A week after the Cascade Bicycle Club board of directors fired executive director Chuck Ayers, left, the board is bringing him back as interim director.
Two members at the Cascade message forum said that board member Don Volta made the announcement to a meeting of ride leaders on Sunday. That was confirmed this morning in an interview with a ride leader who attended that meeting. A Cascade staff member also confirmed Ayers is returning on an interim basis.
The Cascade Bicycle Club confirmed the rehiring in an announcement late Tuesday afternoon:
“Following many discussions over the last week between the Cascade Bicycle Club Board of Directors and Chuck Ayers, a new agreement has been reached that includes Chuck returning to the organization as interim Executive Director. Chuck will serve for a period of at least six months to help with an orderly transition process, during which time the Board of Directors will seek a new Executive Director. The mutual intent is for Chuck, beyond continuing to run Club operations during the interim, to assist with the recruitment and orientation of a new Executive Director. Both parties believe that this agreement is in the best interest of moving the Club forward.
“The Board unanimously extends its thanks to Chuck for his continuing commitment to the organization’s mission. The Board values his leadership and deep institutional knowledge during this transition period. Though this has been a challenging time, all parties look forward to building on the strong base of members, participants, partnerships and programs that Chuck has shaped during his tenure, and to taking the organization to new heights of success in every program and activity area.”
Background
Broadly, the board wanted Ayers to step aside because his leadership style didn't match what the board desired. Ayers had been executive director of the club for the past 13 years.
For more detail, I'd recommend checking out three sources. One is the board's position written by chairman Chris Weiss and posted at the Cascade blog: “A message to members from the Board of Directors.”
Then, Tom Fucoloro's article “Cascade director change proves a little rocky” at his Seattle Bike Blog provides explanations from the viewpoints of Ayers and board member Tim Hennings.
Paul Andrews conducted still more interviews and looked at other problems at the nation's largest bicycle club in “Just how bad are things at Cascade” at his Bike Intelligencer blog.
Annual meeting
There will undoubtedly be an airing of this controversy coming up at the Cascade Bicycle Club's annual membership meeting on Thursday, Oct. 21.
The meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Seattle REI, features chairman Weiss giving a presentation of club accomplishments over the past year and a panel with department heads.
Two of the eight board members also are up for re-election, Weiss and Volta. Ballots can be mailed in ahead of the meeting, or dropped off at the meeting.
As the board can have a maximum 21 members, there has been talk that those unhappy with Ayers's firing will try to elect more support on the board of directors. Meanwhile, the board is said to be looking for at least four more board members.
Recent Comments