By Ethen Lieser
On the morning of July 18, Jolie Bales, the managing director of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC), was fired by two representatives from the board of directors: President Marsha Golangco and Treasurer Rita Yalung. Bales was given two days to vacate the office.
Later that day, an attached board resolution arrived to OACC via fax without cover or attribution. It stated that, in addition to Bales, five more members of the OACC staff would also be terminated, thus cutting the staff from 11 to five.
Board president Golangco declined to comment on this matter, but did release a written statement from the OACC.
“As you know, the Oakland Asian Cultural Center has been operating on a substantial deficit spending for many months,” the OACC resolution said. “In implementing the Board’s fiduciary responsibility, on July 12, 2001 at the OACC’s Board of Directors meeting, the Board unanimously passed a resolution that ‘in preservation of the integrity and viability of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, in light of severely limited funding, the Board needs to temporarily eliminate all management positions, to include Associate Directors, with the exception of maintaining a minimum capacity to serve the community.’”
However, according to the OACC staff, the budget for fiscal year 2001-02, which the Board of Directors unanimously approved, included funds for every current staff and management position, as well as a 6 percent pay increase. The approved budget did not include any elimination of positions.
“The characterization of the budget is grossly untrue,” said Dina Shek, who was one of the staff members fired. “In fact, this past fiscal year, we have done more fundraising under the management team of Jolie [Bales] and Francis [Wong] than any previous administration. Clearly, the board wanted Jolie Bales out and fabricated a fiscal reason to fire her.”
Furthermore, the resolution was passed with only five board members. Over the past year, the board has shrunk from 19 to just five members, which is two less than required by the bylaws.
“I don’t think this board has done anything different from the other dysfunctional boards that have been there in the past,” said Sonny Le, a former board member of the OACC. “Unfortunately, Ms. Marsha Golangco had been with the old regimes, as well. And for her to come out and say that she is trying to save the organization — yeah, I believe it somewhat, but people can’t change overnight like that.”
A statement released by former staff members Jeff Chan, Yvonne Parker, Shek, Penina Taesali and Daniel Mabalatan argues that the “board members who executed the resolution have acted unilaterally, claiming to represent the entire center. In taking these actions, [board members] Marsha Golangco, Rita Yalung, Amos White and Geoff Dorn have eviscerated the OACC as a fundable and viable entity.”
It is another controversial blow for OACC, who, earlier this year, had a bout within the community on whether the word “Pacific” should be included in the center’s name. Then director Francis Wong resigned in May following a protest over the actions of the board.
Though nonprofit organizations, like the OACC, are usually financially strapped, Le doesn’t think this rapid cutback is good for the community or the center.
“If you have problems with the organization, you should sit down with the staff and talk about it,” Le said. “But what they’ve done is rather underhanded.
“The firings are unfortunate, but I think the biggest damage is going to happen to the organization,” Le said. “The funders are going to be less inclined to fund OACC in the future because they have gone through something like this twice now. OACC has been mismanaged financially and professionally... Since around 1995, OACC has lost millions of dollars and it’s back to square one. If something like this happens again, they won’t be able to get out of it.”
Reach Ethen Lieser at elieser@asianweek.com.
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