05/21/2026
I will not hold the Center hostage for weeks like some people have. So...here it is
To the Members, Volunteers, Supporters, and Community of the Payette Community and Senior Center:
Date: May 19, 2026
It is with deep disappointment and emotional exhaustion that I submit my formal resignation as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Payette Community and Senior Center, effective immediately.
I did not seek this position for status or authority. I accepted the responsibility because I believed the Center could be stabilized, protected, and guided back toward healthy governance and unity after a prolonged period of internal division. Unfortunately, after eighteen months of continuing conflict, personal attacks, political maneuvering, and ongoing efforts to undermine both board cohesion and leadership, I can no longer continue in this role in good conscience or good health.
Between 2025 and February 2026, seven board members resigned from service to this organization. These resignations did not occur in isolation or by coincidence. Many left because of the same continuing issues: hostility within leadership, breakdowns in trust, back-channel influence, intimidation, gossip, factional behavior, and repeated interference with healthy board function.
During my time as Chairman, I worked to promote transparency, accountability, respectful communication, proper governance procedures, and a mission-first approach. Instead of cooperation, those efforts were often met with resistance, personal criticism, misinformation, and efforts to divide board members and supporters against one another.
It has become painfully clear that a small but influential group within the organization has continued to exert disproportionate control through conflict, pressure, and behind-the-scenes influence, creating an atmosphere that many dedicated individuals have found emotionally unhealthy and impossible to work within long term. The damage caused by these ongoing dynamics has extended far beyond board meetings. It has affected volunteers, members, morale, organizational stability, and the overall reputation of the Center itself.
I believe the membership and community deserve honesty regarding why so many good people have stepped away from leadership positions over the past two years. Continued silence has only allowed dysfunction to grow while dedicated volunteers and board members carried the emotional burden of trying to hold the organization together.
Let me be equally clear: my resignation is not a rejection of the mission of the Payette Community and Senior Center. I continue to believe wholeheartedly in the importance of this organization and the services it provides to seniors, families, and individuals throughout our community. However, no nonprofit can remain healthy when fear, division, hostility, and personal agendas begin to overshadow the mission itself. Organizations survive difficult financial seasons. What is far more difficult to survive is the erosion of trust, respect, and integrity within leadership.
I have reached the point where remaining in this position would require sacrificing my own emotional well-being and continuing to participate in an environment that has become deeply damaging over an extended period of time.
I sincerely hope this resignation serves not as another chapter of division, but as a wake-up call for honest reflection and meaningful change. The Center deserves leadership that values unity over factions, truth over rumor, cooperation over control, and service over personal influence.
To the many volunteers, donors, members, staff, and community supporters who stood beside me and worked tirelessly for the good of this organization: Thank You. Your kindness, dedication, and courage are what continue to give the Center hope for the future.
I leave with sadness, but also with the peace of knowing I did everything within my ability to serve honorably and advocate for what I believed was right for the organization and the community.
Respectfully,
Kawesha Ascyna
