Dear Editor:

Clearly, the Boothbay Region YMCA has a serious internal problem. Since the announcement that the "Boothbay Region YMCA was planning to eliminate the Wellness Director position in an apparent effort to restructure the organization's programs," no clear reason has been given, regardless of the dozens of letters to members of the Y's board of trustees and the many letters to the editor in the Boothbay Register questioning this decision. The "outrage" is there — it's just being ignored!

The best they could say when confronted with the "outrage" is that "all of the programs that were provided are still going to be provided" and that “there is no change in programming.”

Yes, classes are still being provided, but the expertise provided by Mary Baudo, the former Wellness Director, is just not there. Mary was aware of the needs of her class participants, many of them seniors, and her exercises were geared/adjusted to the needs of her classes. The continuity of instruction and instructors in the low impact aerobics class has disappeared. And there are changes to programming. Some class times have changed, and because of those changes, members are unable to take classes they want. One of the main goals of the YMCA should be to help develop the health and wellness of its members. If not that, then what is its goal?

It is definitely not "extremely unfortunate for the Y staff, volunteers, and respected donors of our community that the Boothbay Register turned a private, personnel matter into a front page story and an online poll" in their reporting the story about the elimination of the Wellness Director position. The Register was doing what it should be doing — reporting local news. If the Y board takes issue with this, I can only wonder why.

The community funds the Y through memberships and annual fund drives and so there should be some transparency to where and how the money is spent. The Y is not a private club so why are they acting like one? If they are unable to answer the members’ many questions about this issue, then I'd say it's time for new leadership at our YMCA.

Jill Butke
Boothbay