Yesterday, an irate freshman Albany Common Councilman Anton Konev just cold lost it and started swinging punches--the wordy, emailed kind--at the CEO and president of the Capital District YMCA, David Brown. And Brown was happy, very happy, to swing back. It's been a long painful process of spinning for Brown since the Y announced that it was planning to close the Washington Avenue branch, and I get the sense that he was glad to have some young punk to pound on.
Konev, as I reported last night, was frustrated that the Capital District Y hadn't applied for federal or state money for the Washington Avenue branch and on Monday evening starts shooting off a series of increasingly agitated emails to people within the Y, including Brown. As far as Konev is concerned, not seeking federal assistance is a signal that the YMCA has given up fighting for the Washington Avenue branch.
Konev writes to the Y:
I had a solution for you - apply for federal funding, get official and community support for it. I also had solution for you - apply for state funding and ask for community support for it. You met with A/M Ron Canestrari and didn't bring up Albany YMCA. You missed the federal application deadlines. Come on.
At one point, Brown shoots back that Konev isn't behaving in a very Christian manner: "Christians do not behave in this way, especially towards a Christian organization. That is a shame, since you are so into prayer, I will be sure to pray for you and your mental state."
Anyway, it's no secret that the YMCA isn't going out of its way to save the Washington Avenue branch. That effort is absolutely being led by a group of community activists. And in this email exchange, we get a somewhat candid look at the position Brown is in: trying to be publicly supportive of the community efforts to keep the branch open while, at the same time, staring at a set of data that doesn't allow for that option to seem very likely, or even beneficial.
And, also, wanna buy a Y for a dollar? Maybe you can.
Here's a lengthy email from Brown (which I've edited for size and such, but not for grammar, spelling, etc.) in which he lays out some of the realities facing the Y and the Washington Avenue branch in particular. (Note, I stole the fighting metaphor.)
Do you want to meet or not? You don’t understand the Y or the big picture, you have allowed others who are emotional to sell you on something and you have never taken the time to sit and really look at the “big picture“ . . .
If the Y means so much why would you think getting retribution would solve anything, who does that help, better yet who does that hurt. If you truly understood the Y then you would understand that we could do a better job helping inner city youth, families . . . by not spending money on a facility that the public has truly demonstrated they are no longer committed too, have you not wondered why now people are joining, where have they been the past 20 years. . . .
If the Y building is so important, then why do we have so few members between three locations, If the Y is so important then why has the collective task force never been donors to the YMCA. If the Y is so important, then why won’t the parking authority buy it and put a garage that serves all and allows us to build a new Y.
Why won’t the city commit to a resolution of $300,000 a year for the YMCA? Why doesn’t the city take the Y over and run it, if there is such a need and it must stay and the money and the people are there, then wouldn’t it be a no brainer for the city to run it. Or what about the county, they aren’t paying for nursing homes any more, so surely they can afford the Y that has a strong membership as you suggest it does. Surely the county and the city see the big picture, so lets make this easy for everyone and have one of those entities take it over. Or what about the task force, they seem to have all the solutions, why not have the 200 volunteers run the Y, we are willing to turn it over to the community, would you like to head that up? Everyone wins with that scenario….I can’t hear you.
Anton, your approach to coming out swinging, leaves you open to being counterpunched and knocked out. You are fighting the wrong opponent, the YMCA is not wrong here and this is a city problem, not a YMCA problem. We can do more good in the city by taking the Y out into the community and not limiting it to Washington Avenue. . . .
The reality is that we can not be all things to everyone. Do you believe that everyone can get to Washington Ave? Of course they can’t, we have to do the most good that we can afford to do, and we can not afford to loose $400,000 a year on a building that only has 150 youth members of which they participate off site and not there, and for a group of adults who for the most part have the resources to get to North Albany if they want to use the Y, or they can go up the street to the VI, or down the street to University Club which now has neighborhood prices . . .
So feel free to forward to everyone, but the membership campaign has so far not been successful, we have a ton of members who are not renewing, another group that has terminated there memberships, over 100 of the members who have joined we scholarship over 50% on top of the already lowered prices, and then a large number of people who have taken out a youth membership. We missed membership revenue by $20,000 in January. Our position has not improved. The public has spoken.
Be a real leader, be someone who is forward thinking, you profess to want to have prayer before meetings, but does your behavior truly reflect that of a Christian, are you working in good faith to solve the issues, isn’t the real issue childhood obesity, healthy lifestyles, gangs, education, can’t those things be solved by reaching out into the community and not trying to get people to an old building that needs millions to keep open, and instead go to where the people are, in their neighborhoods and communities. Think about it, I know this was a bit heavy for you, but you’re the one missing the big picture. Keep your guard up when you come out swinging next time.
To a certain brawler-type of politician there's some real fightin' words in there: "old building," "millions to keep open," "solved by reaching out into the community." Sounds an awful lot like another epic battle that's being waged elsewhere in Albany County. So it shouldn't be any surprise that along the way in this widely cc'd email exchange Mike Conners, the Albany County Comptroller, rings in and seizes on the suggestion that the county step up and save the Y branch by buying it.
Anton
I saw an email from Dave Brown in which he said that he offered the Washington Ave. YMCA property to a Neighborhood group for $1.00. We should take him up on that offer immediately.
Mike Conners
"If we could get this facility," Conners tells me, "we could end up in a number of months with an independent YMCA chartered and licensed."
He goes on to say that there are members of the community who have already expressed interest in opening an independent YMCA, and that they have even done research into the process.
"Let Dave Brown runs the programs," Conners says, "and let these people who want a Y run a Y. I think that there is a really exciting opportunity for a mixture of community and government take that facility over, and do some exciting things with the facility."
Brown apparently thinks it's an excellent idea as well, sending out this email to Konev, Conners and others:
Why don’t you guys meet, develop the concept and present it to me, Lets see what happens with the campaign first before the Y sits at the table, if the Y should have to close this might be a solution. We still want to honor our commitment to the campaign, but the campaign is struggling, but that is no secret. The Y is willing to sell the building to the community, and maybe the community can rent it out and still run it with all its moving parts. Our only stake in it would be turning over the building and possibly keeping the teen center. Thanks for taking the lead on this Mike that is why you are the MAN!!! Keep me posted on how the meetings go with the others and I look forward to hearing the plan.
As we reported last week, Conners met with Brown to discuss the Y's "numbers." Since first announcing the possible closure, Brown has said that if the branch can attract 700 new members by April, it can stay open. The community took that challenge seriously and launched a grassroots campaign. In six weeks, that branch gained roughly 400 new members. However, Brown has pointed out that the branch has also lost members. Conners learned that when Brown says that there have been a "ton of members who are not renewing" this year, he actually means 188. And as far as Brown sees it, Conners says, you must subtract that 188 from the 400 new members that the branch has gained this year.
"So really they only have 212 new members," Conners says that he was told. "So the YMCA is charging this task force, which is a group of community activists that was able to bring in 400-or-so-odd members, the YMCA is charging them for the poor retention rates that the Y has generated because of the way it has run the facility over the last several years. I told Brown, 'You are charging them for your bad results.'"
Regardless of the dispute over the numbers, and despite the excitement over this nascent concept of an independent Y, Conners says that there is really no hope that the YMCA plans to keep the Washington Avenue branch open. Conners says that Brown told him flatly at their meeting: "'We are closing this place April 1, 2010. And if not then, we will be closing it April 1, 2011. And if not then, we will be closing it April 1, 2012.'"
No duh 188 people cancelled their membership - they feel the closure of the facility is eminent and have decided not to 'invest' in a ship destined to sink. I understand that Brown is making it a numbers game now, but in all honesty, let's go back a few years and think "why didn't the Y sound the alarm then?" It's demolition by neglect, folks. They took their eyes off the ball. The albany parking authority cannot afford the $30,000 per space cost of building a garage, and should they? People who don't live here b*tch and moan about the lack of parking, but when it comes to put their money where their mouths are they don't want to have to pay for it either. "Albany has high taxes" they moan. Well, if more people lived here the Y would have more members and less of a parking problem. This city needs to focus on attracting residents to balance the books - not giving tax breaks to companies to locate here thus reducing livability and killing service providers like the YMCA that depend on residents. Anton and Connors should be looking to develop programs that bring residents back into the city - that's the only way to save the YMCAs, main street businesses, and good schools that taxpayers are lamenting the loss of.
Posted by: Albany Resident | February 24, 2010 at 01:55 PM
Thanks for covering this.
Posted by: laym | February 24, 2010 at 02:22 PM