It should be noted that Tammy Tyner came from the distinguished Tyner family with generations of dedicated public service in our region. From what staffers and volunteers report, she was doing a great job, from fundraising to overall management of the Women’s Resource Center. It is safe to say she was tireless, selfless and dedicated to the mission to empower women in our community.
Given the broad sweep of discontent by staff members and volunteers who quit en masse in protest to Tyner’s abrupt firing, the board of the WRC is looking like one of those heavy-handed, self-empowered and self-absorbed HOA boards of directors we hear and read about. These are usually people with little if any experience for the tasks at hand gaining powerful positions, especially in nonprofit organizations where volunteerism is vital to its success and where financial expertise is crucial when managing desperately needed funds.
It all reminds me of a comment by the NYC shock-jock Don Imus, when in December 1995, House Speaker Newt Gingrich shut down the government in a fit of pique with then-president Bill Clinton. Imus told his listeners that Gingrich and his GOP faithful must have adopted a new mantra: “What’s the point of having power if you can’t abuse it?”
David Ohman
Durango
