I am 100 percent behind the reconciliation that has taken place at the Malibu Stage Company between the board and the Artistic Director; a theater to which I have devoted ten years of my life. But there are certain facts that cannot be conveniently swept under the carpet.
My removal from the Board of Directors was an illegal action taken at an illegal meeting called hurriedly after six new members had been elected to the board. These new members were not invited to that meeting. My board tenure still had one year to run, but in spite of that fact I was summarily voted off the Board for no reason other than I was the wife of the Artistic Director. Forget about violations of the By-laws, what about common courtesy and respect?
Richard Carrigan has stated that there was a “conflict of interest” because both my husband and I sat on the board. The By-Laws clearly permit spouses to sit on the Board and for ten years, no one had ever raised any objections whatsoever. Where then was the conflict of interest? If it did exist because of us both being on the Board, surely it should have disappeared when one of us stepped down. But apparently it didn’t.
A core group of that board virtually tricked Charles into resigning from the board on no reasonable grounds whatsoever. Having got rid of Charles they then disposed of me. Charles and I co-founded Malibu Stage along with Jackie Bridgeman in 1990. We ran the theater together for ten years. We didn’t receive any financial compensation. It was virtually a three-person operation as there was no money to hire any staff. We were the staff. We did it for the community and never expected any return. All of this was blithely ignored by a core group of new board members elected in 1998.
I hope the future will be brighter for Malibu Stage than it has been these past eight months. I personally have given all I can give.
Jane Windsor-Marowitz