Schuylkill YMCA president unveils action plan

April 05--When Thomas Badger was reappointed president of the Schuylkill YMCA Board of Directors in Pottsville in October, he wasn't impressed with the operation's vision for the future.

"Things were very stagnant, and I thought our intention was to grow the Schuylkill YMCA to be bigger and better. And we needed to concentrate on parking, programming and providing services to the entire county," Badger said Tuesday.

Since then, the board has clashed with longtime Schuylkill YMCA Chief Executive Officer Wayne R. Stump over staffing philosophies, eliminated a full-time position, community engagement director held by Rose Seamon since 2010, and, on Feb. 24, accepted Stump's resignation.

Now, the board plans to develop a five-year plan and Badger provided insights into the board's visioning process by sharing a cost-cutting plan Stump presented in February and an updated plan he wrote this week based on Stump's.

Established in 1997, the Schuylkill YMCA opened at the former Army National Guard armory in Pottsville in May 2009. It is a full-service YMCA with a staff and exercise equipment and is open daily. In April 2013, it opened a second location, Schuylkill YMCA's South Schuylkill Extension, at 329 S. Liberty St., Orwigsburg.

Its 2013 budget was $633,000 and its 2014 budget was $645,000, Badger said.

"We have no money problems," Badger said March 28.

Morgan Koch, chief financial officer of the YMCA of Reading and Berks County, recently reviewed the books. So did Schuylkill YMCA board member Eli Hostetter, who is a certified public accountant for Jones & Co., Pottsville, Badger said Tuesday.

"We have our annual audit done by Patton & Lettich, but we just asked Eli and Berks to review the books to make sure everything was in order," Badger said.

The Schuylkill YMCA initiated a $75,000 capital campaign in January to replace the floor of its gymnasium and renovate its locker rooms. To date, $54,500 of that has been raised, but the organization still needs more funding to grow. For example, it's considering the possibility of buying property on North Centre Street to develop a new parking lot, Badger said.

In 2013, the board asked Stump for suggestions on how to cut costs and raise revenue. In February, Stump presented options.

The board accepted his first recommendation immediately, to "eliminate community engagement director." The salary for that post was $30,000 a year, according to Badger.

Stump also recommended the board cut another full-time position, member services coordinator, a post established in October 2011. Since then, Lori Karahuta has held that position. Her salary is "between $20,000 and $25,000," Badger said.

Stump suggested the duties of the member services coordinator and the former community engagement coordinator be studied, and one or two new full-time positions be established, Badger said.

"I believe Wayne wanted to bring Rose back in one of those positions," Badger said Tuesday.

The board did not agree with Stump's suggestions to develop new full-time positions, Badger said. Karahuta remains on the job.

"Our philosophy was to utilize the board in a fashion that could help to supplement some of the things that the staff was doing. We were willing to use more volunteers. Wayne didn't like some of the recommendations I had for board volunteers. He wanted to continue the status quo," Badger said Tuesday.

"On Monday, Feb. 24, I was asked by three board members to resign my position as CEO of the Schuylkill YMCA immediately. I was given no reason at that time," Stump said March 27.

Commenting on that March 28, Badger said, "He was given the option at that time to resign, but we don't have a comment as to why."

Asked about the situation again Tuesday, Badger said, "Wayne, in the board's position, was treated very fairly, and I think that since our policy is to not comment on that, we have stuck to that."

Badger refused to comment further on the matter, and Stump did not return calls for comment this week.

In February, Stump also recommended the board close the South Schuylkill Extension, but the board isn't planning to, Badger said.

"The argument was that location was not making money. But what I found is there are members who joined in Pottsville to use the facility in South Schuylkill. We're still in the process of doing research, but I believe it's not losing money there. I think we're breaking even," Badger said.

Stump suggested the board raise the rates for facility rentals for birthday parties 20 percent. And the board had.

"That went up as of March 1," Badger said.

For example, the price for a standard party, which involves rental of the gym, used to be $125 for nonmembers. Now, it's $150.

Stump also recommended the board increase fees for summer camp 10 percent, cut expenses by six percent and eliminate the Schuylkill YMCA Mahanoy City Summer Camp location. The board is studying those possibilities, Badger said.

The only goal Badger added to the list Stump started was "seek out new CEO."

The YMCA of the USA recommended the Schuylkill YMCA seek candidates over a two-week period, but Badger said he requested an additional week in hopes of drawing more applications. So far, 19 have been received, Badger said.

The application deadline is Monday. The board is planning to hire the new CEO on May 5 and have the new CEO in place by May 19, Badger said.

In the interim, the YMCA of Reading and Berks County has stepped up to take over day-to-day administrative duties at the Schuylkill Y's Pottsville headquarters. The Berks unit is working for a management/consulting fee of $5,000 per month for two months of work. An anonymous donor gave the Schuylkill YMCA the $10,000 to cover that cost, Badger said.

Badger, 45, an insurance agent from Auburn, said he's been a member of the Schuylkill YMCA board for eight years. He served a term as president, which began January 2010 and expired December 2012. In September, board President Matt Takelosky stepped down when he accepted a new job and it interrupted his schedule. In October, Badger was reelected to the post.

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