The executive director of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (CDF) – a local non-profit designed to give below-market loans to Rainier Valley businesses impacted by Light Rail construction – has resigned after a profanity-laced letter she wrote was sent to a small business owner.
Last week, KIRO published the shocking letter written by CDF Executive Director Martina Guilfoil (right):
I want to tell you that you are one crazy ass bitch. It was a complete waste of time for you to come before the board, though it did provide us with some comic relief.
We recognize a dog loan when we see it. Your comments will help us to improve upon our program operations where we will better screen out broke ass crazies.
I apologize for the trouble that this may have caused to you in perpetuating your delusion that somehow you might be credit worthy. Read more.
Guilfoil wrote the letter to Jessie Jones, owner of the Vision of Beauty salon on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way after the Othello-area business owner worked to get a loan from the CDF to help her business. The organization denied her request and she appealed.
According to KIRO:
Initially, Guilfoil only received a verbal reprimand for writing the letter, but after the letter got out earlier this month, the development fund board suspended Guilfoil for one week without pay.
Rainier Valley Community Development Fund Chair Joshua Williams tells KIRO 7 the letter was “totally unacceptable” and “did not reflect the values of the community development fund.”
The board says it will continue to investigate while it searches for Guilfoil’s replacement.
According to its web site, the Rainier Valley CDF “stimulates economic investment in the Rainier Valley area of Seattle. Since its inception in 2002 the RVCDF has invested over $23 million into the community through grants and loans to small business and commercial real estate lending.” Top right: Martina Guilfoil’s Facebook photo (since removed).
Who to know, where to eat & what to do in one of America’s most diverse zip codes!
{ 52 comments }
What really hurts to me was the fact Vision of Beauty’s owner has been an active business member of the MLK Business Ass. What possessed Martina to write that letter?
Will the real “Crazy A** B****” please stand up?
Not sure if this makes a difference, but she’s only been involved in the RV for 2 years (when she took the job). Previously, she worked in CA and FL. Maybe it would be better to get someone who understands the valley to manage the $$. This lady clearly doesn’t get it.
maybe she needed to put down the drink and sober up a bit before she wrote that letter.
It’s interesting that she didn’t even sign her own name to that letter.
What should really interests us is the message in that letter. How much of that sentiments and views reflect RV CDF’s Board members and staff. I believe that the organization needs a serious overhaul to re-gain the trust and confidence of the RV community – especially the small and micro businesses along MLK and surrounding community.
Employers should pay real good attention to facebook pages when they hire or get people on their board.
I can’t stand it when people get caught and try to offer sorry excuses to why they didn’t do what they were supposed to do in the first place.
They should have fired her as soon as that letter got wind.
Tasha – I couldn’t agree more with you. What’s really important also is a deliberate and methodical approach to complete investigation of the issues before jumping to conclusion, punishing excellent staff.
What I have observed here is a case of an unhealthy culture of “damage control” exercised by the Board of Directors. Upon confirming with clear and accurate verification about the content and the perpetrator of the letter, the Board should have at the very least issued a public letter of apology to Jessie. Has anyone seen that letter of apology? Maybe RVP should take a look into that.
Is it possible the letter is false? It seems almost too inflammatory to be true.
The article says there is an ongoing investigation; sounds like it started and has not been completed. Wouldn’t you think that the investigation includes how the letter got into the hands of the business owner in the first place? I hardly think that letter was meant to get to Jessie.
@Linh Thai, if the Shirley Sherrod case (USDA employee) has shown anything, is that investigation should be pursued and concluded before making a bunch of assumptions. Hence a suspension (and not firing) initially so staff wouldn’t get punished while jumping to conclusions. But the director clearly wrote the letter and it got out to the community somehow. So glad she resigned; she’s not a trusted broker on behalf of the community anymore.
wait–this actually went out? The letter, with the president’s name on it, was mailed to the applicant? I agree with Linh Thai that RVCDF needs to publicly apologize for this–and very publicly revise policies.
The Board of Directors did issue a letter of apology to Ms. Jones for Ms Guilfoils conduct. As the recipient of that letter, it should remain private unless Ms. Jones chooses to share it publicly. The Board also wants to complete its assessment of the culture and all aspects of the working environment so that positive, constructive changes can occur. The CDF is truly dedicated to resolving this situation and rebuilding the trust of its community members and constituents. Its Board of directors is a volunteer Board and each person on that Board has invested their time and energy into resolving this to the very best of their abilities. The CDF Board invites local area business people to serve, volunteer their time, and provide feedback, so that the interests of all business owners can continue to be represented. The actions of one individual have embarassed and caused pain to many, and the Board will be working to ensure that its employees, Board members and staff will uphold the highest profesional and moral standards going forward.
Former Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (CDF) Executive Director Martina Guilfoil sent a letter with “heartfelt apologies” dated August 24, 2010 – a day or two before she was suspended for a week without pay. Guilfoil contends in the apology letter that she “wrote the piece in a heightened state of anxiety” and touted her two-plus decades “living and working in” the minority community of Inglewood, CA. (See link)
http://www.kirotv.com/download/2010/0828/24790880.pdf
While Guilfoil clearly acted in an unprofessional manner, what is equally troubling is the response of CDF president Joshua Williams and its directors. When Williams became aware of Guilfoil’s exercise of “release” last November and the letter that never should have been printed, he issued a verbal reprimand. Even more disconcerting, the CDF issued a post-letter positive review and a raise to Guilfoil. (See link)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/24790798/detail.html
One could conclude that had Jessie Jones not received a copy of the secret letter that Guilfoil would continue to lead the CDF and continue to draw her $131K salary. The CDF only suspended Guilfoil after unfavorable media coverage.
This unfortunate situation makes me question the leadership at the CDF : Are these people going through the motions and covering the asses of executives who mess up? Or is the leadership at the CDF truly committed to its mission and helping people in the Rainier Valley?
I could be too harsh in my assessment. Some might call me a crazy a** b****.
If I was Jessie I would have been real tempted to visit Miss Martina Guilfoil and show her what a crazy a** b**** really looks like.
Live and direct!!!
“The Board also wants to complete its assessment of the culture and all aspects of the working environment so that positive, constructive changes can occur.”
This is what I love… as if somehow ‘culture’ in a working environment could allow for responding to someone like that.
The board had no knowledge of this letter until mid-August and immediately started an investigation after an emergency session. Her review and bonus was also conducted without knowledge of this incident by the board. It was not shared with everyone until August.
It’s easy to target everyone, but this letter was written by one person: Martina Guilfoil. And she has paid for penance.
Well, was she a crazy-ass bitch or not?
She sure made quite a bit of money for working at a non-profit organization.
Its been said that this letter was circulated through the CDF office as a joke and later mailed to the salon owner anonymously.
Thankfully Ms. Jones gave KIRO News the letter which led to the resignation of this woman who obviously looks down upon low-income minorities and their businesses. Karma is a bitch and wherever she goes applying for a new job, this letter will no doubt re-surface again, it’s on the web forever. Good riddance.
um, yeah, she hasn’t updated her place of employment on her facebook page yet….
If Iwas Ms. Jones, I would have sent that sh*t to Jessie Jones KING 5 NEWS.
The way the world really works is that when someone takes time to write this kind of letter and put their reputation on the line for it, there’s usually a lot of truth to the letter.
Very troubling, however, I agree with Briktru. We must allow the investigation to procede before we judge.
That said, there is a tone of arrogance and elitism exhibited by those in positions of power toward those who are powerless in the Rainier Valley. This has been going on for decades. There are city departments and city employees, non-profit agencies, AND elected leaders who presume to know what is best for the people of southeast Seattle merely because they are poor or of color. This paternalism is racist in its roots. The attitude is widespread and has been tolerated in southeast Seattle for far too long.
The RVCDF incident is a crack in the wall of a city government that funds non-profit agencies, places those agencies in positions of authority, then defers to the non-profit agencies for all decisions affecting the lives of real people who live in southeast Seattle.
Non-profit agencies do NOT speak for the people, that is, unless our elected leaders perpetuate the racist, top-down style of governance. The non-profit agencies are responsible to a private
Board of Directors. The non-profit agencies have goals and agendas that are PRIVATE, not public. The RVCDF incident gives a glimpse behind the scenes of one of the most respected non-profit agencies in Seattle. To say that this is shocking is an understatement. The plantation mentality tolerated by the Mayor and the City Council must end here.
Thanks to RVP for turning a spotlight on this issue. I look forward to the follow-up on this story as the investigation is concluded.
We all make mistakes. We all get frustrated at our coworkers, or clients, or our partners.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
How did the letter get out? I don’t think it was intentionally mailed to Ms. Jones. I’m thinking we don’t know the real story and need to hear more.
Who’s investigating? Let’s find out some more information.
In complete agreement with “Real Rainier Valley Girl” and “Stakeholder”‘s last statement.
Although most people are focusing on what Ms. Guilfoil did which was inexcusable and she deserved to lose her job over this, my concern is on the integrity of the board. Since the letter went out under the board president’s name and he initially just gave her a verbal reprimant, one has to question the board president’s judgement. If the board and the president didn’t see the seriousness of the letter until it became public, then one can only assume they agreed with the contents and sentiments expressed in the letter. As an agency that receives public funds, I say the way this was handled is in appropriate and the board president, needs to resign as well. In fact the whole board should resign since they failed in their fiduciary duties in overseeing the activities of the executive director.
There are no parallels with the Shirley Sherrod story here. The letter purported to have been written as a joke was released in full and unedited, so nothing was left out. One has to ask how many more loans were rejected because this executive director appear to have problems with low income small business owners. I would recommend that if CDF received federal funding or city monies, then the US Justice Department and or the Seattle City Attorney’s office should do the investigation instead of a private firm engaged by the board. The resignation of Ms Guilfoil is just the beginning – I look forward to seeing more staring with the board president!!
Redwing wrote: “…The actions of one individual have embarassed and caused pain to many, and the Board will be working to ensure that its employees, Board members and staff will uphold the highest profesional and moral standards going forward.”
Obviously, you are a board member. My question (and I am quite certain many others in our community as well) to you is: How will you do that?
Peter M — You just spoke my mind. I was going to express similar sentiments.
Thanks for your insight, Peter M. You’re getting to the heart of the matter. Like you, I believe the problem may extend beyond Martina.
Respected and well-funded non-profit agencies, including Southeast Effective Development (SEED) have applied for and receieved funding from the RVCDF. Unfortunately, our struggling for-profit businesses must meet a higher standard in order to obtain funding. I’d like to see a list of the loans granted by the RVCDF alongside a list of the the loan applications that were rejected
Don’t forget, the RVCDF is the community’s money. Southeast Seattle had to put up with a decade of upheaval during the Central Link Light Rail Project construction. In truth, the $50 million dollar fund should have been five times larger to address all the losses and social engineering that resulted from the light rail project. Alas, $50 million is what it is.
In southeast Seattle we have the community and the businesses that we are allowed to have by those that run our city. Ours is a community which has struggled to pull itself up by the bootstraps for decades with only the minimum amount of help and support from the city. In fact, most of the money directed for helping southeast Seattle goes toward salaries and benefits for non-profit employees. Salaries for non-profit employees exceed salaries in the priate sector by 20% to 30%. No wonder non-profit’s are so out of touch with our businesses?
“In fact the whole board should resign since they failed in their fiduciary duties in overseeing the activities of the executive director.”
@Peter M. If the facts are the board didn’t know about the letter or the incident until mid-August, how are the failing in their fiduciary duties? Fiduciary is a totally different matter and doesn’t really belong in this discussion, because this is not about misappropriation of money, financial matters or funds. But if you mean ethical duties, the board immediately reacted to the news and started an investigation when they first learned about it. Why should the entire board resign?
@ Pete M — great comments. I agree–the CDF board president should resign too with his mishandling of this matter. Besides, his name is on the letter for signature. Wonder what his employer Wells Fargo Bank thinks of this PR fiasco. The banking giant stands by it’s “Non-discrimatory lending practices.”
Regardless of their non-profit status, the Rainier Valley CDF was established from a $50 million fund from the City of Seattle, King County and Sound Transit. This is all PUBLIC TAXPAYER CASH. The City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development is still pumping in funding until 2012. I am simply outraged.
The operation of a nonprofit is amazingly different from the real world. If I wrote an inappropriate letter about a potential client, my boss would issue more than a verbal reprimand. And if I issued an offensive letter under my boss’ name, I’d be terminated. But at the RVCDF, the same action merits the executive a thumbs-up and more money for a job well done.
http://www.rvcdf.org/meet_board.php
I am embarrassed that I knew little about the RVCDF until the Guilfoil story broke. Not surprisingly, the city’s only daily newspaper has nothing about the Guilfoil letter in its online site. The ongoing saga of the Rainier Valley can’t compete with news about a stolen newspaper van, the new Dick’s Drive-In restaurant, and dogs rolling in smelly crap. The rest of the Seattle is not interested. One-Term Mike is probably glad that the RVCDF has deflected criticism over the Rainier-and-Henderson violence.
http://www.rvcdf.org/index.php
Comment #33 was edited to remove unsubstantiated facts.
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Thank you!
I’m a bit confused because it seems that the original letter has Joshua Williams?
“One-Term Mike is probably glad that the RVCDF has deflected criticism over the Rainier-and-Henderson violence.”
You know that’s true!
Hurt feelings is not enough to require anyone to resign from any position. Hurt feelings are only valid and should be taken to heart if the criticism is true. Acting on “hurt feelings” is the clearest message to send to the world that the information in the letter is true.
Ignoring criticism sends the message that the criticism is off base and fictional.
Reactions speak volumes.
If people really believe in political correctness, they wouldn’t allow the world leaders we have to be in office. Those are the big issues and if you aren’t working toward that end, your minor issues are a waste of every0ne’s time. Get the priorities straight.
@Twoofer – I am not sure what “big” issues you are referring to; but to many small diverse businesses in the Valley, this is one of their big issues and real priorities.
Do you think the info in the letter is true?
And let’s hypothetically for a moment accept your premise, having the such content to circulate around the office as a “joke” — using the name of the Chair as the signer, willing to risk the reputation of not just one person, but the entire organization and its past success on the line are hardly what you would call “PC” … And Gen. McCrystal paid for his mistake as well.
When you tout yourself as a champion for a cause, for a group of people, and then demonstrated otherwise — Then, you don’t deserve to be in their trust and can serve them effectively, right Twoofer?
One of my pet peeves is seeing folks like Ms. Guilfoil take on poor neighborhoods and pretend they really care about their welfare. Sad to say, they are only here to pick up a fat paycheck. Glad to see her go.
Important next steps:
What’s really important is a ZERO TOLERANCE policy toward this behavior – regardless of who they are within the organization.
A new culture of transparency with periodically cultural and social sensitivity training must be instituted up-and-down in the Board and with staff, tied in with performance evaluations.
The interviewing process of the next ED ought to be more transparent and involve the participation of small/micro business owners in the area to restore confidence in the public and the community RV CDF serves (Jessie needs to be one of them).
The next ED ought to have “direct” experience and someone who have been living and working in the area. We have the talent and experience from within the community.
As a HR Consultant who lives in Columbia City and works with nonprofits in the Tacoma area, there are more questions than answers concerning the recent events at the CDF. “The board had no knowledge of this letter until mid-August and immediately started an investigation after an emergency session. Her review and bonus was also conducted without knowledge of this incident by the board. It was not shared with everyone until August”. Why is this? During his interview with KIRO, the board chair stated that, ” he verbally reprimanded Guilfoil”. Why did he fail to notify the other board members of this reprimand? As board chair, was it not his duty and responsibility to inform the others? Why did he remain silent? How does he explain the performance review and pay increase? Did staff participate in Guilfoil’s performance evaluation and if so, what was their input? Staff and community complaints are the most cost-effective, efficient and earliest detectors and warning signs that something is amiss. Does the CDF track staff and public complaints, if so, how are they handled, and what is the protocol?
Something smells very fishy. According to KIRO the board is conducting an investigation. My interpretation is that the board is trying to figure how the letter got out – wrong focus. The facts are as follows: one, the letter got out (more than likely staff) two, Ms. Jones has the letter in her possession and three, Jones has made it public.
Rather than spending God only knows how many dollars investigating how the letter got out, the board needs to focus on what THEY are doing wrong. The attrition (resignation) and retention at the executive level (Cooper, Garcia and Guilfoil), indicates that the problem exists at the board level. The high turnover rate in executive leadership and cosidering the fact the organization has not beein operation/existence for nine years – also points to the board. Is it possible that Cooper, Garcia and Guilfoil all failed at their jobs? Or could it be that the board requires a complete make-over, serious training, education and guidance? Is attendance and participation of board members accounted for and tracked? This is not intended to beat up the board. I’m confident the majority of the members are trying to do right and act in the best interest of the community. But how is this possible when they are kept in the dark and not informed of the actions of the executive director and/or staff? Until this fundamental issue is address it will continue to exist. SECRECY destroys trust and brings down companies. The board should request the chair step down. Accountability and responsibility are the keys to any form of success.
Sadly, the CDF will begin the process of sparing no expense of seeking out and punishing the culprit who sent the letter to Ms. Jones. They will interrogate the very lifeline of their organization, staff in an attempt to save their public face. This in turn sets the stage for lawsuits, filed by employees – which will strip the organization of their primary mission of serving the community. The Band-Aid approach to an organization that requires surgery will not work. The CDF board is concentrating on the symptoms and ignoring the fundamental problem of board leadership. Unfortunately, employees have been issued a gag-order preventing them from sharing their tales.
Looking forward to the next chapter of the CDF.
$131K salary! For that job? Jeez, I need to either change careers or put a drunk shot of me downing a mojito on facebook.
Sharon – I am in total agreement with you.
And I’m in agreement with Bob.
The RVCDF is just the tip of the iceberg. I encourage the RVP to invite other ‘respected’ Rainier Valley non-profit agencies to come forward and share their salaries, their Board membership, and their mission in our community.
The non-profit’s are virtually unregulated. There is scant little oversight. They are spending our tax dollars and they operate in secret, with Boards that are often out of reach to the public, with agendas that are never disclosed. All in the name of helping low-income and minority populations. It’s time to part the curtain and look within.
Stakeholder — If you do that you are going to stir up a hornet’s nest. Most NGO’s are merely extensions of corporate influence and power. The entire system is corrupt — so corrupt in fact that it has the power to make most people ignorant of how corrupt it is. That’s a supreme level of corruptness.
Our two mayoral candidates were both in bed with corporate interests. Neither one of them should be expected to give a damn about anything except their carbon-reduction plans.
Taco said, “Stakeholder — If you do that you are going to stir up a hornet’s nest. Most NGO’s are merely extensions of corporate influence and power. The entire system is corrupt — so corrupt in fact that it has the power to make most people ignorant of how corrupt it is. That’s a supreme level of corruptness”.
I couldn’t have said it better, Taco. You must have direct experience with non-profit agencies? Thanks for your insight here.
I renew my request for the other non-profit’s to come forward, reveal their six figure salaries, identify who sits on their Boards, and share their private agendas and plans for southeast Seattle.
BTW, have you noticed the non-profit’s are attempting to change their image? “Non-profit” is an increasingly negative term. They are calling themselves NGO’s or “Non-Governmental Organizations”. Clever. Don’t fix the corruption and wasteful spending, just change your identity.
To Redwing and No Frenzy Needed:
Your comments regarding this issue come across as not being a big issue. Clearly the majority of comments on the RV Post and other sites strongly disagree. This is a big issue – public funds are being used to fund this organization. Therefore, the public has every right to voice their displeasure. I’m fully aware an investigation is in the process but does the investigation include individuals from the community, or is it composed of CDF board members? To promote integrity and credibility, the CDF should welcome at the minimum, two individuals in the community to ensure “no funny business” is occurring during the investigation process. Why should the community place their trust in the board and rely on their findings? It’s evident the inaction of the board president created this disaster in the first place. Where is the Trustee (City of Seattle) in all this? Where is City Council? Harrell, Clark and Smith in particular, have personal and professional relationships with the CDF, what are their positions regarding the recent events and, why are they remaining quiet? More importantly, what are they planning to do about it? Or could it be that they hope the story just disappears?
The question now is, does the CDF practice discriminatory lending? How many African American businesses has the CDF funded? From my understanding the CDF has to two loan offerings: business and real estate. From recent published reports from various media sources the CDF is flourishing and meeting their objectives on the real estate side. What about the business side? I’m aware of some of the business-lending projects most notably, Ballard Soap, Tutta Bella, Kate Quinn, Huarachitos, and UPS Store. I have no knowledge of business loans being made to African American businesses thus, the next expected argument presented by Ms. Jones. I can’t help but wonder who is providing guidance to the CDF board. Yesterday, Ms. Jones gave an interview on a local, predominately African American radio station. It is only a matter of time before this issue becomes racial. I can see the local headlines now, “African American woman denied loan because of her race”. It’s my opinion that either the CDF board is sleeping or they are just ignorant. I highly doubt if Ms. Jones is going to disappear, as they would like. You both appeared to withhold judgment concerning the removal of Guilfoil as the facts of the case remain unknown. The board thought otherwise and believed there was enough evidence to terminate her, as they should have once the letter was presented to the board president a year ago. To reiterate why is the board president still serving in his capacity?
To Linh Thai:
Have you or others in the community considered participating in the CDF’s investigation? I assume you are active in the community. I think an “independent” community member would be able to add a different perspective to the investigation and serve as a spokesperson.
All others:
The salaries of nonprofit executives is public information and can been view at http://www.Guidestar.org. From this list you can see that Ms. Guilfoil was one of the highest paid Executive Director’s in the city.
Sharon Wells – I would not hesitate to roll up my sleeves to participate in helping to move forward. By moving forward, I mean that I want to participate in re-establishing RVCDF in a more transparent and more accountable to the diverse community it serves.
People in RV who knows me would say that I’ve never been a “YES” man to anyone or any institution.
This unfortunate event underscores my sneaking suspicion that the CDF was never intended to benefit those small business owners of color (and otherwise) that were directly impacted by the light rail buildout. This conversation should not be about what the Director makes (although that is a disgusting number and important issue). This conversation should be about revising the CDF so that the CDF actually results in assistance or mitigation of the light rail buildout affects. Was this not at least one of the intentions of this pot of money?
Linh- Thanks for speaking out on this!
So if non-profits are so evil and corrupt and need to go, who is going to feed, clothe, house, provide early learning and care for the medical, dental and mental health needs of the thousands of poor people of color in SE? It isn’t going to be the soon-to-be-broke government.
Here are just a few of the many local effective non-profits that don’t deserve to be slammed in this “one size fits all” condemnation:
SEED, Rainier Valley Food Bank, Horn of Africa, ReWa, Urban Impact and Wellspring Family Services.
Non-profits are regulated by both the state and the IRS, have transparency requirements for key employee salaries and board compensation, file publically available tax reports annually and are subject to intense audits and compliance reporting when receiving public funds.
Thousands of individual donors and volunteers keep the non-profit sector going; don’t take the troubles of a single organization and transfer those to an entire sector – these days many of us need the help of non-profits just to survive.
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