The executive director of Seal Beach Leisure World has been dismissed.
Carl Bourhenne, who represents Mutual Five on the Golden Rain Foundation Board, said he could confirm that the Foundation exercised a clause in Executive Director Dan Schaeffer’s contract that allowed the director’s termination without cause.
The president of the Foundation would only confirm that Schaeffer no longer works for Leisure World.
“Effective November 13, 2012, Executive Director Dan Schaeffer is no longer employed with the Golden Rain Foundation. In the meantime, I am serving as interim-executive director and the executive committee will conduct a search for a new executive director. Mr. Schaeffer began his employment with the Foundation in 2004 and I wish him the best in his future endeavors,” said Tim Bolton, Golden Rain Foundation president.
However, a Nov. 15 memo from Bolton to Foundation board members and the presidents of Leisure World’s 16 mutuals, said that the board voted in executive session on Nov. 9 to terminate Schaeffer.
“A letter informing him of this action was sent to him via certified mail on November 13th and the Board Office was informed of its delivery later that day. I waited until we knew he knew before informing you,” Bolton wrote.
Schaeffer and his assistant Ms. Kevin Dugoncevic recently filed separate lawsuits against the Foundation. Schaeffer accused some board members of creating a hostile work environment. Dugoncevic accused one board member of sexual harassment.
“We have done nothing in retaliation for his lawsuit,” Bourhenne said.
Bourhenne said that the Foundation will have to pay off the rest of Schaeffer’s contract 18-month contract, which was scheduled to expire in June 2013.
“We’re going to appoint an ad hoc committee to search,” Bourhenne said.
Bourhenne was one of five Golden Rain Foundation Board members who voted against giving Schaeffer an 18-month contract late last year. Eleven other board members voted for the contract.
A controversial figure
Schaeffer has been a controversial figure in Leisure World since 2011, when the Foundation was late in paying the property taxes for 13 of Leisure World’s mutual benefit corporations, commonly called “mutuals.” The penalty: $272,948.32. Schaeffer did not participate directly in paying the property taxes, but it occurred under his administration when his job title was simply “administrator.”
The Foundation board placed Schaeffer on administrative leave on Sept. 26, 2011. The reason for his suspension was never made public.
Schaeffer confirmed he had been reinstated during a Monday, Oct. 17, 2011, interview, but did not say how long he had been back at work.
A group of Leisure World residents staged a series of protests calling for his dismissal starting on Oct. 11, but the Oct. 12 demonstration went unnoticed as a result of the Salon Meritage shootings on that day.
Leisure World is home to roughly one-third the population of Seal Beach and approximately one third of the city’s registered voters. The gated retirement community’s geographic territory covers two City Council districts.
