This article has been updated. Please see editor’s note below.
On Monday, June 1, the historic Adamson House sat closed to visitors, the way it has most days since a six-week closure in March 2015 kicked off a two-month stretch of limited operating hours, catapulting years-long underlying issues into the spotlight.
The Adamson House is operated by California State Parks but partially funded and guided by a nonprofit organization, the Malibu Adamson House Foundation (MAHF), and run by a team of volunteer docents. It is also one of the highest-grossing and most popular historic destinations of its kind in the region, but an ongoing disagreement between the tangle of groups charged with overseeing its functions closed its doors in March and volunteers who walked off the job have been slow to return.
The docent volunteers, according to State Parks Angeles District Superintendent Craig Sap, function essentially as unpaid State Parks employees, with the full support of State Parks behind them.
In late May, the MAHF Board elected a new president, Linas Kojelis, in hope of clearing the air and getting the house back to its normal operating schedule.
“I’d say, over the last several months, we got into a little bit of a stalemate,” Kojelis said, referring to the relations not only between docents and the MAHF Board, but between the Board and State Parks.
Kojelis has presented an optimistic view of the immediate future of the house.
“I haven’t had any formal meetings with docents, but I’ve met with several of them and I’ve been told there’s a lot of enthusiasm to have the house open as soon as possible, and that’s certainly my goal as president,” Kojelis said.
“I think we have very many wonderful docents and volunteers and [it] won’t be a problem,” Kojelis added.
This sunny outlook is not shared by Judy Merrick, a former docent who chose to take a leave of absence from the Board of the house in March.
Merrick, who is related by marriage to Judge John Merrick, one of the founders of the MAHF, said that just as docents decided independently to resign, they must decide independently to come back, though the current makeup of the MAHF Board is likely what’s keeping them away.
“I know that there were issues in terms of behavior from certain Board members toward docents,” Merrick said. “I don’t know if those docents will return because [Kojelis] is now the president of the Board. I think there’s been a lot of damage done from certain members of the board toward the docents, and I don’t know if just because [Kojelis] is the president if that’s going to change anything.”
Merrick didn’t specify who in her opinion soured relations between the Board and docents, but others had no hesitancy to offer a culprit: former Board President Ceci Wigen.
“[Docents] have a hostile work environment. There’s conflicts with people on the Board that have caused a hostile work environment,” said State Parks Malibu Sector Superintendent Lynette Brody, the liaison from State Parks to the MAHF Board.
“The person they’re having problems with is still on the Board,” Brody continued, later specifying it was the “past president, who’s the one [they are] having issues with.”
Brody added that her workload has sharply increased due to the many docents who have chosen to resign or take temporary leaves of absence.
“The sooner I can get the volunteer program up and running, that’s the main goal — because everything is now falling on my plate,” Brody added.
Sap agreed that the “sticking point” was between “Ms. Wigen and the volunteers.”
“The volunteer program is State Parks, and they’re all passionate,” Sap said. “They felt that State Parks needed to do something to remove a certain atmosphere that’s been there for a few years, and, unfortunately, who gets stuck in the middle is the visitors.
“Ceci [Wigen] is passionate and they’re passionate, and it seems that passions have just got the better of them in some cases,” Sap added.
Eight-year veteran MAHF Board member Jefferson Wagner corroborated. “I would say they have a concern and an issue with [Wigen’s] presence,” Wagner said.
Wigen did not reply to numerous requests for comment by The Malibu Times deadline. Kojelis earlier indicated that he is the sole spokesperson for the organization.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the MAHF oversees the house’s operations.