By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
Tribune Managing Editor
BURLINGTON – The Burlington United Methodist Family Services Board of Trustees, staff and administration met behind closed doors Monday afternoon in the chapel on the BUMFS Burlington campus.
Although the Mineral Daily News Tribune was alerted to the meeting by two difference sources, the community newspaper was asked to leave the meeting by three members of the board.
“This meeting is not open to the public,” board member Kim Rolls said, as she, board chairman the Rev. Gwen Wolford, and a third, unidentified member, met with this reporter in front of the chapel, standing atop the decorative pavers carved to memorialize the many community members who made monetary donations toward the construction of the chapel.
The BUMFS and its board have been under a large amount of scrutiny in the weeks since the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Dr. Douglas Huntt on Tuesday, June 9.
While rumors about the reason for Huntt's leaving the agency have grown to gargantuan proportions, the members of the board have continued to keep tight-lipped about the past, present, or future of the agency, which is under the ultimate jurisdiction of the West Virginia United Methodist Conference.
Sheila Walker has been filling in as CEO since Huntt's resignation, and was present for Tuesday's staff meeting.
It was unknown whether she will be asked to stay on as interim CEO until a decision can be made on filling the position permanently.
When asking the News Tribune to leave the meeting Tuesday afternoon, Wolford said staff meetings were not ever open to the public and asked who had invited the newspaper to the meeting.
When asked if there would be any public announcement following the meeting, Wolford said “ the conference and the board will decide what's to be made public.”
Approximately four hours after the meeting started, however, Rolls contacted the News Tribune to say a public announcement would be made “very soon.”
“There are so many rumors out there that are simply not true, we're trying as a body to help the staff understand what we can or cannot do,” she said.
“We will make a statement, but we want it to be an accurate statement.”
Rolls said Tuesday's meeting was “simply to update the staff” on what was being done thus far.
Acknowledging that the rumors that have raged around the children's agency have done much harm to the reputation of the agency, Rolls said, “We don't want to say anything prematurely and cause any more harm to be done.”
Calls to Walker's office on the Burlington campus were not immediately returned.
Huntt's presence at the Burlington United Methodist Family Services has been surrounded by controversy ever since it was revealed shortly after he was hired in 2005 that he was under investigation for fraud by the Ohio Office of the Inspector General.
According to published documents, he was allegedly collecting salaries and mileage reimbursements from both the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, for which he served as chairman, and Ohio State University.
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By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
Tribune Managing Editor
BURLINGTON – The Burlington United Methodist Family Services Board of Trustees, staff and administration met behind closed doors Monday afternoon in the chapel on the BUMFS Burlington campus.
Although the Mineral Daily News Tribune was alerted to the meeting by two difference sources, the community newspaper was asked to leave the meeting by three members of the board.
“This meeting is not open to the public,” board member Kim Rolls said, as she, board chairman the Rev. Gwen Wolford, and a third, unidentified member, met with this reporter in front of the chapel, standing atop the decorative pavers carved to memorialize the many community members who made monetary donations toward the construction of the chapel.
The BUMFS and its board have been under a large amount of scrutiny in the weeks since the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Dr. Douglas Huntt on Tuesday, June 9.
While rumors about the reason for Huntt's leaving the agency have grown to gargantuan proportions, the members of the board have continued to keep tight-lipped about the past, present, or future of the agency, which is under the ultimate jurisdiction of the West Virginia United Methodist Conference.
Sheila Walker has been filling in as CEO since Huntt's resignation, and was present for Tuesday's staff meeting.
It was unknown whether she will be asked to stay on as interim CEO until a decision can be made on filling the position permanently.
When asking the News Tribune to leave the meeting Tuesday afternoon, Wolford said staff meetings were not ever open to the public and asked who had invited the newspaper to the meeting.
When asked if there would be any public announcement following the meeting, Wolford said “ the conference and the board will decide what's to be made public.”
Approximately four hours after the meeting started, however, Rolls contacted the News Tribune to say a public announcement would be made “very soon.”
“There are so many rumors out there that are simply not true, we're trying as a body to help the staff understand what we can or cannot do,” she said.
“We will make a statement, but we want it to be an accurate statement.”
Rolls said Tuesday's meeting was “simply to update the staff” on what was being done thus far.
Acknowledging that the rumors that have raged around the children's agency have done much harm to the reputation of the agency, Rolls said, “We don't want to say anything prematurely and cause any more harm to be done.”
Calls to Walker's office on the Burlington campus were not immediately returned.
Huntt's presence at the Burlington United Methodist Family Services has been surrounded by controversy ever since it was revealed shortly after he was hired in 2005 that he was under investigation for fraud by the Ohio Office of the Inspector General.
According to published documents, he was allegedly collecting salaries and mileage reimbursements from both the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, for which he served as chairman, and Ohio State University.
