WALTON - Mandeep Virk-Baker, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County (CCE), was placed on paid administrative leave during the organizational meeting of CCE board of directors March 13. The decision follows public opposition to the termination of two CCE Delaware County/4-H staff members and a recommendation from the 4-H Issues Committee for Virk-Baker to be placed on administrative leave.
Directors did not respond to the 4-H Issues Committee recommendation that the two terminated employees, Emily Roach and Corrine Tompkins, be reinstated and placed on administrative leave. Camp Committee member Polly Dellacrosse asked when directors will share a decision about whether the staff members will be reinstated and was met with silence from the board. After insistence from several audience members, Masonville Supervisor and CCE Board President Betty Scott said, “We will not comment on personnel matters”.
The 4-H Issues Committee also called for an investigation into possible Open Meetings Law violations by CCE due to minutes from several board and committee meetings not being made publicly available within two weeks as required. Betty Scott, president of the board, said board meeting minutes will be posted on the website in a timely manner and a recording of the meetings will be posted on YouTube in the future.
Virk-Baker received substantial backlash for the decision to fire Roach and Tompkins, who worked as 4-H resource educators. During the March 7 meeting, issue committee members expressed confusion about the reasoning for the terminations, and no information regarding the reasoning for their terminations has been shared. Virk-Baker did not attend the meeting.
The decision to place Virk-Baker on administrative leave was met with applause from more than 100 people who attended the meeting in person in the Walton High School auditorium, some holding signs reading “4-H Grows Here”, while another 100 people watched on Zoom. After more than an hour of executive session, several community members went to stand outside the school library where the executive session was held to show their disapproval for the long wait.
Over a dozen people spoke during a period of public comment after the meeting and many called for the reinstatement of Roach and Tompkins. Maddie McLaughlin, a camp counselor and former camper at Camp Shankitunk, reminded the board that they have only done half of what the 4-H community is asking of them.
“At this point I feel like we’re no longer asking — we need you all to reinstate Corrine Tompkins and Emily Roach,” McLaughlin said.
Some community members, including Joyce Curtin, talked about the reported hostile work environment at CCE. Several former employees who worked under Virk-Baker described her interactions with employees as “disrespectful and abusive” at the March 7 meeting.
“I think the board has to address the atmosphere of fear, uncertainty and poor morale that exists within CCE,” Curtin said. “... It should be clear to the board at this point that the common denominator here is not Emily Roach or Corrine Tompkins, it is Mandeep.”
Concerns about current staff were also expressed as some CCE employees have had to take on additional responsibilities in light of Roach and Tompkins’ absence. Many people who spoke at the meeting shared that they do not believe that Camp Shankitunk and 4-H programs including fair programs will be successful without Roach and Tompkins.
Justine Bishop, a former 4-H staff member who was also recently fired by Virk-Baker, said she had to work a substantial number of hours to keep 4-H programs running due to staff shortages resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, even with Tompkins, Roach and John Hannum, who is now retired, working with her.
“I spent hundreds of hours of unpaid overtime to make those programs run, and the fact that you think you can do this with one staff member and some volunteers just really shows me how disconnected you have been from the program,” Bishop said.
While Roach and Tompkins’ positions will be filled, community members stressed that Roach and Tompkins cannot be replaced.
Cassidy Smith, 4-H alumna and former 4-H Camp Shankitunk employee, shared her experience working with Roach and Tompkins and advocated for their reinstatement. Smith is circulating a petition for their reinstatement on social media which has 578 signatures as of March 13.
Hamden Supervisor Wayne Marshfield shared a story about working with Tompkins to get $1 million in American Rescue Plan funds for local farmers to illustrate why he wants her and Roach reinstated.
“A good organization is only as good as its weakest link,” Marshfield said, “and you know what your weakest link is.”
