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November 18, 2015 Palisades News Page 5<br />
Parents Ask YMCA to Reassign MacAller<br />
By SUE PASCOE<br />
Editor<br />
YMCA members have started a petition,<br />
asking Metro YMCA CEO Alan<br />
Hostrup to reassign Palisades-Mali -<br />
bu YMCA executive director Beth MacAller.<br />
The petition st<strong>at</strong>es: “If we don’t see a<br />
change in the very near future, we’ve agreed,<br />
one by one, th<strong>at</strong> boycotting our local YMCA<br />
may be our only true power, starting with<br />
the Christmas tree lot. We are aware th<strong>at</strong><br />
the tree lot is the biggest annual fundraiser<br />
for the YMCA . . . We strongly hope th<strong>at</strong> it<br />
does not come to this and we would like to<br />
hear your game plan as soon as possible.”<br />
The petition was posted online on November<br />
10; a day l<strong>at</strong>er there were 100 sign<strong>at</strong>ures.<br />
The move was initi<strong>at</strong>ed after Rashad<br />
Rhodes, the Y’s youth sports coordin<strong>at</strong>or,<br />
was let go while <strong>at</strong> work on October 21 by<br />
MacAller.<br />
After having worked <strong>at</strong> the Y on Via de<br />
la Paz for four years, he was told it was a<br />
budget decision, given a severance check<br />
and asked to sign a paper.<br />
Rhodes, who is a gradu<strong>at</strong>e of Shaw University<br />
in Raleigh, North Carolina with a<br />
bachelor’s degree in recre<strong>at</strong>ion, said he<br />
needed time to look over the paper. He was<br />
told to hand over his keys and leave the<br />
building, which he did.<br />
Beth MacAller<br />
Photo: Bart Bartholomew<br />
On the sidewalk outside, Rhodes was<br />
stopped by a resident who wanted to ch<strong>at</strong>.<br />
But according to a recording (which was<br />
legal), after the resident left, MacAller told<br />
him, “You have to leave right now.” He<br />
replied, “This is a public sidewalk.”<br />
At th<strong>at</strong> point MacAller asked another<br />
employee to call the police. In the phone<br />
call Rhodes was labeled a “disgruntled<br />
black man.”<br />
Rhodes’ lawyer, Mychal Wilson, has listened<br />
to the tape several times and said th<strong>at</strong><br />
his client sounded calm and nonthre<strong>at</strong>ening.<br />
At th<strong>at</strong> point Rhodes did refuse to<br />
move, because if police were coming, he<br />
wanted to speak to them, and didn’t want<br />
to look like he was fleeing.<br />
Initially, resident Sara Marti, after hearing<br />
of Rhodes’ displacement, wrote a letter<br />
of recommend<strong>at</strong>ion for him and asked<br />
other residents if they would do the same<br />
for the beloved coach.<br />
Three days l<strong>at</strong>er, Rhodes, who had been<br />
coaching in the Y’s youth soccer program<br />
and whose son had been on the team, came<br />
to Simon Meadow to w<strong>at</strong>ch his 5-year-old<br />
son play. JoJo had been on the team since<br />
September. He was accompanied by his wife<br />
Donchelle and 8-year-old daughter Niveah.<br />
According to eyewitness reports, MacAl -<br />
ler was <strong>at</strong> the field and told Rhodes he had<br />
to leave, and when he didn’t quickly depart,<br />
she called the police and Palisades P<strong>at</strong>rol.<br />
Donchelle asked MacAller why the family<br />
was being asked to leave. She replied,<br />
“I have to protect the kids.”<br />
Said Marti, whose son also plays soccer:<br />
“She [MacAller] forced Rashad off the field.<br />
He stood near the flashing p<strong>at</strong>rol lights,<br />
being questioned, and everyone—the people<br />
<strong>at</strong> the pumpkin p<strong>at</strong>ch, his children and<br />
our children—could see.”<br />
Mark Dengler, COO and executive vice<br />
president <strong>at</strong> Metro Y, released the following<br />
st<strong>at</strong>ement on October 28:<br />
“The former Youth Sports coordin<strong>at</strong>or<br />
<strong>at</strong>tended a Palisades-Malibu Y youth soccer<br />
game and was asked to leave by Ms. MacAller.<br />
Predic<strong>at</strong>ed by direction provided by law<br />
enforcement officers who responded when<br />
this employee originally refused to leave the<br />
branch, she notified local authorities.<br />
“Part of wh<strong>at</strong> makes the Y so special is<br />
the positive rel<strong>at</strong>ionships our staff builds<br />
with the families we serve, so it is understandable<br />
some parents <strong>at</strong> the game were<br />
upset and confused by wh<strong>at</strong> took place.<br />
After careful review, we agree the situ<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
could and should have been handled with<br />
much gre<strong>at</strong>er care.”<br />
Kris Nakamur, senior vice president of<br />
Metro Y communic<strong>at</strong>ions and marketing,<br />
said in an October 28 email to the News: “The<br />
employee was not offered a position, but as<br />
his departure was a result of a workforce reduction,<br />
and not a termin<strong>at</strong>ion, he is certainly<br />
eligible for rehire with our Associ<strong>at</strong>ion.”<br />
Residents have nothing but praise for<br />
Rhodes. “Rashad has never been anything<br />
but kind and nurturing to the kids” . . . “He<br />
is a lovely person who has inspired our<br />
kids and he’s inspired us” . . . “He’s been so<br />
wonderful <strong>at</strong> coordin<strong>at</strong>ing the sports program<br />
for my son these past every years.”<br />
Attorney Wilson said, “At this point we<br />
find the YMCA’s conduct egregious and I<br />
intend to bring about justice for the Rhodes<br />
family in L.A. Superior Court.”<br />
MacAller, who was the executive director<br />
of Sojourner House in Rochester, New<br />
York, was hired by the local Y in October.
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