Findlay YMCA has a problem it can fix

The Findlay YMCA has a huge public relations nightmare on its hands and it's sad because it should never have happened. The facility is a huge asset for the community. It provides a lot of good in town. It is run by a competent group of dedicated employees and has a volunteer board who graciously serves and tries to improve the facility with every decision they make. But as Donald Duck once told Mickey Mouse, "If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it must be a duck." Quack. Quack. Instead of being excited that a decades-long plan is coming together, YMCA officials have been forced to justify their intentions, re-examine their past decisions and fend off negative reactions from Findlay residents about destroying viable neighborhoods. The "brand" YMCA officials have worked so hard over the years to promote and follow has definitely suffered in the meantime. Unless you've lived life in a cave the past several weeks you have now read numerous articles in The Courier about proposed demolition of homes on Grand Avenue, East Hardin and East Lincoln Streets. Many of these homes have been acquired over a period of 15 to 20 years by the YMCA for eventual construction of a new facility. The problem is, however, federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act have been proposed for the demolition, and Findlay City Council needs to publicly approve expenditures from that fund. The public announcement of the proposed properties seems to have caught many unaware and ignited some passionate exchanges in public forums about the houses. This week the move toward demolition hit a snag, however, when Council heard from Auditor Jim Staschiak that in his opinion the city may not be allowed to use the federal money for the demolition. He maintains federal dollars in this program cannot be spent there if it reduces the number of low and moderate-income housing in that area. Council now awaits a legal interpretation from Law Director Don Rasmussen. And perhaps this pause is a good thing and will give everyone involved a chance to re-evaluate their positions. I once had a public relations person for a large company ask me my advice on how that company should handle ticklish labor problems they were going through. I told him it always is best to be open and upfront with the public sooner rather than later. "It's better to learn the company might have a blemish now," I said, "rather than wait and for the public to read about an open sore weeks later." If you want to try and control the flow of information and its discussion, I told him, you have to be out in front with it. You definitely don't want to be the one playing catch-up. Unfortunately, in the case of the YMCA, all they've pretty much been able to do thus far is react, rather than lead with information. Would the YMCA project be a huge asset to the community? Of course, it would. I applaud its staff and board 20 years ago for having the foresight to even begin discussions about such a need, then developing a strategy to implement it. Many boards cannot think beyond two weeks, let alone two decades. Can this issue eventually be salvaged and goodwill restored in the community? Yes. It is now a matter of turning the lemons into lemonade. Mayor Christina Muryn initiated such a plan last week by bringing together a group of neighbors and YMCA officials to discuss the eventual plan for the area. A spokesman from the neighborhood, Michael Tharp, indicated that after the meeting it is agreed that there would be more communication and discussion between both sides who have a stake in that neighborhood. "Both the Y and we want something the community can be proud of," Tharp told The Courier in a story last week. That's a good start. It at least is, at this point, a beginning point to healing the wound and restoring the YMCA image and "brand" in Findlay. Bill Speer is former publisher of The Alpena (Michigan) News and a Findlay resident.