MEETING ABOUT TOM RAY'S DISMISSAL FOR STAFF, VOLUNTEERS, AND BOARD MEMBERS

UPDATE:  **The meeting was little more than a recap of the public letter about Tom's dismissal, alleging he was a "bully" and "harassed and intimidated people".

From McClellan's article McClellan: Finding Middle Earth in corporate America (stltoday.com)

There were maybe 25 protesters. Ray was among them. He entered the establishment but was ushered out. “I’m not even allowed to defend myself,” he said.

Once inside, the invitees were addressed by Wolf Smith, who uses they/them pronouns, of the Conflict Resolution Center. They, or one of their colleagues, were the “facilitator” at the meeting during which Ray was fired.

According to minutes from the meeting at Parker’s Table — minutes which were not supposed to be released by any participant! — the Conflict Resoluter opened the meeting by asking people to share their expectations. From the minutes: “Wolf acknowledged that we were all bringing different expectations to the meeting and that Wolf would be available throughout the meeting if someone was feeling especially frustrated or felt they weren’t being heard.”

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THE LETTER TO STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS 

We have heard from many of you since the dismissal of KDHX volunteer Tom Ray. We’ve conversed by phone, email, and in person. We’ve heard from some of you who are frustrated, and we’ve heard from some of you who are not. We have heard loud and clear from those we have talked to that we need to be in community and dialogue with each other as we move forward as partners in serving the mission of KDHX.

We agree that being together in person is important. We invite you to join staff, board members, and fellow volunteers for an in-person volunteer* meeting Wednesday, March 15, from 6:30 pm until 8:00 pm in the event room at Parker’s Table. Parker’s Table is located at 7118 Oakland Ave, Richmond Heights, MO 63117.

Through our conversations with volunteers this week, a few themes have surfaced, and we want to be able to speak to and answer questions about the topics you’ve raised with us. They are:

1. Tom Ray’s dismissal
2. Staff/Volunteer Connections
3. Drive

There will be the opportunity to raise other topics in the meeting as time allows.

We have asked a neutral facilitator from our partner, Conflict Resolution Center, to start our meeting by helping us set mutual expectations for each other and ourselves. The facilitator will not be facilitating the meeting, they will be opening it for us so that we can enter into constructive dialogue with each other.

We recognize that this is short notice and that many of you will not be able to attend. We will provide a summary of the meeting to all volunteers by email and in KDHX Connections on Thursday. If you cannot attend, we are available to you if you have questions or concerns or want to talk about KDHX.

Click to RSVP

Looking forward to seeing you,

Kelly Wells, kwells@kdhx.org
Ronnie Wisdom, ronnie@kdhx.org
Andrea Dunn, adunn@kdhx.org


*This is a meeting for active volunteers only; outside guests will not be permitted.