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Misunderstanding puts heat on coalition The ex-leader of the West Medford Coalition says a misunderstanding led others to think she took credit for projects By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune Funding and administrative woes for the West Medford Community Coalition were compounded Monday by worries that the nonprofit agency's former director has taken credit for programs and projects created by others. Officials from three agencies - Southern Oregon Drug Awareness, the Kids Health Connection and Kids Unlimited of Southern Oregon - expressed concern that Gigi Michaels apparently touted their accomplishments as her own in a story in Sunday's Mail Tribune. "One of our board members has a saying: 'Give credit, take blame,' " said Stephanie Soares Pump, executive director of SODA. "This seems to be the opposite approach." But Michaels, who was laid off last month after the city of Medford failed for the first time to award a requested grant, said a misunderstanding must have given the impression that she took full credit for efforts such as starting the Kids Health Connection and Kids Unlimited. "The idea for many of these projects came from meetings that the coalition organized," Michaels said. "Seeds were planted and someone else took the ball and ran with it." The issue is important in part because city budget officials expressed doubt about the coalition's ability to achieve its own goals a year before turning down the agency's most recent grant request. Council member Skip Knight recommended last spring that funding for the coalition be stopped. Instead, budget committee members, with support from council member Bob Strosser, agreed to give the agency more time. Soares Pump contested Michaels' apparent claim that the West Medford Community Coalition built a playground last year at Union Park. In fact, Soares Pump said, the project was completed by a local chamber of commerce leadership class led by SODA administrator Dan Shulters. Michaels' agency supported the effort, but didn't organize or execute it, Soares Pump said. Michaels said the coalition installed playground equipment at the park in 1997, but she acknowledged the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County was responsible for the newest toys, including the slide featured in a newspaper photograph. Similarly, other agency officials said Michaels supported - but didn't start - the Kids Health Connection, a program that provides medical care in two West Medford schools, and Kids Unlimited, which provides after-school care and other services for 800 young people each week. Karen Holt, administrative director with the Kids Health Connection, said the cooperative venture between area hospitals and west side schools was actually sparked by Hank Collins, county health director. Collins said his contribution was limited to offering an idea at a meeting along with some county clout to back it up. "The hospitals deserve the overwhelming credit for the Kids Health Connection; they were the ones who worked together," Collins said. "For the West Medford Community Coalition to take credit for that is really far-fetched." Tom Cole, executive director of Kids Unlimited, said Michaels has been a dedicated volunteer and the coalition has offered valuable support, but that's not the same as creating a new nonprofit agency from scratch. "Kids Unlimited was started by a small, grassroots group of volunteers concerned about the lack of after-school programs for kids," he said. "The coalition was not part of the original vision." For her part, Michaels noted that Cole was hired in 1996 to operate the Underground, a coalition project that provided limited care to west Medford kids. "Tom did run that and now he runs Kids Unlimited," she said. "So, what does that mean? It's a long connection." Michaels' husband, City Council member John Michaels, declined to discuss the situation or the city funding decision that cost his wife her job. "I have no comment," he said. "I am staying out of this whole mess." Meanwhile, city officials have hired a "neighborhood resource coordinator" to focus on city revitalization. Coordinator Louise Dix's duties will go beyond the coalition's goals, but will include efforts to improve specific neighborhoods, west Medford among them. The new post pays $58,941 annually, excluding benefits, city figures show. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.