Island Community Services (ICS) — Salt Spring’s largest social service non-profit organization in terms of staff, programs and budget — has been facing unwelcome scrutiny in recent months.
First, news was informally shared that four board members of the governing Salt Spring and Southern Gulf Islands Community Services Society had resigned in June. Then on July 19, at an ASK Salt Spring session where ICS’ 20-year executive director Rob Grant and other ICS staff were guests, a handful of people expressed strong criticisms of the organization, according to ASK coordinator Gayle Baker. Finally, at the ASK meeting attended by Adam Olsen on Sept. 13, the retiring MLA was reported by Baker as saying that concern about Community Services is the “single most pressing social issue Salt Springers must address, fully engaging to seek solutions.”
Olsen’s statement, made in response to an emotional plea from islander Jennifer Campbell, who lives at ICS’ Murakami Gardens housing complex, prompted a number of social media comments about specific ICS incidents and individuals, which the society’s board responded to in an Oct. 9 statement posted to the ICS website.
“The board of directors would like to point out that slander and libel are serious offences, and to stress that misrepresentation and misinformation are extremely unfortunate when in opposition to an organization that offers so much support to the community,” reads the statement in part. “This puts our staff and programs at risk. Targeting staff with vitriol and falsehoods that we are not at liberty to set straight is unacceptable.”
ICS administers more than 40 different services, ranging from Family Place to The Core youth centre to food security programs, seniors services, mental health, the emergency shelter and the recycling depot, among many others, with an annual budget of approximately $8 million. Programs are funded by government, foundations and private donations.
Both Baker and Campbell are encouraging people to become members of ICS, following on Olsen’s advice that community members should learn more about and be involved with the organization. (See separate story.)
“By becoming a member, you will be able to vote at the upcoming AGM. I am hopeful that becoming a member will allow more community involvement so that we can all work together to make Community Services even better,” said Baker, who is also a publicly elected Capital Regional District Local Community Commission member.
In response to Driftwood questions about membership matters, ICS said the society currently has “less than 10” members. Individuals must be society members 30 days before the AGM in order to vote at the meeting. While the AGM will reportedly be held in the first half of December, ICS told the Driftwood that the time, date and place are still to be confirmed.
“The AGM will be, as always, announced with those details on our website and in the media as per our legal obligations, at some point two weeks or more before the date it is held.”
ICS said people who apply to be members will be contacted by the board of directors about whether their membership application is accepted or rejected. Membership forms are downloadable from the saltspringcommunityservices.ca website, and must be taken to the ICS main office at 268 Fulford-Ganges Rd., accompanied by a $1 membership fee.
Adding board approval to the society membership process is one of a handful of changes made to ICS bylaws at a July 24 members meeting held by Zoom.
“The changes to bylaws regarding membership and conflict of interest issues were made to clarify vaguely defined processes that were causing division [among board members],” said ICS. The Discovery Group, a company with expertise in non-profit operations, was engaged for that purpose and “to ensure the best governance possible.”
Changes also aligned with Society Act model bylaws, they said, “and therefore can be considered best practice.”
Tisha Boulter, who was one of the four directors who resigned in June after only serving on the board for about a year, said she feels the changes “will create more barriers and therefore limit accessibility to diverse involvement from our community as a director or member, and give inappropriate power to the chair.”
Bylaw statements regarding “conflict of interest” and investigating of complaints were also strengthened after an anonymous complaint was made about Boulter being in a conflict to serve “because of my other community connections,” she said.
Boulter elaborated on her experience.
“During my time on the ICS board, I learned more about the great work that is being done in this society that operates multiple diverse, enriching programs. I have also learned about systemic challenges within governance that have concerned me.
“I witnessed an ingrained culture where the operations of the agency manage the board of governance. I worked very hard to effect change in this area to support professionalism, accountability and responsibility to the public interest in my role as the vice-chair of ICS.”
Boulter, who is also an elected School District 64 trustee and current board of education chair, said remaining on the ICS board would have meant “fight[ing] a system that did not want change.”
Directors Amanda Myers, Larisa Fry and Andrea Little resigned along with Boulter, leaving chair Jennifer Lannan and director Gary McNutt. Past board chair Jody Hawley agreed to temporarily serve again to ensure the society had the minimum number of board members needed to function.
Looking ahead to the AGM, who might not be accepted as a society member and why is not clear, but ICS has provided two statements on the topic: “The society welcomes new members that are supportive of the mission and services and apply for membership with the purpose of participating constructively” and; “The board of directors welcomes genuine and respectful expressions of interest for memberships and directors alike, however, they would like to point out that trusted confidantes, mentors and advisors are appropriate in those roles.”
Anticipating that attempts may be made at the AGM to present alternate directors from those being presented by the current board, ICS stressed, “The board of directors is filled by the current directors through a recruitment process that involves interviews, conflict of interest disclosure and agreement to a code of conduct. The AGM of Island Community Services does not take director nominations from the floor.”
Baker hopes the society will be open to accepting memberships from all who apply, and points to a 2020 B.C. Supreme Court case — Farrish v. Delta Hospice Society — where a society’s attempt to refuse memberships was struck down due to lack of specific membership criteria set out in its bylaws.