Conflict continues within the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation
MEDIATION PROPOSED AS SOLUTION TO MISTRUST,
MISCOMMUNICATION, AND MISUNDERSTANDING
by Joe Narkin

(Plain Press, May 2008) Dissenting and supporting members of the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) failed to resolve their differences at a meeting attended by 150 concerned citizens and agency representatives on March 26, 2008 at the Gavin Lee Party Center on Broadview Road. Subsequently, OBCDC and representatives of three Community Associations in Old Brooklyn appear to be headed for mediation through the Cleveland Mediation Center in an attempt to develop a more cooperative working relationship.

Concerned that local community associations and organizational members were being “treated with a lack of courtesy and outright disrespect,” by OBCDC, Darren Hamm, President of The Brooklyn Centre Community Association, facilitated a spirited, but ultimately inconclusive, three-hour discussion of issues. The South Hills Neighborhood Association and the Southwest Citizens Area Council joined the Brooklyn Centre Community Association in calling for this special meeting.  

During the meeting, Hamm presented a resolution seeking the removal of three OCCDC Board Officers (Matt Reitz, Abe Bruckman, and Christina Kowalski) “for conduct that has undermined the public trust” and a vote of no confidence in Executive Director Robyn Sandys. Following discussion regarding whether the resolution would have legal effect under the OBCDC Code of Regulations and a failed motion to table the resolution pending the outcome of mediation, 114 OBCDC members voted on the resolution by secret ballot. The result was a 57 to 57 deadlock.

Hamm referred to the meeting as an “exercise in participatory democracy” and an attempt to “create a public space for public dialogue.” He said, “No community has achieved anything without community spirit” and he asked, “What is a community development organization without community?” According to Hamm, the primary goal of dissenting OBCDC members in calling the meeting and airing grievances was to negotiate a more significant role for grassroots members in serving the Old Brooklyn Community through OBCDC.

Matt Reitz, OBCDC Board President, in a letter distributed prior to the meeting, recognized that opponents were acting “with a desire for OBCDC to better manage community relations and overall communications” with neighborhood “associations and the community-at-large,” but stated that OBCDC would not be officially participating in the meeting, “mainly because this meeting was organized without the knowledge or engagement of the CDC’s board or staff.”

In a letter mailed to OBCDC members in Wards 15 and 16 prior to the meeting, Ward 16 Councilperson Kevin Kelley stated that “there is a small group of members who are seeking to undo the tremendous progress made by OBCDC” and that they “have shamelessly engaged in a series of personal attacks lacking any merit” against the board and Executive Director Sandys. At the meeting, Kelley said that a “personnel issue” involving the firing for insubordination of Code Enforcement Officer, Debra Zeleny, in January has somehow “morphed into something about communication.”

Mary Ann Jannazo, President of South Hills Neighborhood Association, said that she and other community members viewed Zeleny as a valuable community resource who was “results oriented” in performing her job duties and that they were “impressed with her ability to get things done – quickly and satisfactorily.” She stated that the Executive Director of OBCDC should have found a way to continue to work with Zeleny, despite perceptions of insubordination, in consideration of her “effectiveness in serving community interests” and that her replacement with a “rookie from Berea” was not an adequate step to compensate for Zeleny’s 17 years of experience. Jannazo said that numerous requests to OCDC for information regarding the firing had gone without an adequate response.

Councilperson Kelley, an attorney at law, said that OBCDC is constrained by employment law governing employee confidentiality from revealing detailed information to the public about Zeleny’s personnel file, but that his inquiries into the matter have led him to conclude that the firing was justifiable and that OBCDC “acted absolutely professional when firing the employee.” Zeleny attended the meeting with her attorney, Daniel Thiel, who indicated that a lawsuit for wrongful termination of employment was in process and awaiting document discovery. Kelley said that OBCDC had responded to community inquiries regarding the firing of Zelany to the “maximum extent possible given employment law and pending litigation.”  

Following the meeting, OBCDC issued a written statement to the press that indicated that, while it was a difficult decision to terminate the employment of Debra Zeleny, OBCDC made the decision that it did following “serious consideration and forethought” and took action that it believes was necessary in building a “strong team on behalf of the community” that OBCDC serves.

Gloria Ferris, a member of the Brooklyn Centre Community Association, said that community concern over the operation of the OBCDC was “not something that happened overnight,” but that concerns “happened quietly over time” in response to a number of issues that arose prior to the firing of Zeleny.

Jannazo stated that her concerns about OBCDC began with problems in communication and accountability during the summer of 2007 regarding grant administration for a project to improve South Hill Town Circle as a community gathering place. OBCDC acted as the fiscal agent for the grant. While improvements to the South Hill Town Circle have been completed to the satisfaction of all parties, Jannazo remains aggrieved by what she perceives to be OBCDC’s lack of communication, respect, and candor in addressing this issue and subsequent issues. She described the past year as “one long series of lost opportunities.”

The efforts of the Board of Trustees to revise the OBCDC Code of Regulations, which are the equivalent of organizational bylaws, also became a point of contention when presented to membership for a vote at the OBCDC Annual Meeting on October 24, 2007.  Jonnazo took particular exception to a revision that would allow only dues paying members to attend regular OBCDC board meetings. Executive Sandys said, in a follow-up interview, that an attorney working with the Board in order to bring the Code of Regulations into conformity with standard practices for non-profit agencies recommended this change. Sandys noted that, even had this change been approved, the Annual Meeting would remain open to the general public and minutes for all board meetings would continue to be made readily available on the OBCDC website.

Jannazo also expressed a concern that, in her estimation, the revised Code of Regulations continued to favor business interests over those of residential members. A review of the Code of Regulations, however, would not appear to confirm or counter Jannazo’s impression in this regard. Based upon a request by community members at the annual meeting, a committee has been formed that includes representatives from the dissenting community associations to discuss the revision of the OBCDC Code of Regulations.

Ward 15 Councilperson Brian Cummings said, near the end of the meeting, that there are “clearly several sides to the issue being discussed here today,” and that he, along with Councilperson Kelley, fully supported mediation in reaching reconciliation.

While mediation certainly appears to be required to facilitate accurate and productive communication in the future between contending parties within OBCDC, Hamm said that the role of OBCDC members (both institutional and residential), OBCDC staff and board members, and funding entities (both governmental and private) in the regulation, goals, programs, and governance of OBCDC is certain to be discussed during mediation.

As Randy Cunningham points out in his book, Democratizing Cleveland: The Rise and Fall of Community Organizing in Cleveland, Ohio 1975-1985 (Arambala Press, Cleveland, Ohio, 2007), “it is unlikely that neighborhood development corporations and their supporting networks would have developed as they did without the earlier community organizing movement as their foundation.” Cunningham stated the belief that, currently, the community development corporation “pipeline from the grassroots is shut down.”  Hamm has read this book.

Hamm views the dissent of community members of OBCDC as a success because it initiated an “important discussion regarding the participation of community members in OBCDC” and that the resulting mediation process has the potential to strengthen the resolve and capacity of OBCDC to effectively address critical issues within the Old Brooklyn community. If this proves to be the case, OBCDC will be in a position to serve as a model for community participation in community development corporations throughout the City of Cleveland.

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