DECLARACIÓN COMPLETA DE LA CHERIE PITILLO:
I have served as a volunteer at MELL for four years. It's been an honor and a privilege. I've greeted people from six continents and seen and heard their relief that "Someone speaks English here." I've been grateful for the opportunity to know that the volunteers have played a significant role in the success of MELL. I, along with the other volunteers, have talked with thousands of people ...thousands, including members. We are the ambassadors to Merida and the Yucatan and serve as a community resource.
On the other hand, how many members have the board talked with? By the way, how many board members just joined MELL this year? Occasionally Raymond or Chloe checked out books and some were at MELLO night, but that's about it as far as interacting with the volunteers.
I'm responding to the lack of understanding of the volunteers' duties as shown by board members during their first members' meeting and minutes released Jan. 13. Comments about the "volunteers carried cases of Coke" or that we could not appropriately distribute hacienda notices or bank statements were misleading.
For some reason, the Board was concerned about the number of keys. The volunteers had done nothing wrong...except we supported Maria H and that was not wrong. It wasn't the volunteers who stole money. The board said their attorney said to take away the volunteer keys. If the board knew the volunteers and how we worked, they would have said it wasn't necessary. The volunteers were not the problem.
During Reg Deneau's former tenure as MELL administrator, he worked three days a week, the one night MELLO-night, and Sat. lectures. The other days and two evenings and most Saturdays, the volunteers managed the library...not the board.
When Reg vacationed for six weeks in Europe or other trips to Canada or elsewhere, the volunteers ran the library...not the board.
After Reg's departure, and the first Maria was hired, she was not trained as a library administrator and was dependent on the volunteers to tell her what to do and how to do it. (By the way, she was hired from CIS, Chloe's organization.) If it weren't for the volunteers, MELL would have crumbled. We did give her the benefit of the doubt, but there was too much she didn't know or understand. But we supported her and the library for the greater good of MELL and anyone who walked into MELL or called us.
When Maria H. started, she worked five days a week, plus a children's story hour and craft project on Saturdays. The volunteers worked with her closely day in and day out. She also checked on us during the two evening shifts from time to time. We saw a person with a Masters in Library Science who was cataloguing the many thousands of books appropriately. But she also complied with what the members asked of her. Game Night, yes, we can do that. A Writer's Group? Yes, of course. Physically she cleaned the shelves and organized the collection. Day after day, she answered questions from anyone who asked by phone or in person, The volunteers were impressed with her dedication, wit, charm, and follow-through under dire circumstances. Even the monthly newsletters were light-hearted and engaging; the members never knew how strongly she was attacked by the board.
An interesting question is why couldn't the board, with only seven members or so, work with her when the 20 volunteers could? We worked with her on a daily basis. So we knew her. The board didn't and still doesn't realize what they've lost.
Also I think that a few comments from Chloe Pacheco should be addressed to the members regarding the timeline of discovery of the embezzlement.
Maria H. is the one who had asked for financial disclosure from the former board president. Almost daily he would come to the library to take cash. When he didn't give her any written documents, she became suspicious and started locking the money in the library. She changed the locks because whom could she trust? She was the one in a tenuous position. Whom could she talk to on the board since it was the board that okayed the bylaw change for only one signature on MELL checks? What would each member of the board do if they were in her shoes and realized a board member was stealing? Whom would they trust? ? How would they know who else was or was not involved in it?
Maria shared her fears with two volunteers.
The former president confessed to those two volunteers in a home of one volunteer. That volunteer told the board. The other volunteer called Chloe about two weeks later and told her. Chloe had not attended the board meetings in a year and a half. No one from the board had told her about the theft. Also the second volunteer told Tonia Kimsey about the embezzlement as the board had not told her as well. There was some discussion on whether she was a board member. Since then, all necessary requirements were fulfilled and she became a board member.
During this time, six experienced MELL volunteers, who have served on boards in the US or served as a library administrator, formed an operations committee with the library's best interest and future at heart and tried to work with the board to have them acknowledge their lack of oversight and to resign. Also, this group tried to work with other matters that concerned the volunteers such as no keys for the volunteers and the board's attitude toward Maria H. Open discussions were held but the board didn't agree or understand. Plus the board would not permit an addition of any volunteers to the board.
Nor did the board members check on Maria H. during this horrific time but seemed to displace their lack of accountability toward her
Although the current board is accepting applications for new board members, this same board will choose whom they want, not the members.
Also, the board has decided on certain criteria for new volunteers that deliberately eliminate most volunteers who've worked the library for years.
So we were good enough to manage MELL for years without the "help" of the board. Isn't it interesting that we're now not qualified?
Please send this on to as many people as you can. I think it's relevant after receiving the minutes.
Thanks,
Cherie
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