The Uinta Senior Center has a history of problems with leadership and once again is experiencing a crisis situation. In early November, some of the staff at the center reached out to the Herald seeking someone who would listen to their frustration and fears.

The senior center’s executive director, Aimee Ottley, left Evanston on Feb. 28 and is residing full-time in Casper as of March 1. Due to the lack of an actual director in the office and a non-working board of directors the staff at the Senior Center are frustrated, concerned and feel they have no one to turn to.  Multiple interviews with staff revealed that more often than not, phone calls, texts, and emails to Ottley or to board chair Casey Davis, whom Ottley had told them to call if she were unavailable, were not responded to immediately, if at all.

Interviews with five staff members and six seniors who are regular members at the Center, revealed a high level of stress and anxiety among those interviewed. That stress appeared to be a result of a lack of communication with director Ottley and board chair Davis.

In August 2018, Sarah Blakeman who had served as the Center’s executive director for 15 years, was indicted by a federal grand jury for embezzlement and misappropriation of Uinta Senior Citizens Inc. property. On Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019, after two years of investigation, Blakeman was tried in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne where Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal sentenced her to 57 months in federal prison and Blakeman was ordered to pay $605,590.31 in restitution. 

The last official meeting of the board of directors was held on March 31 of this year and Ottley was in attendance.  Ottley provided the Herald with copies of board minutes for December 2021 through March 2022.  The board of directors did not hold any meetings from March until November due to lack of a quorum of members. Since early November, three board members Cara McDaniel, Glenna Calmes and Betti Tripp have resigned and a fourth Terri Denhof is out of state.

According to the Board of Directors Rules & Procedures, the board should be made up of a minimum of 5 and up to a total of 9 members.  Officers are to be rotated out annually and new officers elected. Davis has been the chair of the board since the termination of Sarah Blakeman in 2018, when all of the other board members at that time were terminated.

After the March meeting, board chair Davis made the sole decision to retain Ottley as a long-distance director.

During a phone call with the Herald on Nov. 7, Davis said he was attempting to hire an interim director and needed to “clean up board stuff” before appointing any new board members. He acknowledged that Ottley is still on the payroll to take care of grant writing and reports and she is not the full-time director any longer.

“Aimee and I are paying the bills and handling the finances for now,” Davis said. “Right now, I am the Lone Ranger and making any decisions falls on me. It is my responsibility to fix what needs to be fixed and I do need new board members.”

In August, the Herald interviewed Ottley about the situation at the Center and she said she fully intended to resign once she completed the grant writing which was all due in the summer months. Since that time Ottley has been hired full-time as the director of the Central Wyoming Senior Services/Casper Senior Center. Davis asked her to stay on part-time for a salary of $1,000 per month to continue to oversee grant writing and reports and to find an accountant to do the state audit, which is due by the end of the year.

On Nov. 8, the Herald interviewed Ottley via phone call and asked her again when she planned to totally resign from the Uinta Senior Center and if the required audit had yet been completed. 

“I absolutely will resign; it is not right to work on Evanston while working in Casper,” Ottley said. “However, there is nobody to do the grant reports right now and they are required to be done monthly. With the board members gone all summer and no quorum, we couldn’t hold meetings. I am still trying to find an accountant to complete the state audit.”

Davis is attempting to “fix what needs to be fixed” and held a board meeting at the Uinta Senior Center on Tuesday, Nov. 29. Ottley was not in attendance.

The meeting was well attended by many seniors and other interested parties.

Davis introduced his niece, Bobby Brown, as the new interim director he as well as three board members he had recruited his sister, Sen. Wendy Schuler, Mike Davis, and Joy Bell.

The meeting became emotionally charged as many seniors felt their opinions ignored by Davis.  Grievances from employees and meeting attendees included a 990 IRS form which had not been completed for the last 3 years; rules and procedures not being followed by the board; not enough employees to adequately staff the kitchen; no training provided for the new kitchen manager; the fact that the activities and transportation coordinator walked out after no communication from Ottley regarding bills to be paid; a lack of volunteers; and no organizational chart for the center and other issues.

Teresa O’Dell, Maryl Thompson and Dave St. Priest who were atteedning the meeting stated they had given letters of interest and intent to be considered for a board position which were forwarded to Davis by a staff member, but they said they were never contacted by Davis. 

After a lengthy discussion and heated words, it was decided that those who had expressed an interest of being on the board should come to the next meeting and and officially state their intent and the board could then vote on adding new members.

That meeting will be on Dec. 8 at 4:00 p.m. at the senior center.  All board meetings are open and the public is encouraged to attend.