PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Downtown Association has laid off its executive director, Barbara Frederick.
“As you know, the Downtown Association board of directors has had a challenging year, and your PBIA [Parking Business Improvement Area] funds are still being withheld by the city,” said a letter emailed to association members late Thursday afternoon.
“That lack of funding has necessitated the lay-off . . .”
Board President Bob Lumens, who said this afternoon he wrote the letter, said the board unanimously decided at its Nov. 24 meeting to lay off Frederick, who earns about $46,000 a year.
An announcement was not made last week because “we needed to cover all our bases and figure out what we were going to do and she needed to find out what she was going to do,” Lumens said.
“There are big changes ahead and we just don’t know what they are going to be.
Frederick will stay on as executive director until Dec. 19.
Withheld funding
City officials have withheld funding from the association financial because of accountability issues. On Nov. 18, the City Council decided to withhold all but Christmas light funding from the group.
“They continue to hold the money, so we can’t afford to have an executive director,” Lumens said Thursday.
The board will meet at 6:15 p.m. Monday to discuss a course of action after Jan. 1, Lumens said.
The meeting, at downtown association’s office at 208 N. Laurel St. is open to association members.
The association is comprised of about 150 members.
Lumens said he did not know if the group would be able to hire an executive director, a position it must fill if it continues to manage the Main Street Program.
He also could not say if the organization would continue to exist after Jan. 1.
“We don’t have any money to continue with an executive director,” Lumens said.
Members are in the process of voting on a new board.
Ballots will be counted Dec. 12.
“It’s got to be decided what happens from here,” Lumens said. A recent audit report on the group “was very unfair,” he added.
Frederick, who in the past has referred all queries about the association to Lumens, the group’s designated spokesman, did not return a call for comment late this afternoon regarding her impending departure.
Frederick’s first day in the position was Jan. 2, 2008 .
“The board appreciates Barb’s six years of loyal, dedicated service as our executive director and previous 10-plus years as a board member and active committee chair who worked tirelessly on several major projects, including hosting the Washington State Main Street Conference here in Port Angeles,” Lumens said in the email.
There will be a general membership meeting after the new board is elected, Lumens said in the email.
The date and location is yet to be determined.
The first board meeting with the newly elected board members is Jan. 12.
