Monte letter sparks fury
CRACKS have appeared in the Montefiore Home’s board over a letter that was sent to members and life governors, which included extraordinary personal attacks on the members of a new ticket aiming to unseat the current executive at next week’s annual general meeting.
The letter had the backing of the board, but several board members have since become uncomfortable with its contents.
President David Freeman will be challenged by Jonathan Shteinman, vice-president Gary Inberg will be challenged by communal heavyweight Richard Scheinberg and honorary treasurer Tom Mautner will be challenged by former Montefiore board member Gaby Berger.
In the letter to members this week the board called into question the motives of the challengers, saying they were “extremely concerned” and effectively accused them of branch-stacking, noting that “bundles of new memberships [were] paid by cash”. It personally attacked the new group’s members, claiming Berger was forced to “vacate his [previous] position on the grounds of misconduct” and that Shteinman had a conflict of interest because he has stakes in other nursing homes, despite those facilities being in Merrylands, Collaroy and Wyong.
The letter raised the ire of several community leaders and several board members, who told The AJN they were not comfortable with the content.
One board member revealed that the final letter is “a watered-down version” of the initial version that was “an all-out attack” prepared by the executive.
Another board member said the letter has a lot of truth in it, but that it wasn’t a great look for the board to be attacking an opposition group at a communal election.
A third board member said he disagrees with the tactics and wished the board had sought a more amicable solution for all parties.
“This wasn’t the best decision for us to take,” he said.
JNF NSW president Alex Abulafia, who is being endorsed by the board at the upcoming election but is not currently a board member, said the letter does not reflect his personal views.
“I was not consulted regarding the letter because I am not a member of the board, which is appropriate, but I have been contacted by several people that assumed I was a signatory to the letter because my name is at the bottom for instructions on how to vote,” Abulafia said.
“That is not the case and I do not share all of the views expressed in the letter.”
Abulafia said that the board includes some exceptional individuals, but specifically noted that he has had a long association with Scheinberg on communal boards and he is “of the highest calibre” and a “significant addition to any board”.
“Richard Scheinberg is one of the community’s most significant, unassuming philanthropists who contributes to the community in many ways.”
Freeman defended the letter and stated that the board takes its role in the stewardship of the home seriously.
“I believe that the incumbent board has a responsibility to try and ascertain the aims and objectives of anyone seeking the position of president, vice-president and treasurer, as well as board positions, without any prior involvement either at board level or generally with the home,” Freeman said.
“The question of appropriate governance is especially important when Mr Scheinberg demanded that three to four board members step aside to make room for, at the time, unnamed candidates.
“It is now two weeks from the election and Mr Shteinman, until your contact, made no attempt to inform the members of their agenda or why it was necessary to enrol new members in the manner in which it was done. And therefore the more plausible explanation is that they had no intention of informing the membership of their agenda, and that their most likely tactic was to use the recently admitted membership at the AGM.”
This new battle for the Montefiore board marks the fourth consecutive year of clashes with the wider Jewish community.
In 2011 Freeman started a war of words with other communal organisations on the back of the Gen08 report into older Jewish Australia.
“You have all of these tiny players like JewishCare and Wolper … these organisations have no future on their own,” Freeman said.
“Governments want to deal with large organisations that have a full spectrum of activities, and the smaller organisations need to put the community ahead of their own interests.”
In 2012 he had a public stoush with Millie Phillips; and last year four people, including Abulafia who the home is now endorsing, ran for election and were shunned by the board.
JOSHUA LEVI
Montefiore CEO Robert Orie (left) with the organisation’s president David Freeman.
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