Internal infighting amongst Baldy Hughes' board of directors and staff is threatening the future of the addiction treatment centre, according to an inside source.
The source, with day-to-day knowledge of the operations of Baldy Hughes, spoke to the Citizen on condition of anonymity. The source said they feared reprisal if their identity was revealed.
"Two weeks ago they had 72 guys, now they have 50," the source said. "The staff are so upset they're having a difficult time keeping things together. Bottom line, you've got a lot of chaos up there --it's a gong show."
On March 3 Marshall Smith, the former executive director of Baldy Hughes Addiction Treatment Centre and Therapeutic Community, suddenly left his position with the centre.
In an interview, Smith said his decision was a mutual decision by himself and the board of directors.
"That place needs Marshall back. Someone has to save Baldy Hughes -- someone has to," the source said. "They have people from Vancouver coming up... who don't know how to run an addiction treatment facility. Everything is falling apart."
The centre owes over $20,000 to suppliers which hasn't been paid, the source said.
Members of the board of directors have shown up unannounced and pried into the daily operations of the centre, the source said.
"[The board] has had a couple meetings with the residents," the source said. "They had guys crying in the meetings."
Baldy Hughes is operated by the B.C. New Hope Recovery Society. The society's board meets in Vancouver.
Members of the board of directors have and continue to interfere with the daily operations of the centre, the source said. That micromanagement by the board contributed to Smith's departure, the source said.
"I think it was a power struggle. They've been at odds for years," the source said. "Nobody from up here is left."
Northern directors Selen Alpay and Jaret Clay resigned from the board the same week Smith left his position. Other northern directors Brian Fehr and Tom Sentes resigned during the past 18 months.
Currently only one director, Theo Warkington, remains from the north.
In an e-mail, Alpay was highly-critical of the Vancouver-based board members.
"Vancouver-based board members do not live in this community and as such have no idea what the social and economic challenges are that we face in this region," Alpay wrote. "We become nothing more than self-congratulating conversation between Vancouver elites who are completely disconnected from the reality of life in Northern B.C."
Alpay said he can't talk about the specifics of his resignation due to a confidentiality agreement involving his lawyer and board chairman Kevin England.
England has declined to comment and Warkington told the Citizen board members are not allowed to speak to the media without England's approval. A request to view the minutes of the board meeting received no reply.
However, former Baldy Hughes CEO Sam Kirsch, who worked alongside Smith for several months, said he didn't experience interference from the board.
"I haven't worked there since the end of August," Kirsch said. "[But] I thought everything was fairly harmonious. I'm sorry to hear there are issues, but I'm sure it'll work out."
Kirsch said his role was to develop an operating protocol with the society and B.C. Housing. B.C. Housing purchased the Baldy Hughes site in December.
The centre receives $277,000 through BC Housing, $100,000 through provincial gaming grants and up to $676,000 in support recovery funding from the Ministry of Social Development.
A spokesman for B.C. Housing could not be reached as of press time.
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