Reason for Board Members’ Resignations

The July 9 article by Bernice Hirabayashi, “Public Support Stops Ouster of Conductor,” is slanted and inaccurate, beginning with its headline.

As one of the members of the board who resigned, please be aware that my resignation letter made clear that “public support” (the nature and extent of which is questionable) was not the issue. I resigned because I was subjected to personal harassment and invasion of my privacy by a member of the Mills family, a situation I found intolerable.

The Times continues to ignore the fact that the prior board members had no personal or financial incentive in exercising their judgment and had instead made substantial contributions of time, money and effort to serve the community.

Aside from a small stipend to the board member who was personnel director, the only person who stood to achieve any personal financial gain was Mr. Mills. It is incredible to me that The Times failed to accurately describe the interests of the various parties and characterized the conductor, in effect, as a heroic underdog who overcame unfairness and adversity.

BARBARA H. BERGEN

Santa Monica