Almost three weeks ago, the abrupt decision by leadership at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center to fire executive director Richard Heyl de Ortiz set off a controversy among center members and the community.

The affair’s next chapter will take place Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 5:30 p.m. at an open community meeting at Bethany Hall at the Old Dutch Church, 272 Wall Street. It will be hosted by “the concerned friends of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center,” in regards to the Aug. 31 termination of Heyl de Ortiz.

A post about the event, made by Ortiz on his Facebook page, lists questions posed to interested attendees to the meeting. “Do you have questions about the sudden firing of Richard Heyl de Ortiz, our Community Center’s Executive Director? Do you feel like you’re not getting answers? Do you think this is unfair? Do you want to see Richard reinstated? Concerned about our Community Center’s future?” are just some of the questions listed. An email listed at the bottom of the post to people who have additional questions to reach out to is lgbtqcentercoup@gmail.com.

On Aug. 31, Heyl de Ortiz got on a “three-minute Zoom call” with two members of the board at the community center, one of Kingston’s oldest and most prominent nonprofit organizations, who informed him of his termination, giving him the option to announce that he was resigning the following day. He did not accept the offer, and on Sept. 2, the center sent out a press release that announced that Heyl de Ortiz “will no longer hold the role of Executive Director of the Community Center.” They thanked him for “his service, hard work, and dedication to our mission during his time here.”

The email also listed points of focus in the coming months, which include providing support to staff, maintaining and expanding current programs and offerings, and continuing a “strategic planning process” for the coming years. The press release was signed by all acting board members, including President Kade Friedman, Vice President Alan Ince, Treasurer David Merrill, Secretary Frankie Sanvidge and members Annie-Rose London, Allen Lee and Troi Stover. At this point in time, Ince and Stover have both been removed from the list of board members on the Center's website, though neither have responded to a request for comment on this matter.

The news came as a complete shock to many and generated immediate pushback. A meeting held at the center on Sept. 9 about the matter was originally described as being open to the public, but a writer from Kingston Wire was barred from attending.

Center leadership sent out another press release on Sept. 15, offering more detail regarding the termination. Under the section “Why the Board made this decision,” they stated that the move was made after “more than a year of addressing workplace concerns raised to the board. These concerns were not isolated or short-lived; they remained consistent and intensified over time despite many efforts to address them.”

They followed this by saying that from spring to July of this year, after staff “raised additional complaints, separately and jointly, the board engaged outside counsel to review our options.” It was at this point, they said, that Heyl de Ortiz was placed on administrative leave and an investigation into the claims was initiated.

They then outlined how the position of executive director “is responsible not only for representing an organization externally, but also for creating the conditions and culture in which its staff can do their best work.” It was then, they said, that they decided that “ending [Heyl de Ortiz’s] employment was the right decision for the center, its staff and its future.”

Mysterious Complaints

Kingston Wire spoke to Heyl de Ortiz about the details and timeline of these claims. At the time of his termination, he had been executive director for almost three years.

Heyl de Ortiz said everything began in August 2025, when he returned from a vacation and was approached by board president Friedman and vice president Ince. “They shared with me there had been workplace complaints against me and all the staff were ready to quit.” Several of these people, Heyl de Ortiz said, he had hired and had been working at the center for over two years.

A board meeting took place after Heyl de Ortiz was informed of this information. He said that after the meeting was over, two staff members approached him and said they never made those statements and that in fact Friedman had approached them initially. Heyl de Ortiz said he then received a short list of suggestions from Friedman of ways he could improve his standing at the center, which included working at the public conference table instead of in his office. He said that these were not only things he was already doing, but was the “only documentation I received with any performance issues during this entire time.”

May of this year is when Heyl de Ortiz said things began to pick up, which he said started when he lodged a grievance regarding Friedman with the vice president at the time, Angelee Santillo. Santillo resigned from the board the same night, Heyl de Ortiz said, that he was placed on administrative leave.

The grievance, Heyl de Ortiz said, was initiated through an email Friedman had sent him as well as “some actions Kade had engaged in the weeks prior to that.” He said this was also around the time that he became aware that Friedman was “soliciting complaints from staff behind my back.”

The “actions” Heyl de Ortiz mentioned he believes were rooted in age-based discrimination from Friedman against him. The moments he recollected include an incident in April when, Heyl de Ortiz said, Friedman approached him and asked his age. That same month, he said, Friedman told some members of the center’s development committee that they would hold pre-meetings before the regularly scheduled meetings, excluding “old people.”

Heyl de Ortiz said that Friedman approached him and said that they wanted to have the pre-meetings without the “old people” because “they talk too much and just talk about what happened in the past.” These “old people,” Heyl de Ortiz said, include community center founders and older board members. Heyl de Ortiz said he resisted this measure, but Friedman decided to conduct these pre-meetings anyways.

Heyl de Ortiz mentioned other incidents, including, he said, excluding an older board member from a bylaw that states they can be a lifetime board member.

Following a request for comment from Friedman, we received a statement stating, “For the safety and privacy of all parties, our public statement from Tuesday, September 15, contains all the information we are prepared to share at this time due to the confidential nature of personnel decisions.”

Subsequent to the grievance notice, a plan was mapped out to hopefully settle these matters between Heyl de Ortiz and Friedman according to community center policy. These included, notably, the two of them engaging in mediation. Heyl de Ortiz said this meditation never happened.

The week of July 20, when it was set to occur, Heyl de Ortiz said Friedman requested it be put off another week, which Heyl de Ortiz said he agreed to. On July 27, Heyl de Ortiz said, Friedman told Heyl de Ortiz the board would be meeting without him the following day, which was when he was placed on paid administrative leave. The mediation did not occur.

The reasoning, Heyl de Ortiz said, was in the letter he received on the matter, which Kingston Wire reviewed, and included “multiple workplace complaints” with no details, dates or individuals making the claims provided. The letter also informed that they have hired legal counsel and were beginning an “objective internal review regarding complaints made against you.”

The letter also assures that this is a “neutral, non-disciplinary measure,” and does not “constitute a disciplinary action, a pre-determination of any wrongdoing, or a step in the organization’s progressive discipline process.”

It ends by saying the review will require around two weeks and Heyl de Ortiz should hear back with further instructions by Aug. 14. The letter was signed by Friedman.

On Aug. 3, Heyl de Ortiz said, the board met. He said he saw PowerPoint-style slides used at the meeting. He noted two components of them, including a resolution to remove him as a signatory on the center’s bank accounts, and, under the acknowledgements section, a comment says “this is really happening, it’s a big move.”

Heyl de Ortiz is then told the matter will be reviewed by two board members when he returns from his leave, on Aug. 12. He notes that both of those board members, Troi Stover and Annie-Rose London, had only been on the board for two months, and one didn’t have any history with the community center or the area at all before those two months.

The night before his interview on Aug. 12, Heyl de Ortiz said he received a list of questions he was to answer before the meeting. None of those questions, he said, speak to dates, people, events or anything else relating to the alleged misconduct. One question, he said, asked, “Do I feel that the work of the community center should be relaxed or fearful?”

Another question asked his feelings about overtime. Heyl de Ortiz proceeded to review the time sheets for the past six months for all staff excluding himself and came up with the average number of hours. He said that nobody was working more than 39 hours a week.

On Aug. 12, Heyl de Ortiz is interviewed by Stover, who said, at its conclusion, that the board will be meeting and will “make a decision” on the matter. “This is the first time I heard any decision will be made about this leave and review,” Heyl de Ortiz said. He pressed Stover as to the nature of this decision, which he did not give an answer to.

After this, Heyl de Ortiz said Friedman emailed to say that they wanted to meet with him, which Heyl de Ortiz requested if they could meet after he returned from his vacation, which was to take place in the following days. He returned at the end of August, followed by the three-minute Zoom call where Heyl de Ortiz learned he was getting the axe.

After the Termination

The letter that Heyl de Ortiz received in the wake of his firing, he said, stated no cause for his dismissal. He said he received no report or findings of the review.

Heyl de Ortiz sent Kingston Wire a copy of the Community Center’s Personnel Policies and Procedures handbook, and specifically the sections on “Progressive Intervention and Termination Procedure.”

The intervention plan listed includes a multi-step process: discussion, redirection, training and verbal warning; written coaching and/or written warning; probation; final written warning; and termination.

Under the termination section, it states that “termination results only when all other alternatives have been exhausted or irreconcilable circumstances have occurred.” These “irreconcilable circumstances,” they list, are “theft, on-site drug use, acts of violence, unauthorized personal use of organization assets, extreme instances of insubordination, etc.”

In the following paragraph, it states, “If termination does occur, you will receive a letter of termination from the Community Center stating the cause of your termination and outlining the steps to follow in order to conclude your employment.”

When asked for his response to the termination, Heyl de Ortiz said, “I was shocked.”

“We have worked really hard over the last two years and eight months to bring back to life an organization that was essentially dormant when I started,” he said.

He recalled the “negative reputation” that the community center had when he started working there. He noted that, during his time there, he rebuilt staff, handled building maintenance, worked on their reputation, built the volunteer base, and reintegrated early members back into the organization.

We also asked, in relation to the claims of age discrimination he noted, if he had contacted the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which handles discrimination complaints. He said he hadn’t because doing so was “not consistent with my goals.”

This goal being, he said, to be reinstated in his position.

“I think this is a wrongful termination, I haven’t been provided any cause.” Heyl de Ortiz said. “I don’t want to cause harm to the community center in any way. This is not vindictive. I want reinstatement because this was not done right.” He listed that adequate notice or attempt to resolve issues both were not offered to him during this process.

He also was clear in his understanding that in nonprofits like the community center, the board are the ones that make the big decisions at the end of the day. “The board did this without consulting the community and community stakeholders,” Heyl de Ortiz said. “What I am trying to do is be as honest and direct about what transpired and be direct and say this did not occur correctly.”

Heyl de Ortiz also has a petition on change.org which currently has nearly 300 signatures. In the petition, it cites “poor communication, behind-the-scenes sabotage and ignoring organizational bylaws and policies,” from the board against Heyl de Ortiz.

It also states that his removal “threatens to undo the progress we’ve made.” It asks the board to reconsider their decision and reinstate Ortiz in his role.

“It is not too late for the board to admit that a mistake was made,” it says.

The petition also states that “several key businesses and major donors have withdrawn their support for the community center since they learned of the dismissal.”

Breaking Ties

One such organization is Big Gay Hudson Valley, which has a close personal and business relationship with the center. We reached out to Patrick Decker and Stephan Hengst, co-founders of BGHV, who forwarded us the letter they sent to the board with the subject line “Reconsidering Your Leadership Change” on Friday, Sept. 11.

In the email they listed some of the work they have done together, including producing the first Kingston Pride Festival, producing the Jingle Bell Dash, co-presenting Catskills Winter Pride Ski Weekend and more.

At the end of the email, they stated that they “don’t see a productive path to continue working together while this decision stands,” and list how they intend to divest from the center: withdrawing their invitation for the center to participate in BGHV’s 2026 Out on the Farm Festival, withdrawing their participation and support of this year’s Jingle Bell Dash, cancelling their booking of the center as the host site for this year’s BARNWOOD Queer Art Show + Sale, and withdrawing their participation in and support of the 2027 Catskills Winter Pride Ski Weekend.

They end by stating they “believe in Richard as this organization’s leader now and into the future.” Decker and Hengst told Kingston Wire that the board has yet to respond to this email.

The board members contacted by Kingston Wire, including Troi Stover, Alan Ince, and Angelee Santillo have all not responded to requests for comment.

Heyl de Ortiz ended by saying that “there is a fundamental betrayal of trust that is hard for me to understand the realization that right now, folks in our community need a place that is welcoming and based on shared trust. What is happening here is destroying that and is taking resources in the fight taken outwards to people fighting against us out there to fighting internally.”