On April 28, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise’s staff writer Ben Gocker wrote an article titled “Alumni board infighting at Paul Smith’s College.” There were several points in this article that are misleading and not factual.

Mr. Heller states in the article, “For decades, the independent nomination clause has allowed members at large to petition for a spot on the board, and they want to eliminate that.” This is very misleading and inaccurate minimally. While there is a clause that allows for independent nominations, it has never been utilized before he was elected last year. In fact, before last year there was never a need for an election. The Alumni Board has 24 spots. Since the board’s inception, there have never been all 24 spots filled. They have always been filled by appointment by the board, and all the spots have never been filled until last year, meaning anyone who wanted to get on the board could with no election.

The Enterprise’s article seems to be indicating that the board is targeting Legacy members. I argue the facts. Russ Kuhles was appointed by the board 15 minutes after Mr. Heller’s Article 12(2) vote. Mr. Kuhles was on the election ballot last year on what we know as the Legacy ticket and did not get voted in. He has shown up to meetings and has proven himself, and was appointed by the board to the board.

Now let’s address the elephant in the room: the accusation that was made in the article about Herkimer County Legislator John Stephens and the email exchange in which he always replied with “venom.” As a sitting board member, I can’t comment on the content. However, what I will say is that I received those emails, and there is more to the story then what is being portrayed. Both Tara Butcher and John Stephens have incredibly strong personalities. However, usually when someone is pointing a finger, there are three pointed back at you. As a reporter, I hope that Ben Gocker takes the time to get to the backstory.

John Stephens has been involved on the Alumni Board long before I was appointed, which was, like many were, spurred by the name change. Yes, he is a former mayor of Ilion and is currently a sitting Herkimer County legislator, and he has a strong personality. He wears jeans and boots to work, and has committed his life to the service of others.

There is a false perception that the Alumni Board gets to set policy and influence the policy of Paul Smith’s College. We don’t, hands down; we don’t.

The purpose of the association is clear, as stated in the by-laws dated July 25, 2015, which read as follows: “The purposes for which the Association is formed are to encourage, promote and cultivate free expression, social activity and good fellowship among the alumni of Paul Smith’s College, to maintain and promote loyalty of its alumni to Paul Smith’s College, and to assist and promote the interest of Paul Smith’s College generally. To do any other act or thing incidental to or connected with the foregoing purposes or in the advancement of, but not for the pecuniary profit or financial gain of its members, directors or officers and to secure the benefit of the Corporation Law. This corporation is a Type A Corporation under Section 201 of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law.”

At no point does it indicate that we can set policy for Paul Smith’s College or influence the Paul Smith’s College Board of Trustees.

Now let’s look at the contention that Ms. Bennett was elected through an illegal election.

The following are the board notes from the Jan. 8 meeting in Troy and can be viewed in entirety at www.paulsmiths.edu/alumni/files/2017/04/17-01-08-PSC-BoD-Minutes-2bg8sqy.pdf:

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29 Alumni & PSC Admin Personnel Attended the January 8th Board of Directors Meeting: Annette Andrew, Haley Ashdown, Darrell Austin, Alyson Bennett, William F. Burns, Tara Butcher, R. Justin Demers, Dave Eaton, Norm Fedder, Karen Frank, Peter Frank, Kathy Gowen, Michael Heller, Cory Hoffman, Bob Knapp, Russ Kuhles, Scott van Laer, John Maille, Joe McCranels, Kurt Mullick, Dave O’Brien, Matthew Purcell, Dan Richards, Tom Rosol, Heather Tuttle, Melissa Uhlik, Andrea Urmston, Jim Voorhies and Ray Agnew.

Abstained was Kathy Gowen and Scott Van Laer. Dave then noted the following recent resignations of Board Members: Randy Sadlon, Richard Lewis and Chris Diedrich were moved to Council. Rich Lewis moved to Director Exempt Fred Oberst was moved to Director Exempt status. Dave stated that an eighth board member position is open can be filled by anyone meeting the By-Laws criteria as well as open nominations.

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So as you can see, Mr. Heller was in attendance at the Jan. 8 meeting and voted to accept the slate of officers. Mr. Heller voted in favor of the slate; there were only two board members who abstained in the vote. So the question should be asked, why is he calling it an illegal election when he voted for the slate?

Mr. Heller was also scheduled to be in attendance at the meeting that he was removed from, as he had signed up to work the sugar breakfast. But he did not attend, so the question arises why did he not attend?

The question arising in my mind regarding the article by the Enterprise’s staff writer Ben Gocker is simple: Were statements taken at face level, or did the Enterprise’s staff reporter Ben Gocker vet his sources. This is not an attack on Mr. Gocker. The article was a well-written article but not very accurate and was written in absence of the complete facts. So behaviors speak louder than words, so I would encourage the Enterprise’s staff writer Ben Gocker to read all the emails.

Maybe a better title for the article should be “Alumni Board shows strong unity in strengthening the board in a 17-to-1 vote.” So the title of the article is misleading in itself.

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Donald Jones lives in Saranac Lake.