Updated September 19.
Suellen Lazarus, the embattled president of the nonprofit that runs summer programs at the Chilmark Community Center, is facing new calls to resign from former colleagues while current board members are stepping up their support for Lazarus and her leadership.
The latest volley between the two sides of this simmering debate over the tennis program are landing as the Chilmark Community Center (CCC) Moderator’s Committee, an independent, public body established at a packed April town meeting, is preparing a report to town officials that will evaluate the best way forward for the CCC and its programs. The report is due in January.
At last April’s town meeting and in continuing disputes both public and private, many Chilmarkers spoke of a lack of transparency and accountability from the council, and wanted more year-round programming at the community center.
“Suellen Lazarus is unfit for her position,” reads a letter to the town officials from Chris Fischer, a chef and food writer who grew up on the Island, and who resigned from the nonprofit’s board in April after serving for only a few months.
“She has led the CTAC board and our community down a destructive path that has divided our community. She preached secrecy and when I did the proper diligence and spoke to members of our community I was treated like a traitor,” added Fischer.
Lazarus has dismissed Fischer’s claims as “untrue” and “contradictory” to previous statements he has made in support of her.
Fischer further stated in his letter that he and other former members would involve the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission if Lazarus returns for next summer. His letter was dated August 30, available on the committee’s correspondence page as recently as Friday, but has been removed.
Several other board members who resigned this year have written to the committee in the last month, some criticizing a power structure that concentrates decision-making within an executive committee chosen by Lazarus. They have also cited a lack of responsiveness to community concerns, and former council secretary Suzanne Modigliani also called for Lazarus’ removal.
Amid letters from former board members, current board members are coming forward to speak in Lazarus’ defense.
“I have worked with several chairs/presidents of CTAC, and I can honestly say Suellen has been by far the most effective,” Morgan Baker-Brelis wrote. She noted Lazarus’ focus on fairness and equity, including after a 2021 controversy before her tenure in which two white boys at summer camp placed a strap around the neck of a Black child. Following the incident, a five-page “Plan Going Forward” has informed much of the council’s work.
“[Lazarus] has reconciled how much staff is paid so young women are paid the same as young men, and that the play school counselors are paid the same as other counselors,” Baker-Brelis wrote.
Miles Brucculeri has served on the board for three years; he told the MV Times that he was supporting Lazarus. As one of only two members who are year-round residents, Brucculeri said his experience in working with her has been positive.
“I feel like the complaints here are that the board is run by Suellen, and it’s ‘The Suellen Show,’” he said. “I feel that we have made decisions, and some people haven’t agreed and it hasn’t always been unanimous. But we do vote, and we have made those decisions.”
He added that while Lazarus handles much of the work on the council, his input has been appreciated. “Suellen does the majority of the work, and the executive committee does, but I feel like as long as I’ve been involved my voice has been heard,” he said.
Robin Rivera, also a three-year member and also a year-round resident, noted what she felt was the council’s good work to conform with state regulations after the 2021 controversy, including closing the pay gap. “I think Suellen has brought us a long way with conforming with the rules, which, especially with the incident three years ago, put a really increased scrutiny on how things have been done in this community,” she said.
Speaking to The Times, Brucculeri and Rivera also denied claims in Fischer’s letter that the council and community center executive director Susan Pimental Andrien were behind a controversial video that upset many in town for its treatment of long-serving tennis professional Eddie Stahl. The council decided in June not to bring back Stahl for summer 2025.
The video, released days before the town meeting vote and deleted soon after, was made by Kyle Williams of A Long Talk, a group that provides anti-racism training to organizations. Council detractors felt the video, in an attempt to rally a vote in support of the council, deployed vague allegations of racism against Stahl and stirred up resentment ahead of town meeting.
Lazarus denied Fischer’s claims in a comment to The Times. “Much of what he says in his letter simply is untrue, and is contradictory of his strongly supportive and complimentary statements made to me and to CTAC management as recently as April of this year, when he resigned after a two-month tenure on CTAC’s board of directors,” she said.
Andrien also denied the accusations. “I am disheartened that Chris chose to make these incorrect allegations. It is discouraging to see such untrue characterization based on factual misunderstandings from Chris and others.”
Williams, a lifelong Vineyard summer resident on the Vineyard, also told The Times that he received no input while editing the video and was not paid to make it.
This story was revised for our print edition.
I am curious how much tennis revenue was lost over the summer at CCC? The courts seemed rarely in utilized vs past years.
The board has a responsibility to make fiscally sound choices and the decision to remove Eddie was not in the greater interest of the community or the CCC. It appeared then and more now like one individuals odd vendetta with one of the most giving and kind members of this community, Eddie Stahl.
I never heard of a simple non profit Community center having so many problems? I guess when salaries are one million a year this can happen?
This is the epitome of a first world problem. Maybe the solution could be that Muffy and Buffy and their hedge fund parents travel down island and use the numerous – gasp- public courts available there. Yes, they may not recognize a parking lot without a Range Rover or Mercedes, and there may be people not as homogenous as their non-diverse community but the courts are the same and I submit the people playing there are far more friendly. Chilmark could use the existing courts space for affordable housing or expansion of the school. Win Win!
Affordable Chilmark . . .
Chilmark does not need a bigger school.
Wrong. They are in the process of building an additional building because the school has run out of room for their pre-school.
Why are taxpayers paying for baby sitting?
tennis: it’s a racket.
If your mere presence on the board of a non-profit has become such a distraction that it is impacting the finances of that non-profit as well as its ability to achieve its primary mission, then you are only serving your own interests by failing to step down. If you have so demonstrated your willingness to prioritize your own self interest above that of the non-profit then you should be removed.
A distraction to who?
I am disappointed that the discourse surrounding the tennis program at the CCC has devolved into personal attacks and repeating unverified and untrue narratives. The Community Center’s main priority is to offer high-quality, safe, and engaging programming for children and families. Over the past three years, both the world and the center have experienced significant changes, and while we understand these changes have been difficult for some, it’s important that our response remains respectful and focused on the well-being of the entire community.
I believe that Chris Fischer needs to pause and take a deep breath (and perhaps put his keypad down for a while). The only connection Ms. Andrien had to Kyle Williams video was when she asked him to take it down a day after it was released. I understand that she has made this clear to Mr. Fischer, as well. In my opinion, Susan Andrien is one of the best Executive Directors the CCC has had in recent memory. She stands shoulder to shoulder in that regard with Keira Lapsley, who did a terrific job during a difficult period, had hoped to return, but was, unfortunately, “othered” from her position by a group of unthinking, over-privileged and self-serving individuals-over a personnel issue.
For those who have an issue with Ms.Lazarus, I wonder how many of them were willing to wade into the hornet’s nest that followed the camp incident. She did what needed to be done, forcefully and capably. I’m disgusted with some of the behavior I’ve seen exhibited towards her by various townspeople. That’s just before they get into their cars with the “Be kinder than necessary” bumper stickers.
I would like to remind people that at the Chilmark Annual Town Meeting last April when this same issue came up, Town Council Ron Rappaport spoke for several minutes warning the Voters on the importance of NOT discussing employment matters in a public forum. There was a Chilmark Voter who also stood up and identified himself as a practicing Employment Lawyer who supported Town Council’s opinion and then stressed that even more caution should be exercised by the Voters and the Public on this matter. He stressed that employment matters are a private matter between the employee & the employer. He further explained that there are appropriate more forums where a discussion on this private matter can be conducted safely and professionally but that speaking out publicly or writing letters of complaint about a private matter to public forums is not acceptable and is grounds for a major lawsuit just waiting to happen. Given the time that these two highly respected legal professionals spent on the Town Meeting Floor going over this – I just don’t understand why
this keeps coming up. This is a small close knit town and its very disruptive to the fabric of this Community to have such a contentious continue on for months. The Town has to make decisions on hot button issues all of the time to keep the business moving. Usually several people in the Community feels aggrieved by the choices that get made but historically Chilmarkers have always agreed that after the final vote it is time put aside their differences and agree to follow the plans laid out at Town Meeting and to work together peacefully to obtain the best results possible. I and many other Voters who left that last Annual Town Meeting believed that we were finally at this exact point. The controversy would end and we could all start working together, as friends & neighbors, towards a better solution for everyone. I’s like to see the plan as agreed upon enacted I look forward to finally putting this matter to behind us.
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