Community calls for resignations as Pride returns to ‘business as usual’

by David Harvey
Reportero SDUN

Approximately 200 community members attended a town hall meeting Jan. 10 at Hillcrest’s LGBT Center to voice concerns about the San Diego LGBT Pride organization’s leadership.

Many in attendance – some of whom were former board members and volunteers – called for the board’s resignation and increased accountability in the organization’s procedures.

The gathering was the result of Executive Director Ron deHarte’s firing earlier this month over a Pride board decision in an October closed meeting to pay its chairman, Philip Princetta, a $5,000 stipend even though Pride’s bylaws state that no board member can be compensated for service.

DeHarte said he was terminated for accusing the board of misappropriating the funds, while Princetta argued the firing was due to deHarte’s long-term opposition to the board. Two staff members resigned in protest of the firing.

Princetta, who was not at the board meeting where the stipend was discussed, has since returned the $5,000 to the organization and the board has issued an apology statement.

Two board members have resigned since the October decision, including one who voted against it. The three remaining Pride board members were not at the Jan. 10 town hall.

“I no longer have faith in our leadership, and I believe that the community is with me on that; they no longer have faith in the leadership as well,” said Ken St. Pierre, Pride’s former director of development. St. Pierre resigned after deHarte was fired because he said he felt uncomfortable fundraising for Pride under the current board. The firing and resignations left the organization with three full-time and two part-time employees.

Many of the town hall attendees said the financial blunder was reason for the board not to be trusted by the community that supports it.

“I think that this gift … is a symptom of a greater lack of accountability and transparency to the community that has been evident in the Pride organization for at least the last year,” former Uptown Planner Alex Sachs said. “Pride is ours and we need to have a Pride that we can trust, we need to have a Pride that’s transparent and is responsible and explains to the community what they’re doing.”

Former board members at the meeting requested a formal and independent audit of Pride’s books and business procedures, publication of the audit results, appointment of at least five new board members and public notice of open meetings with time for public comment.

“The board under Philip Princetta’s leadership over the past couple of years has destroyed the integrity of the LGBT Pride organization,” said Wendy Sue Biegeleisen, a 1987-89 board member. “There have been way too many times when the bylaws, which were set up to guide and represent the mission of [Pride], have been waived or disregarded to suit the whims of Philip and the board.”

A group of volunteers led by Pride Ambassador and crew coordinator Ben Cartwright called for the immediate resignation of Pride’s current board, reinstatement of deHarte and the other two staffers, appointment of an interim board to rebuild the organization and the establishment of public board meetings.

At the close of the town hall, the community was polled by a show of hands, resulting in a nearly unanimous vote of no confidence in Pride’s board and a call for its resignation.

Cartwright said that while it was great to see such passion and interest at the town hall, he felt that a lot of the community was under the impression that their opinions would force the board to resign. However, because Pride is an independent non-profit organization with its own governance structure, the community has no authority to do so.

“We can do all the voting we want – all it does is send a message,” Cartwright said. “I came out of the meeting feeling like nothing was accomplished. I had hoped to see the community put together some sort of action plan, something along the lines of what are we as a community going to do to help Pride continue to succeed. Several volunteers and donors, regardless of what happens, will have a bad taste about Pride and not come back to the organization.”

Pride spokesman Frank Sabatini said volunteer support has not diminished.

“Since the town hall meeting we’ve been receiving a lot of positive responses from volunteers offering their time and services for this summer’s event and other pre-events that are on the schedule as well,” Sabatini said.

San Diego Pride is hosting a conference for Consolidated Association of Pride Inc. this weekend and has also begun fleshing out details for its 36th annual festival and parade in July. Volunteer Coordinator Cheli Mohamed has been organizing and communicating with several potential event volunteers, which Sabatini said is typical during this time of year.

The board’s top priority, he said last week, is the CAPI conference in Mission Valley, where more than 200 representatives from Pride organizations around the nation are meeting. The staff and board of directors expect the event to run smoothly, he said.

The organization is also accepting applications for a new executive director and will be expanding the board at the end of January. He said the current three board members will finish their terms, two of which end in August and the other in 2011.

“The CAPI conference is the priority today, and the formal [board of directors] application packets will be available pretty much right after the conference,” Sabatini said. “That is certainly going to be the next line of business.”

He added that Pride is taking all of the community’s concerns seriously and will aspire to expand the board with gender parity and diversity.

“Every applicant will be reviewed,” Sabatini said. “There are no requirements to serve on the board in regards to residency or property or business ownership. We continue striving for broad and diverse board representation.”

Hoping to further their desire for change, Cartwright’s volunteer coalition sent an e-mail to Princetta, requesting a meeting between the board, staff and volunteers.
“The current board is moving forward business as usual, and we definitely want to have a meeting with them so our volunteers can make the choice whether to continue volunteering for the organization and to find out how we can best serve the organization in its current form,” Cartwright said. As of press time, they had not received a response.

San Diego LGBT Pride was founded in 1974. In addition to the annual Pride festival and parade, the organization offers an array of programs to support the area’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.