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| Special Meeting of Homeless Alliance Executive Committee December 3, 2024 |
With less than 30 days in which to find someone to replace outgoing director Elaine Lozier resigned abruptly in early November, effective December 31, the Homeless Alliance called a special, invite-only meeting of its leaders to "strategize" the transition to an interim director.
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Jeremy: Noon o'clock! Well howdy, everybody! I hope you all had a happy turkey day and long weekend! Got those leaves raked yet, Dan? Thinking about Christmas yet Rhonda? Of course it's not too early! I love Christmas, why I was just--
Chris: Move approval of the agenda.
Jeremy: --telling my--what? Oh yeah, the agenda. Let's wait a couple more minutes, just in case we're missing anybody. I just love seeing everybody...Elaine, do we have quorum?
Elaine: We have quorum.
Jeremy: Alright then! Any objections to the agenda? No? Well give me some of those "ayes" will you?
[unintelligible]
Jeremy: As you all know, Elaine is leaving us soon. Yes, it's very sad. Still, if we don't find a replacement before she goes, it's gonna be each one of our keesters on the line, and I know none of you wants that, ha ha!
[unintelligible]
Jeremy: Take a look at this 'job call' I drafted using Elaine's posting from last year. Gosh! Was it just last year?
[unintelligible]
Jeremy: What's that? Oh, well, anyhow, I added a couple things needing someone's immediate attention, like how to do performance evaluation, we need a work group. That's a big one! Probably shouldn't have promised it for last October, but who's looking, ha ha. The important thing is, we got rid of the data Nazis! Who needs 'em? Do numbers tell us how many people are homeless? I suppose not!
Rhonda: I find it hard, not knowing, really, why Elaine is leaving, to judge what we should be asking for, but it looks to me like we're asking an awful lot. And I'm thinking about what it's going to cost--every transition costs the organization, I'm not convinced an interim is the proper strategy.
Jeremy: How about we soften the language, so as not to scare people, and kind of let them find out as they go, like Elaine did, heh heh. Maybe something like, able to conduct genuine conversations with people about difficult topics, hear different opinions, identify common ground and understand varying viewpoints?
Cathy: I've been here from the beginning and may be considered something of an expert in this area, and I think that really captures what the Alliance is trying to accomplish, because every one of us made a commitment to this work, this very vital work, this life-saving, life-changing work of compassion and caring for our homeless neighbors. We are the guiding light for our communities and I am never, ever going to give up this work.
Kathy: Why are we going the interim route?
Jeremy: Good question! We're doing it just in case.
Chris: The reason is we have an immediate need. We can't wait for just the right person.
Elaine: You can keep afloat without an ED, you know. In fact, you've been doing it for some time now! Ha ha, just kidding. Seriously, though, there are things that are not listed in the position description that we don't have coverage for, things that are not getting completed. I wouldn't recommend changing the PD, I'm just saying it's not a reflection of the practical reality. The day-to-day operations is where the difficulty lies. It's not practical to have one person do both that and the CEOing. Maybe someone could do it, but I couldn't.
Leilani: I thought we talked about an interim as a way to buy time to decide whether and what we wanted in an executive director. I think it's kind of ridiculous that Elaine can't just say why she quit, but is willing to hint at it. Obviously, the reasons are not just "personal", but related to the work.
Rhonda: I'd like to know from Elaine what's not in Jeremy's list, what's not getting done.
Jeremy: Gosh! So many good ideas! Thank you! Alright, I'll fix this thing up and get it posted tomorrow. We might find just the right person right away, someone with compassion and foresight and all that HUD stuff, or we might not. Cross your fingers and toes and remember, we are proven leaders on housing and homelessness and we've got to think positive, you never know. We were so lucky to have found a servant leader in Elaine it just could happen again. Maybe Santa will bring us a new director, ha ha!
Elaine: Okay, you want to know why I quit? It was too dang much paperwork and not enough CEOing. Staff reports, grant writing, meeting notices, responding to public records requests and HUD inquiries and complaints about public meeting law violations and not being able to get assessments or help from the Help Line, you name it, I got it. Yeah, I knew when I took the job that I had no staff, but I had a mentor and I changed everything. I changed the culture, remember? I got rid of dissenters--do you have any idea how many useless committee meetings you were paying for? All those stupid charters, pft! I re-visioned that ridiculous strategic plan, and when you balked at giving me the staff I deserved, I forced the issue by taking over the operations of the coordinated entry program. Okay, so that wasn't maybe the best call, maybe I didn't know just how bad a shape our data situation was in, but it's no longer my problem. It's up to you where you go with this position. I'm not going to continue to waste my talent for servant leadership on what amounts to menial housekeeping duties that no one appreciates.
Jeremy: Danielle?
Danielle: We, the electeds, made a commitment to this effort. We can lean into needs like grant-writing. Marion County has a whole team doing HUD grants. And remember Jan indicated she was willing to be involved in the transition. She's been handling the state funds, so the gap is HUD.
Cathy: Jan is amazing. Jan understands our HMIS data and HUD rules inside and out. I'd like to be on the interview panel. I was on the interview panel before. I'm on all the panels. In fact, I've been here from the beginning and Danielle is right, every one of us made a commitment to this work, this very vital work, this life-saving, life-changing work of compassion and caring for our homeless neighbors. We are the guiding light for our communities and I am never, ever going to give up this work.
Jeremy: Okay, I'll get this puppy posted tomorrow. Thanks everyone. Anyone have any updates or kudos? We've got 15 minutes, c'mon lets hear some happy talk! It's Christmas!
