The Tyrone YMCA Board of Directors has a new Executive Committee and three new members have been announced following its most recent meeting. Taking over the helm of the beleaguered organization are President Laura Burghard, Vice President Linda Hershey and Treasurer Dave Russell. They replace President John Harlow, Vice President Mike Blaska and Treasurer Linda Strong, who were asked to step down at a work session meeting, attended by concerned residents on August 15.
\nAll three had either resigned or had been voted from the Board as of this past Wednesday, a move that Burghard said was necessary given the YMCA\u2019s recently discovered tax delinquencies.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s what the public wanted,\u201d Burghard said. \u201cThere was overwhelming support at the Tuesday meeting for a change in leadership.\u201d
\nBurghard was referring to the public meeting of August 13 that was facilitated by YMCA Director Amy Hampton. Almost 100 people were on hand and they asked a lot of questions \u2014 questions that could not be answered by Hampton, and had not been answered by the Board.
\nThose in attendance showed overwhelming support for the YMCA, but many also wanted to know how federal and state payroll taxes could have gone unpaid as far back as 1999. Hampton, who brought the matter to the attention of the Board of Directors after a conversation with the non-profit\u2019s accountant, John Ramsey, said that it was unclear who made the decision not to pay the taxes. While the crowd didn\u2019t want to point fingers, the question of responsibility was echoed throughout the evening. There was more than one call for Board members to step down.
\nOne question that was repeated throughout the hour long meeting was, \u201cHow can we be sure this won\u2019t happen again?\u201d Burghard said this question and those like it were the impetus behind the restructuring. With the new leadership, Burghard said the process of rebuilding and garnering the public\u2019s truct can move forward in a positive direction. She said they have already hired a bookkeeper that is trained in accounting.
\nHershey agreed. \u201cThe Board that we have right now is moving forward with a positive attitude,\u201d she said Friday. \u201cWe are looking to cut costs. The public wants to hear of a plan of action, so we are going to meet weekly to examine what needs to happen in order for the YMCA to be financially solid.\u201d
\nBoth Burghard and Hershey noted that not everyone needs to donate money. \u201cAnyone who wants to donate their time, paper products, supplies \u2014 every little bit helps,\u201d Burghard said.
\nYMCA Director Amy Hampton said Friday afternoon that the focus of the organization\u2019s problems has shifted in recent days, a development she noted was counterproductive.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not going to be dragged into a campaign in a popularity contest and I\u2019m not going to get into mudslinging,\u201d Hampton said. \u201cI was hired to do a job and that was to run the \u2018Y\u2019 like a business.\u201d
\nHampton said that there were a number of positive developments since the crisis was made public. Those developments include a $10,000 grant that is being pursued by the office of Lt. Governor\/Senator Robert Jubelirer, a \u201cGas-A-Thon\u201d at a local Sheetz (initiated by Mike Blaska), the upcoming \u201cBackyard Brawl\u201d Italian Buffet sponsored by the Tyrone Kiwanis Club as well as support from the Downtown Merchants, a \u201cSoup-off\u201d at Burley\u2019s Restaurant and a possible benfit concert by a barbershop quartet.
\n\u201cSnyder Township has also made a donation, plus all the support that has already poured in from the area,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s a credit to the people of Tyrone and Northern Blair County.\u201d Hampton even pointed out that she received a $14 donation from a local resident, obviously inspired by Dan Meckes\u2019s challenge.
\n\u201cThree strong candidates were brought on and have accepted positions on the Board,\u201d she said. \u201cPete Dutrow, Rev. Norman Huff and David Sneath will coming aboard.
\nBurghard said nearly $10,000 has been donated to help pay the nearly $70,000 in back taxes.\u201dThere are many people, organizations and businesses that are doing special events to help us,\u201d she added.
\nHampton said that recent articles in The Daily Herald have not detered her from pushing forward. \u201cGood business decisions are usually not the most popular ones,\u201d she said. \u201cQuestions were raised in Friday\u2019s Daily Herald that insinuate the Board change was a personal vendetta and that I am looking to be the one who \u2018save\u2019 the \u2018Y\u2019. It is obvious from the former president\u2019s resignation letter that it was definetly personal. Why, only he knows.
\n\u201cIt is ridiculous to think that any one person can save the \u2018Y\u2019,\u201d she continued. \u201cOnly the people who are willing to make the changes that are necessary and the people of this community can save the \u2018Y\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Tyrone YMCA Board of Directors has a new Executive Committee and three new members have been announced following its most recent meeting. Taking over the helm of the beleaguered organization are President Laura Burghard, Vice President Linda Hershey and Treasurer Dave Russell. They replace President John Harlow, Vice President Mike Blaska and Treasurer Linda […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}