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  • From: Michael Pilarski <friendsofthetrees@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Insights into the SSE debate by knowledgeable insiders.
  • Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:43:07 -0800 (PST)


* Posted by fusion_power 7b (My Page) on
Sat, Jan 19, 08 at 18:39

First, let me be very specific about my position. I am NOT a member of SSE
nor have I ever been. I don't have a horse in this race so to speak. I am
however concerned over the huge amount of negative publicity Kent Whealy's
letter has generated. I have a few contacts here and there who know bits and
pieces of what is going on. When those pieces are put together, a very ugly
picture emerges. I will post what I found and you can do your own due
diligence to determine whether this is accurate or not. Please understand
that I can't be 100% sure of this.

About 3 years ago, Kent had an affair with a woman and it became public
knowledge. Diane divorced him over it. To the best of my knowledge, Diane is
very much an innocent party in this, but she was the target of a lot of
Kent's subsequent actions.

After the divorce, Kent was still running SSE and he started running it
roughshod over the directors guidance. He deliberately pushed issues to
emphasize his control of the organization. The board called Kent on some of
his more egregious misuses of authority. He agreed to back off on some of the
things. Then he went back to 'running the show' as he chose. Long story
short, it came to a head 4 months ago.

The board was in a position that they had to rein him in because some of the
things he was doing were affecting employees and could have caused SSE to
lose not for profit status. He made some veiled threats and they responded by
dismissing him. I would point out that a not for profit is a corporation.
(emphasize that some parts of this paragraph are questionable) The directors
are responsible for the long term well being of the business. Kent was an
employee of the corporation. Long and short of it, when the directory was
published, Kent pulled the names and addresses and sent out his letter.

He did raise some legitimate complaints. Those complaints need to be
addressed. I don't have all the answers. What I have is gleaned from quite a
bit of digging around. Just so we are clear, I don't think either side in
this is completely right. Just don't get the idea that Kent is the only
'wronged' party.

You have a very well known and publicly accepted leader of an organization
who has just been dismissed for serious problems in the way he was doing
things. What can he do about that? Well, in SSE, he can go to the members and
have them elect HIS CHOSEN board of directors. So what does the current board
of directors do? They change the rules of the game. They take away voting
status of the members and make the board of directors the final authority.
That removes the possibility of a palace coup taking place. This leaves Kent
Whealy with only one recourse. He appeals to the sse membership. Do you start
to see the maneuvering that is taking place? He can sue for wrongful
discharge. But in this case, the board has enough dirt on him to keep him
fired.

As stated, take this with a grain of salt. It may or may not be entirely
accurate.

Fusion

* Posted by bcday z5 NY (My Page) on
Sat, Jan 19, 08 at 23:45

One of Kent's requests in his letter was that SSE's members demand that SSE's
Board of Directors resign and the Board of Advisors replace them. But fully
half of the Board of Advisors has now come out in support of the Board of
Directors. This statement was just released:

***************************************************
Seed Savers Exchange Advisors Support Board Actions

Seed Savers Exchange is a world class institution which has led the way for
planetary preservation of the genetic diversity of plants. Its growth has
been directed by an overarching vision first formulated by its co-founders,
Kent Whealy and Diane Ott Whealy, and for more than twenty years refined and
realized through the guidance and stewardship of a distinguished Board of
Directors.

Like any great institution, it is greater than the sum of its parts and any
one individual. In recent years it has become increasingly clear that Kent
Whealy has perceived the Exchange as his personal possession to be directed
to serve his own interests. The Advisors have had their own issues with Kent.
The Board has prudently determined that his thoughts and actions had become
antagonistic to the vision and responsibilities of the Exchange. After a long
period of counseling Kent, and his failure to follow direction, the Board
circumspectly with competent legal advice decided unanimously to terminate
his employment as Executive Director. The duty of the Board to direct the
affairs of the Exchange in a prudent manner required it to take this action.

It is with great regret that we, the undersigned Advisors of Seed Savers
Exchange, have learned that Kent has begun a campaign to reverse this course
of prudent action by the Board. He has sent to every Listed Member of the
Exchange an intemperately worded letter full of misrepresentations of fact.
He has impugned the motivations of the Directors and has harmed the
reputation of each of them. He has attempted to enlist the participation of
each of us Advisors in his campaign of destruction and defamation in a
personal attempt to take control of this institution.

We Advisors refuse to allow him to do so, and we agree with and support the
prudent decisions of the Board of Directors of Seed Savers Exchange. We
commend each Director for acting responsibly in the best interests of the
Exchange and in the faithful implementation of its vision and mission.

SIGNED BY THE FOLLOWING ADVISORS

Suzanne Ashworth
Will Bonsall
Dan Bussey
Keith Crotz
Glenn Drowns
Craig LeHoullier
Laura Merrick
John Swenson

[Pilarski’s comment. Having read SSE publications from 1975 till 2007 I can
vouch that this list of advisors includes people who have instrumental in SSE
for many decades.]

Hello permaculture friends and associates,

I just got back from a 3-day trip and see from my email that there is a huge
debate going on right now about the Seed Savers Exchange.

So I just did some online research and above were the two best information
letters I have seen yet on the topic.

After reading dozens of emails on the topic from many people involved here
is my current personal opinion. People should not jump to conclusions without
having looking into this deeply. There seem to be lots of people girding
themselves for war on this issue and I don’t think this is good for SSE.
Let’s take a few deep breaths.

There is no doubt that Kent Whealy and Diane Whealy, his wife, did a
tremendous job and service for humanity by starting SSE and guiding it into a
great network. Kent got most of the glory and publicity, but perhaps he did
more of the actual thinking and work? It now appears that Kent may have gone
off the deep end a bit over the past number of years and has not been
performing to his old standards. Perhaps he did deserve to get fired. I
don’t really know, but looking at some of the reports makes me think this is
possible. I am suspicious of the accusations that a bunch of money-grubbing
monsters have taken over and SSE is in danger and we should fight to get Kent
back and fire the nasty board of directors that did this. There may be some
truth on both sides. But right now, I think a lot of people are making
premature conclusions without enough knowledge.

Whatever the case may be with this incident, it shows very clearly that
everyone should be participating in saving our seed heritage and that there
should be many seed networks, global, national, regional and local. Don’t
put too many eggs in one basket such as SSE. The world’s seed heritage is a
very important bunch of eggs.

I certainly hope that SSE will continue its great work. I have only met Kent
a few times in person but our paths have crossed in many ways since he and
Diane started SSE in 1975. I consider Kent Whealy a friend and wish him the
best, whatever the truth is in this matter.

My two-cents worth

Michael Pilarski, Friends of the Trees Society





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