May Board Meeting Minutes

The Knoxville Track Club Board of Directors met Tuesday, May 5 at the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley 967 Irwin Street, Knoxville, TN.

Members present were: C. John Chavis, Brandon Collier, Karla Gander, Zane Hagy, David Hinkle, Adam Kolatorowicz, Tina Fickey, Melissa Kanipe, Kunle Lawson, Don Madgett, Angel Norman, Hannah Foust-Eng, Samanta Pudido, and Jennifer Moore. KTC Attorney Alicia Teubert attended as a guest, along with staff member Michael DeLisle. members and others from the

KTC community present included: Larry Brede, Greg Johnson, Christina Adkins, Bobby Holcomb, Tim Monroe, Allison Baker, Giulio Rancadore, Scott Schmidt, Kimberly Turner, Ronnie Cross, Eddie Reymond, Teresa Williams? Jose Salas, Tim Rutherford, Danielle Quintanar and several others.

The meeting was called to order at 6:31 PM by board chair Hagy and was opened for public comment with each person requested to limit remarks to three minutes. Hagy announced to the group that executive director Eric Weatherbee had been placed on leave earlier in the day.

The public comments were composed primarily of two areas of focus: support for Jason Altman, director of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon, and complaints regarding KTC operations, specifically in regard to Executive Director Eric Weatherbee.

Board chair Zane Hagy opened the meeting stating that concerns that had been previously communicated were being addressed but that not everything could be addressed in the current meeting due to legal constraints regarding employees. Upon a question from a guest, he added that it would not be possible to provide a definitive timeline reflecting when issues would be resolved since the situation is multi-faceted and the length of time processes may take cannot be known in advance.

When questioned regarding the decision to not renew Jason Altman’s contract without board approval, Hagy responded that it was within the executive director’s authority to decide not to renew the contract.

Christina Adkins noted that according to a version of the bylaws, 2 votes were required to make
a change in a personnel matter.

Tim Monroe asked for clarification on who is running the club. Larry Brede spoke as a long time member of the club and expressed dismay at the decision and voiced support for Jason. Others echoed Brede’s remarks citing concerns about fallout from the decision, overreach, and impact on membership.

Tanya Ickowitz, business owner and sponsor, cited impact on her business and concern for fallout.

Bobby Holcomb asked when the next board meeting would occur. Hagy stated that the board would be in communication virtually by Thursday of this week.

Hagy reiterated support for the club and appreciation of the input from those present. He reminded the group that the board cannot legally reveal the substance of personnel matters and that everyone wants progress for Knoxville’s running community.

A person stated that participation is down; Hagy stated that attendance and other metrics do not reflect a decline in participation.

Bobby Holcomb challenged the board regarding long term planning and made many suggestions for future development. He took issue with board meeting locations and was reminded that all board meetings are open to any member to attend.

Varied locations are planned moving forward.

Other members expressed support for Jason. Zane commented that the situation would have been worse if policy had not been followed.

A member questioned the bylaws and asked how many staff members had been let go in the past two years. Christina Adkins asked about race directors being removed. Hagy could not provide that information without further research but stated that event manager Jessican Mead had been promoted from part to full time.

Run Knox director Scott Schmidt stated many problems that he has experienced in working toward changes to the program. Miscommunication, lack of follow-up, compensation gaps, and other problems were included in what he cited as a 45-bullet point list of concerns where he has requested help that was not forthcoming.

David Hinkle reminded the group that ED Eric Weatherbee is on leave and the board cannot
comment beyond that.

A participant asked who the volunteer coordinator is. Kimberly Turner stated that as the volunteer coordinator for CHKM, she is in contact with all volunteers. Course monitor issues are complex and not attributable to the overall volunteer coordinator.

Allison Baker asked if there were any problems reported with the CHKM 5K volunteers, and Turner said no. Baker stated that a detailed plan and clear communication prevented issues in that area of the event. She appealed to the group for understanding and grace for this situation.

Michael DeLisle advised to avoid the trap of power consolidation and cited the website and Footnotes as examples.

Hagy reiterated that updates will be coming soon. He stressed respect for all in attendance and called out the long history of many in the group. He reiterated that full board meetings are always open to members and asked for time to work through these multiple issues.

Danielle Quintanar asked who was the point of contact for the upcoming Hann Jivin’ trail race coming up on Saturday. She was advised to reach out to Zane and provided an email address. Jose Salas spoke of his history in the club dating back to 2005 and encouraged prioritizing maintaining the community.

David Hinkle stated his commitment to encouraging physical activity for all and cited the operational challenges as important to work through for the good of the community.

Salas urged communication and transparency and spoke positively about his experience working with Jason.

Hagy stated that the official meeting would not be closed until all had an opportunity to have a say.

Hinkle reiterated that the board is actively working toward a solution.

Christina Adkins stated that she had voiced concerns about the executive director that she felt had been swept under
the rug.

Hinkle restated that the ED is currently on administrative leave and no further comment can be made regarding his employment.

Following the public comment, an executive session was held.