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I have been a producing member of WestfordCAT since 2017. I learned about the termination of Executive Director Lauren Horton and the coming lay off on Feb. 28 of Multimedia News Director Joyce Pellino Crane by an exchange of emails between members, NOT through notification by the Board of Directors responsible for these decisions. When I wrote the President of the Board he sent me a letter describing Lauren’s termination as a resignation. Lauren confirmed, both to me personally and at the Board of Selectman’s Jan. 28 meeting, that she did not resign. She was fired.
My introduction to Lauren began BEFORE my first appearance as a guest on a WestfordCAT show. Former WestfordCAT board president Ira Keltz had videotaped one of my solo concerts and sent me to WestfordCAT to edit the video for my own personal use. Lauren showed me how to edit the file, and that is when I initially joined WestfordCAT in 2014. When I decided to host my own show in January, 2017, “Barry’s Place,” Lauren talked me through setting my own tone for the show, which shaped my show for the next three years. Lauren stayed after hours in response to an urgent call I made to the studio to help me insert a footnote into my last show in December 2019.
My introduction to Joyce came around 10 years ago when she was editor of what is now known as the Wicked Local papers (then the Westford Eagle) and she helped me place promotions for my concerts in her papers.
My in person introduction to Board President Dan Bush came Jan. 10 when he knowingly kept 16 members waiting two hours to answer questions about the termination of staff, insinuated Lauren’s plan to retire led to her termination, and refused to answer most questions without legal counsel.
WestfordCAT Clerk Tracey Tebrow has resigned. WestfordCAT members covering for the absence of an Executive Director have become physically ill. WestfordCAT Board members are the appropriate people to fire. If you believe, as I do, that WestfordCAT’s service to the community must be preserved, indeed, bolstered, I urge you to come to the Feb. 5 Board meeting and the Feb. 12 Special Member meeting to cast your vote on member motions. If you are not a member yet, you can find out how easy it is to join at 692-7152 or by clicking here. WestfordCAT IS worth saving, and YOU can help. — Barry Rosenberg, Westford
