Sebastopol Community Cultural Center (SCCC) director Cordelia Holst has been fired from her position as director of the Sebastopol Community Center. The move was taken by a unanimous vote of the community center board.
Though board members declined to discuss the reasons for the firing, citing the confidentiality of personnel matters, Holst said she was first asked to resign and then, when she refused, she was fired.
“I was asked for my resignation on Friday, March 27, from two representatives of the executive committee at a meeting they called at the community center,” Holst said. “I told them that I love my job and I didn’t want to resign, and so they said ‘Well, then we will fire you with cause.’ So I said, okay, what’s the cause? And they said too much vacation without approval and insubordination to the executive committee.”
Holst said she received no warning about either her vacation time — she and her family normally fly to Norway to visit her husband’s family in February — or the issue of insubordination, which she said the board declined to give any example of or describe.
She said, starting in March of this year, however, she had felt a distinct coolness coming from the executive committee of the board. She said she reached out to the board and requested mediation of some sort, but that the request was rebuffed.
“I realize I’m an at-will employee and they can fire me for whatever reason or no reason,” she said. “But I still feel like if you’re at a community center, being civil and encouraging dialogue is super important.”
As news of her firing flew around Sebastopol, many of the people who’d worked with her at the community center during her two-year tenure, including teachers, concert promoters and some major funders, immediately condemned the firing.
Calling the board’s decision, a “strange action and very upsetting to all the promoters, staff and instructors,” musician, teacher and concert promoter Jim Corbett (AKA Mr. Music, who is also a Sonoma West columnist) sent a list of the board members’ emails to his contacts all over town.
Attorney and longtime SCCC supporter Richard Power wrote a stinging letter of condemnation.
“As a former SCCC board member and, with my wife, long term supporter and donor to The Community Center, this email is to reflect that we both join the others who have expressed their disappointment with both the firing of Cordelia and how it was handled. How you expect to hire another ED given how this was handled, particularly in the current environment, is absolutely beyond me. At this point and absent a cogent and rational explanation for all this, we do understand that there are at least two sides to a story, we will no longer be able to support the Community Center nor encourage others to do so. You can and should ‘unring’ this bell.”
On the day Holst was dismissed, Sonoma West reached out to every member of the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center board of directors by email, and ultimately received a press release from board director Jill McLewis.
“The SCCC’s volunteer board of directors is made up of community leaders, many of whom have been on the board for more than 10 years. We ask that the board be trusted to make the best decisions for this non-profit organization,” it began. In this initial press release, the board thanked Holst for her service, said they couldn’t discuss personnel matters, and finished, “We plan to hire an Interim executive director, stay true to our mission of serving the community and rebuild the community center.”
Although McLewis declined to answer questions by phone, saying she couldn’t speak for the entire board, she sent another press release, following on the heels of another board meeting, just before press time.
It reads a follows:
“Amidst these difficult weeks at both the organizational and personal levels, we — the nine members of the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center board — would like to take an opportunity to reassure the community of our trustworthy intentions throughout the recent staff changes and to share our plans for moving forward.
We wish to acknowledge and thank Cordelia Holst for the contributions that she brought to SCCC during her time as executive director. Cordelia worked tirelessly and passionately, created innovative programs and responded to challenges from natural disasters, while maintaining optimism and strength.
Understandably, we have received many requests to provide a public explanation for her parting, however we are legally and ethically bound not to disclose details. May it suffice for us to say that ‘To everything, there is a season,’ and that Cordelia’s work will be honored and carried forth by her successors.
We will be hiring an Interim ED to lead us through this transition, with a focus on responding to the needs and concerns of the community throughout these challenging COVID times. The plans for remodeling the SCCC are still intact, with the top priority of reconstructing the Main Hall into an exceptional space for community performances, classes and gatherings.
We assure you — our community — that we have and will continue to give the SCCC our utmost care and consideration, and are always guiding it with our highest integrity. We are devoted to serving you through a community center that not only survives, but thrives.”
