda for years, but not much progress had been made. Meanwhile Arthur had been left to personally feel the brunt of the recognized unsustainability of his role at the station. I suspect that his integrity, professionalism and dedication to KBOO's core values helped him through many challenges, but at the beginning of 2010 Arthur and the board agreed that change was the best thing for all. It is my sincere hope that eliminating the position will give the board, station employees and volunteers a necessary push to design a staffing model that supports our mission and vision for the coming times, and that Arthur will find a new place to share his talents and enthusiasm.
