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Trouble at the Lighthouse as managers fired afterwards lath takeover
"At that place's a lot of doubt and fearfulness, considering people don't know if I'm next on the chopping block."
Lighthouse lath members fired managers on Tuesday as a power struggle in Saskatoon's largest homeless shelter reached new heights.
Lath members accompanied by private security guards handed pink slips to five senior staff on Tuesday, informing them they had been terminated immediately without crusade.
That comes two weeks after the board voted to appoint two of its own members as managers and put executive director Don Windels on indefinite get out.
Former associate executive director Melissa Smith said she was served in the middle of a videoconferencing meeting with another employee, who was also terminated later that day when a board member and baby-sit came to their home. The Lighthouse's Twitter account documented the terminations in existent time, before the director who ran it was fired.
Smith and other former staff said they worry most the future of the Lighthouse, which supports some of the city'south most vulnerable people. Smith said she believes the board is setting a new direction in response to criticism from business leaders who complain the shelter attracts crime and vagrancy.
The Lighthouse, which houses an emergency shelter, supported housing and detoxification services, has long held that it is responding to those problems and non creating them.
"The direction I think they're moving in potentially could be serving those who are outside of the Lighthouse, not necessarily serving those inside of the Lighthouse," Smith said.
Postmedia asked repeatedly to speak with board chair and co-director Jerome Hepfner and received prepared statements instead.
Hepfner said "operational challenges" at the shelter "will not touch the services and back up nosotros provide to the people in need in Saskatoon.
"Our vision for the Lighthouse has not changed," Hepfner wrote. "We aspire to be a dynamic and innovative housing and service provider in the communities we serve that assists individuals in reaching higher levels of personal growth, independence and resilience past providing supports and meeting needs through a client-centred approach."
The StarPhoenix spoke to iv terminated managers and three other nowadays Lighthouse staff who said they are concerned about the board's direction.
"At that place's a lot of uncertainty and fear because people don't know if I'm next on the chopping block," Lighthouse Spiritual Care Coordinator Ty McKenzie said. He was among nine managers who signed a letter last calendar month request the province to intervene and for the organization to seek labour mediation.
He said he could exist fired before long just his priority is supporting clients.
"I call back everyone is working really hard to make certain that it does non disrupt services," he said.
New management and staff clashed from the beginning. Electric current and one-time employees said tensions were high after Saskatoon police were chosen to escort Windels out of the building on January. 18, which staff felt was humiliating and unnecessary. Constabulary confirmed they escorted a man out of the shelter without incident that twenty-four hours in response to a disturbance phone call.
In the post-obit days, staff claim Hepfner and co-managing director Twila Reddekopp struck a tone of wanting to work with managers but declined to run across with them as a group.
Hepfner sent an electronic mail to staff around 8 p.m. on Tuesday listing fired employees. It said the business firm has contracted MNP, an accountancy and consulting firm, and engaged Pinnacle Protection Services, a private security visitor.
Smith, McKenzie and ii fired staff who asked to non be named expressed concerns nigh the security presence at the shelter. McKenzie said private guards clashed on at least one occasion with clients and that staff stepped in to de-escalate the situation. He expressed promise those issues could be resolved.
"We take been given some assurances that the security company is willing to learn from united states. But 24-hour interval ane did not get well," McKenzie said.
The email acknowledged the "stressful" by few weeks but bodacious staff no further cuts were planned.
Hepfner also told staff the changes in management were "intended to get us all pulling in the same direction to build a prophylactic and respectful workplace and restore the confidence of our stakeholders, clients and residents."
Saskatoon fire inspectors gave the Lighthouse more than a dozen tickets in January and Dec for burn lawmaking violations, many of which accept since been paid. The shelter has been transparent about recent challenges with staffing and responding to deepening needs in the community equally well as security and harm to the belongings.
Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark did not agree to an interview or weigh in on Lighthouse operations or governance. He has long held that the shelter "has too many programs in ane identify and it needs to be decentralized," he said in a prepared argument.
"Lighthouse management shared this view and I worked with them equally part of a community process to find solutions that better address the safety and well-being of residents and clients and the broader downtown," Clark said.
zvescera@postmedia.com
twitter.com/zakvescera
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I Have Trouble Remembering What I Read Reddit
Source: https://thestarphoenix.com/news/saskatchewan/trouble-at-the-lighthouse-as-managers-fired-after-board-takeover
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