The members of a board of directors of a nonprofit organization have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of that organization and not in their personal self-interest.
Both the decision by the board of the Gathering Place to terminate Lynn Bedell, as well as the manner in which it was done, are blatant violations of that fiduciary responsibility.
The Windham County community needs to demand a transparent investigation.
If the current board of directors responsible for this wrongful termination want to demonstrate that it actually has the best interest of the Gathering Place as its focus, its members should therefore be willing to resign.
They irresponsibly terminated Bedell and hired Kate O'Connor, an “interim director” who had absolutely no experience in adult day health services, and she has absolutely no knowledge of the Gathering Place's operational procedures.
Taking into consideration Kate O'Connor's professional political background, she might want to consider that the best thing she could do would be to resign as well.
The winter season, historically, is consistently the most precarious for adult day health service organizations. Former Director Bedell should publicly receive an apology and be asked, if not begged, to return to the Gathering Place immediately.
That would be a fiduciary responsible action.