I feel confident the controversy at the Cape Henlopen Senior Center could have been avoided if Leslie accepted the position of director with a different attitude. When you start a new job, you observe; you do not come in to change things right away, especially in a senior center that has run so efficiently for so many years.
I know this for I was in business for more years than Leslie is old. When Leslie began her job, she should have observed each person, Linda, Bernita, Theresa for at least two weeks, also the volunteers at the front desk. All of them have served for many years and have knowledge of how to run this center. Leslie entered the job with a big chip on her shoulder and let the word director go to her head.
In the Cape Gazette, Cheryl Snyder, the secretary to our board of directors, stated that the longtime employees, Linda and Bernita, did a terrific job keeping the center running very smoothly between the time Juanita took ill, retired, and Leslie started. This clearly shows we do not need a director. As the saying goes “If it's not broke, don’t fix it.”
Leslie came in, did not observe; she tried to fix the center that was not broken. She should have given the staff the opportunity to show her what was going on. Instead when the staff wanted to help Leslie she replied, “I am the director, and things are done as I want them done.”
What an attitude. Leslie claims this senior center is a business and should be run as a business. This is not a business; it is a social gathering for seniors to come in to talk, laugh and meet new friends.
I am a widow, a member for eight years; this is where I meet new friends, laugh, talk and enjoy coming. Not so in the past months. When I was sitting at the front desk, Leslie told me do not sit at the front desk; go into the library; but there was no one in the library.
All I ask is please return the center back to what it was 18 months ago. We want to come in talk, laugh and meet new friends.
Kay Klienfelter
Lewes
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