911 Redux

911 Media Arts Center's board of trustees finally revealed their list of complaints against former Executive Director Fidelma McGinn at a community meeting on February 13, and--as with most long-awaited revelations--their accusations were anticlimactic.

It was a long list of incidents in which McGinn and the board had not "gotten along," largely because of a difference in perception: The board believes that McGinn resigned last August, and that they had been working on a transition ever since. Which would make her firing in January seem, if not less sudden and rude, then at least part of a continuum of actions. McGinn, who did not attend the meeting, has said she did not offer an actual resignation until January, which puts the board's action in a more unreasonable light--anxious, for some still-undisclosed reason, to hurry her out, they turned a working relationship into an embattled one. There was some talk about what constitutes an actual resignation.

Much of this meeting was conducted in the raw space between emotion and legalese: some strict legalistic citing of nonprofit law; some calls, with shaky voice, for the board to step down because of lack of member confidence. The three (out of four) attending board members countered both with promises to create task forces and look into things.

What is at issue right now for 911 is governance. Its members--although vocal and involved--do not vote in board members, nor do they have the power to vote them out. Several people heatedly asked the board to change the bylaws to reflect the true nature of the organization; the board hemmed and hawed, and said it would have to make sure it wouldn't upset the organization's funders.

But, with a $100,000 grant from the Warhol Foundation now frozen until the organization sorts out its troubles, I'd say they don't have much to lose.

911 Media Advocates and members are meeting this Thursday, February 20, at Consolidated Works (500 Boren Ave N; more info at www.911mediaadvocates.org) at 7:30 p.m. to vote on an amendment to 911's articles of incorporation. Whether this would have any effect on the board is still unclear. An ongoing--and charged and emotional--exchange on current events can be found at www.911media.org.

emily@thestranger.com