Yet Another Swiminc Post

Dear Reader,

There are some important updates regarding the pools and Swiminc that I need to share.  I realize that for some readers these issues have become laborious.  I would agree.  But this is our community, and the information keeps coming, mostly from the public, and sometimes, slowly, from Swiminc itself, in an evolving and important story.  So I will attempt to be concise here about topics of relevance to our community related to the pools, Swiminc, and the City.

In case you want to go directly to those things that interest you and skip those that do not, here is what follows—first, I provide brief updates on three issues: compensation of Swiminc’s top management, the Red Cross’ authorization of Swiminc’s lifeguard training certification, and senior Swiminc management’s falsification of training documents.  Following my remarks on these three issues, I have copied (with the writer’s permission) a testimonial statement by a former Swiminc employee describing her experiences working for Swiminc (this was just received in an email sent to City Council members).  Her testimony speaks for itself, and, I believe, cuts through some of the veneer of official communications.

Lack of transparency, due diligence regarding Swiminc’s top management compensation—My concerns about Swiminc’s transparency began in mid-April, 2024.  At that time City staff and City Council were clearly moving toward promoting a Swiminc design for redevelopment of the pools at the cost of $15.4 million, and the approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Swiminc for management of the outdoor pools (coinciding with a twenty year lease), with an annual payment to the City from Swiminc to be negotiated once the City acquires the property.

As I saw it, entering into a long-term contract with Swiminc, even with various safeguards built into the MOU, required at least basic due diligence from the City, which would include achieving clarity about Swiminc’s finances.  Without at least basic information, how could we understand, for instance, what would be an appropriate annual membership fee for the Worthington public, and a fair annual payment from Swiminc to the City?

So, exercising basic due diligence, I asked City Manager Stewart a series of questions, some to be addressed internally, some to be asked of Swiminc, including about top management compensation.  Swiminc replied that they would not provide the information about top management compensation. This was a big red flag to me, and was the starting point of what has turned into a half year exercise of me trying to obtain basic information—about Swiminc finances, the Red Cross performance audit, management practices, etc.—and being met with various forms of refusal, delay, and obfuscation.

Last week, six months since my inquiries began, I finally obtained clear information regarding consulting fees that were paid to the then Executive Director in 2023, on top of his base salary.  On top of a base salary of $98,000, plus undisclosed benefits, a total of $$68,958.75 was paid to the Executive Director’s consulting firm, Ohio Aquatic Council, for a total compensation of at least $175,000/year.  My purpose here is not to begrudge anyone making money, but in letting the public know that while Swiminc calls itself a volunteer organization (and there are many outstanding and devoted volunteers), there is also a core of upper management that is paid at levels that may be surprising for local pool administration.  Further, there are questions, not yet pursued by City staff or City Council, about whether these consulting fees were appropriately charged against the $1 million state of Ohio capital improvement grant, and by someone already compensated for Executive Director responsibilities. These issues could eventually have significant effects on Swiminc’s cash reserves that are, or ought to be, of interest and concern to the City.  I have continued to ask Swiminc for additional information in this regard, and will let you know if and when relevant facts emerge.

Red Cross’ Certification Agreement with Swiminc—I became aware just before the July 15, 2024, City Council meeting, through outreach by a member of the public, that Swiminc’s operations were being audited by the Red Cross because of reported infractions (please note that an operational audit is not the same thing as a routine financial audit).  I had heard nothing about the audit from either City staff or Swiminc.  So at the July 15 meeting I asked Swiminc’s Board Vice President about the operational audit—background and status—bringing the operational audit to public knowledge for the first time.  He assured us that all problems identified in the audit had been addressed and that responsible parties were no longer working at Swiminc.

In late September, I was made aware that the former General Manager of Swiminc (she had been fired in March, which is a topic unto itself) had received an email on September 9, 2024, from the Red Cross saying that the lifeguard Certification Agreement had been terminated after an operational audit uncovered serious infractions, including falsified training documents and underage students.

At that point in time I was aware of the audit, but the termination of a training agreement struck me as significant news, raising many questions and of course needing verification.  About two weeks later I received a copy of the Red Cross letter (which I have pasted at the very bottom of this post), after which I had a phone conversation with the former General Manager.  She explained that although she had been fired by Swiminc in March, she would still periodically receive emails from the Red Cross about Swiminc affairs, which she would simply dismiss since no longer employed, assuming that Swiminc had simply failed to update the Red Cross regarding her employment status.

She told me that she had not at any point received inquiries, requests for interviews, etc., as part of the Red Cross operational audit. She said that inquiries and interviews would have been normal protocol from the Red Cross if the inquiry was directed at her personally. So when she received the Red Cross email regarding the termination of the Certification Agreement, she believed, as prior General Manager, that it referred to Swiminc as an entity, not to her personally.

I read the Red Cross email myself, multiple times, and the phrasing of it can easily be read like it is directed at Swiminc.  It reads as rather ambiguous.  So hearing her testimony, and reading carefully the document myself, led me to state in an earlier blog that Swiminc itself had lost its certification agreement.  Based on subsequent claims and information from Swiminc, including their citations of Red Cross statements, it now appears certain that the termination letter was directed at the General Manager herself, and not the entity of Swiminc itself.  I gladly stand corrected, as this is good news in the sense that Swiminc can work, and is working, with the Red Cross to ensure proper training protocol and practices. Hopefully, we will be assured that, following internal review and reform, all Swiminc lifeguards serving in the 2025 season will have been fully trained to Red Cross standards.

Falsification of training documents by Swiminc’s Executive Director—I wrote in an earlier post that the current Executive Director falsely signed lifeguard training certification document related to the May 3-5, 2024, classes.  This has now been confirmed, in writing, by the Swiminc Board VP, that the Executive Director did indeed falsely sign the training document. This is a significant issue.  Further, Swiminc continues to avoid answering questions about additional, serious issues—that 1) the Executive Director had first tried to get a subordinate to falsify the document, and that it was after she refused to do so that he himself signed the training document, and 2) whether the Board knows all of this but takes no corrective action.

The email below, from a former Swiminc employee, provides eyewitness corroboration of these issues, and testimony about what it was like working for Swiminc.  Council Members received this over the weekend, and I post it here with the writer’s permission.  

___________

October 20, 2024

Dear City Council,

I am a former employee of Swiminc, and I would like to share my experience as part of the public dialog about Swiminc. I wanted to speak before council but was denied the opportunity due to the new rule about speakers only being able to discuss issues that were not on the agenda.

I want to make it clear that I love Worthington and I am an enthusiastic supporter of public pools. I was born and raised in Worthington and graduated from Thomas Worthington High School. Growing up in Worthington, I spent a lot of time at the pools (indoor and outdoor) having fun and learning to swim. An outdoor pool is important for the community and enhances quality of life for those living in and near Worthington.

I am a fervent advocate for water safety. While some responsibility is on the swimmer or their guardian to understand their limitations when it comes to using a public facility, having a properly trained staff should be an organization’s number one priority.

Smooth, fair management of staff, and a positive, professional work environment are also important elements of successfully running a public pool.

Having worked for Swiminc for four years, I have come to the conclusion that Swiminc falls quite short of the claims being made by some that their organization has run the Worthington pools well and deserves to continue to be Worthington’s partner.

My hiring, and abrupt elimination of my position

I worked as a front office associate in 2021, then when the Office Manager job was later created, I applied and interviewed, and was offered the position in January 2022.

I signed a contract to work more than 40 hours a week in the summer, and light hours in the fall, winter, and spring – resulting in an average of 40 hours per week for the year. This contract was signed by the General Manager and me, and with an additional employee as a witness.

I worked as Office Manager from 2022-2024, where I was in charge of a staff of 12-20 during the summer seasons. Retention of these summer associates was high due to the positive work environment I provided.

In July 2024, when the Director of Swim Programs and many hourly staff members were fired, Steve Hawkins asked me into his office and told me in person that my job was secure and my position was safe. In hindsight, I wish I would have gotten those July 2024 statements in writing.

On September 4, 2024, Steve Hawkins informed me that my position was eliminated. He said that “the decision to get rid of the office manager job was made in May (2024).”  I asked why I wasn’t told in May and what the point of “working my butt off all summer” was. Making light of this, he interrupted, “—and it was a great summer!” He informed me I was eligible for unemployment and said “the good news is, you aren’t fired,” almost like he was my hero.

I asked for a copy of the contract I had signed. Hawkins claimed he could not find it, and instead just sent me a copy of my job description which he had written in the spring of 2024. I have no way of finding the contract document on my own, as access to work computer was taken away the day Hawkins informed me my position was eliminated (9/4/24).

Other firings/“eliminations” of leadership staff (for instance, those of the General Manager and the Director of Swim Program) were carried out in a meeting format, with the Swiminc Board of Directors and Vice President John Ament present. In contrast, when I was let go, only the Engineer was present as a witness.

The sudden elimination of my position, with zero advance notice, contradicted both my original contract and Steve Hawkins’ July 2024 statements. Since I’ve been let go from SwimInc, I’ve applied for unemployment and have been draining my savings to pay my mortgage and student loans. As a homeowner who had been the primary breadwinner in my household, this abrupt job loss has created a tremendous strain on my family.

After my position was eliminated, I asked Steve Hawkins for a recommendation letter. It was like pulling teeth. At first he agreed to write a letter and then retracted his agreement. I have since asked the President of the Swiminc Board to write a recommendation letter and have not received one. At this point, I can assume I will not have any recommendations from SwimInc to help me seek future employment. This is not a professional way to treat a former employee who was let go in good standing – particularly one who worked for them for four years, with well over two and a half years of that in leadership.

Negative work environment created by Steve Hawkins

Working for Steve Hawkins seemed like it would be positive and pleasant when he told staff his door was always open. In reality, he physically kept his door closed always and never introduced himself to the front office staff. One associate (who had returned for their 3rd summer) even said, “I honestly can’t even tell you what [Steve] looks like.”

On many occasions, I would step into the closed office where Hawkins and Strack had their desks to access the safe for money for the front office, and was met with harsh responses such as “Out!” And “Not now!” – comparable to how you speak to a dog or a disobedient child. After being spoken to in such a demeaning manner, I decided not to speak unless spoken to first and I did not have any more conversations with Hawkins from mid-July until he let me go on 9/4/24. I was genuinely scared to speak to him, even as much as a hello. I was not the only employee who had this experience and felt this way as a result.

Also, their office was the only part of the building that was air-conditioned. When they weren’t there, the door was kept open so that the rest of the office staff could be provided with air conditioning. When Hawkins and Strack were present, they kept their door closed and the rest of the staff relied on four fans to try to keep cool in the summer heat, which often reached into the upper nineties. This may sound trivial, but it says something important about the working environment created by executive level staff.

After hearing of my elimination, my 2024 staff of 14 associates agreed among themselves they would not return for the 2025 season if asked, because it would not be a position they’d enjoy working without my presence.

Earlier this year I began noticing that Hawkins and the Board of Directors were slowly getting rid of the women employees. Those women employees still on staff were noticing unfair treatment like reduced hours or more frequent write-ups compared to their male colleagues.

I know that Swiminc cited “a competitive industry” as a reason they should not be expected to disclose their executives’ compensation. For hourly and lower paid salary employees at Swiminc this is ironic and a bit insulting.  Swiminc’s hourly rate for lifeguards is significantly less than at neighboring communities’ facilities, and the wage has not increased since 2021. Swiminc has denied requests for a raise for hourly workers. So much for being competitive!  And it makes me wonder too why the membership rates for the public are so high if they pay their lower level employees so little.

Red Cross Audit

The issue of the American Red Cross (ARC) audit of Swiminc has recently been a point of public discussion. I would like to share what I know about that audit.

I was not personally interviewed by ARC for the audit because I was only CPR/AED certified and they only talked to LGI certified employees. However, I was present during this period and was very aware of it, as it had Steve Hawkins on edge.

I was an eyewitness to Steve Hawkins falsely signing off for certifications that were not completed to ARC standards. There were ongoing, multiple problems at Swiminc regarding the training and certification of lifeguards. The problems include issues such as non certified LifeGuard Instructors (LGIs) and fewer class hours than required. Hawkins asked the Director of Swim Program to (falsely) sign off on these. This employee told me in confidence that they did not feel comfortable doing so but since they were on a Performance Improvement Plan they were worried their job was at risk if they refused. This employee did in fact refuse to sign off on a class they were not present for. When they refused, Steve Hawkins himself signed – indicating that he had led the training when he had not, and falsifying the number of hours of the training.

While not a direct reason for their dismissal, the Director of Swim Program  was fired soon after this. However, any claims that these issues have all been dealt with because the people involved have been fired is false. Steve Hawkins falsified certifications, was not fired, and he is still with Swiminc to this day – despite Hawkins having said at one point that due to any issues that the audit presented, he would “take the hit.”

As a result of the problems with certifications, many staff members had to retake certification classes. In order to ensure that the legally-required number of guards were on deck, many staff members were forced to complete 21 hours of training in 3 days on top of also working 8 hour shifts. These are 15-16 year old kids who were overworked and underpaid. There were many staff members who failed the course during this retake and were then fired. Some of them had just graduated from high school, had expected to be able to work, and had been depending on this income to help with their future education.

It should be noted that Steve Hawkins and Caleb Strack were both ARC certified and could have stepped up and served as guards during this time to lessen the strain on the employees during this difficult period that had been created by the falsification etc. They did not.

[one paragraph, regarding additional observations of executive behavior, redacted by DWR pending the gathering of further information]

I appreciate you taking the time to read my experiences at Swiminc.  I hope they help you make the right decisions for Worthington.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Mary-Kate Clingo

SwimInc employee 2021-2024

_____________________

Email sent by the Red Cross to Swiminc’s former General Manager regarding termination of Instructor Agreement: