Dear Editor:

I believe that Mary Baudo represents the best of what the YMCA offers to the community. She is well trained and innovative. Her classes offer the best in physical education at all levels; her manner is welcoming and inclusive. I felt comfortable in and challenged by her classes. Over time, she extended my involvement at the Y to include volunteering support for her extensive community outreach programs. Simply put, Mary Baudo is a “Pied Piper”; she has the ability to joyfully draw people in and teach them while creating a happy, supportive community.

This experience has contrasted sharply with recent events. In the fall, we learned that Mary's popular deep water aerobics class was eliminated. This is a class that has run for many years, two mornings a week, at no extra cost to the YMCA. The class was repackaged and Ms. Baudo was replaced by two new and less experienced instructors (one of whom is the wife of the director). Now it runs five days a week with decreased enrollment. The leadership of the Y has done little to address the issues expressed by those of us impacted by the changes and worried by the less experienced instruction. In fact, they broke something that was working very well.

Now we are facing the elimination of the position of wellness director and the loss of Mary Baudo. Again, there seems to be no plan for the future of the Y and no open dialogue between the director, board and the community that they are serving. The mishandling of this issue raises important questions: Why are successful programs that were so carefully developed over the past years being dismantled without a plan for moving forward? Where will they find the experience and excellence that Ms. Baudo has offered to so many of us during her tenure? Could the director and board find a way to repair the damage that they have done to the Y and rehire Ms. Baudo? Why has board allowed the administration to institutionalize this culture of casual indifference to the health and well being of Y members?

Anne Brooks
Edgecomb