Given the handling of this incident, one has to wonder what other situations have been poorly managed. Perhaps Filoli would be better off with an executive director who appreciated its most valuable resource and who understands the landscape of the institution.

This a common problem at volunteer-oriented organizations. Management jobs are usually awarded via nepotism or to reward donors. Many of these people would not be qualified to handle similar jobs in the professional world. What Filoli needs to do right now is take a hard look at the quality of their managers and start cleaning house. If they really do have 50 managers who reviewed this document, then surely many of those people are unnecessary.

It seems to me that some managers need to be terminated. The start can be Cynthia D'Agosta. Unwilling to talk is not a way to communicate. Let management do all the work the volunteers did in the past and see what that gets them. I am sure the employees would be covered with workman compensation. Doesn't seem logical to me that the organization wouldn't have insurance to cover injuries to volunteers.

Thank you, Almanac, for this Editorial. The detailed outline of events to date is right on, and much appreciated. I am of the mind a whole new management team needs to be brought in if the current undesirable situation is ever going to be turned around, and, the sooner the better.

What Heidi Brown doesn't seem to get is that even if the volunteer agreement had been presented WITH "background, context, (and) explanation," the wording of the agreement would still have raised questions and concerns because the meager and misleading explanations offered by the administration did nothing whatsoever to address the concerns raised. When the volunteers restated their questions in hopes of getting answers, the administration's response was to not respond.....except for "sign or leave" by March 1.

I hold Filoli very close to my heart and have for years. It was a place that my late Mother and I enjoyed for the Holidays. I still go as often as I can to remember those times, and to enjoy this majestic place. At one time I thought about volunteering. That was then, this is now. The compassion that the volunteers I have met over the years does not equal anything I've ever seen. If given the opportunity to sign this agreement, I can assure you I would not sign it. There are many other places that these fine people can give their time too and in the end, it will be Filoli's loss. Very very tragic. I hope that in the eleventh hour before March 1st, that common sense prevails and a huge apology be issued to the volunteers. Still even if that happened, there is much damage control and the PR that has come out of this will take quite a bit to repair. Everyone are in my prayers through this.

Unfortunately, this is just one of several examples of poor management in the past several years. They hired an outside firm a few years ago to try to address some of the issues but they have selective hearing and ignore the real problems. D'Agosta was not a good choice for ED as we see from this fiasco but they can never fix the problems as long as there are two chiefs - the Executive Director and the President of the Friends (who changes every two years). No organization can function properly unless there is one person in charge who takes the responsibility for policy decisions and how the organization is run. Filoli has two and it simply won't work - ever.

This editorial captures the problem perfectly. It's time for a change in two areas: the Executive Director and the governing board members who thought that dismissing the concerns of the volunteer community was the right approach. There is no skill here in managing a sizable organization where the largest share of labor comes from volunteers.