Commodores Entertain Motion To Reconsider Trundy's Release

That prompted an objection from Dr. O’Malley. “I’m appalled that this (decision) wasn’t a part of the general manager’s report. The number one issue is the firing of Jeff Trundy.”

Mrs. Clark said that the Trundy issue would be addressed later, saying it was a part of “other business” on the agenda. White moved that the Trundy situation be moved up on the agenda ahead of other business.

Mrs. Clark first gave her president’s report, in which she said that she was concerned about the way that the situation had been handled up to that point by the board. “It’s been an eventful last few days and I’m concerned about the future of the organization. We need to protect the Falmouth Commodores,” she said.

Bob Clark defended his decision to not renew Trundy’s contract. He said he had entertained the idea of switching managers for the past two years, having given the idea “a lot of thought.”

The general manager and the coach need to have a strong, working relationship, he said. “The general manager and the coach must function as a united team. I have just hired a new coach that I think will have that kind of teamwork,” Mr. Clark said.

Mr. Clark said Donato comes from an “iconic Boston sports family,” and bringing him on board is a “unique opportunity.” He said the new coach, who has been on the payroll for five days, has already landed the team a $5,000 donation.

Mr. Clark noted that several schools have already promised to send players for the 2013 season and those institutions include Florida, Clemson, Tennessee, Stetson and Rice. He said that although Trundy and Donato had recruited separately, all commitments by the schools would be honored.

While Bob Clark wanted to press on to the future, several members of the board wanted clarity as to why they had not been consulted prior to the monumental decision to release a coach who had been a part of the organization for 17 years. “I think that you were totally out of line with what you did,” White said. “You said that you didn’t fire Jeff Trundy, that you hired a new coach, but you did fire him.”

Bob Clark clarified that Trundy’s contract had run its course and that he had not offered him a new one.

The discussion then turned to aspects of the bylaws that seem to conflict.

Mr. Clark said that he consulted a lawyer prior to making the decision in order to make sure that he was within his rights.

Steve Brocklebank asked Mr. Clark why he could not have waited five days to discuss matters with the board before hiring Donato. “I think that the problem people are having with your decision here is that you took it upon yourself to make that decision. If you were the owner of a business, you can hire or fire whoever you like, but you’re not the owner,” he said.

Mr. Clark explained that the opportunity to hire Donato arose quickly and that he needed to make a decision in order to make it happen. “It moved fast,” he said.

Board Members Not Consulted

Mr. Clark said that he had spoken to several members of the board of directors, the Cape League commissioner and a member of the CCBL Board of Directors. That only further irked members of the board who were not consulted. “The way you did it, you’re bringing a lot of criticism on yourself,” Brocklebank said. “The best interest of the team would have been to bring it to the board.”

Mr. Clark said that he had “polled a couple of people.” Those people were then asked to raise their hands. Kennedy, Eric Zmuda, Bob Young, Christine Clark and Debbie Brown all responded that they had spoken with Bob Clark about his desire to make a change. Several board members then pointed out that they were not consulted and asked why.

Vice President Steve Kostas, who had been silent throughout the proceeding, offered his take on the decision. “This isn’t like we’re discussing, with all due respect, what we’re going to be doing with the bat boys. I don’t think that five or six days was going to make that much of a difference to Jeff or the other coach (doing the job). There are written rules that to which were not followed,” he said. “Morally and civilly, this is not the appropriate way to deal with people, especially someone who has given as much to this team and this town as Jeff Trundy. I’m embarrassed by this; he was terribly mistreated.”

A motion was then made by Dr. O’Malley and White to have a lawyer look into the bylaws and determine whether or not Clark had acted appropriately. The vote finished in a 9-9 tie with one abstention.

After more arguing, White asked Bob Clark: “Knowing now how the board feels right now, I feel the majority is upset, would you do it again?” Mr. Clark responded, “Yes, I would.”

Later on, Rob Zeida moved that the Falmouth Commodores “overturn the decision to hire Dan Donato and rehire Jeff Trundy.”

“Do you understand the legalities of what you’re doing here?” Christine Clark asked Zeida. She said the team could be opening itself up to lawsuits from Donato if they were to take that action. “You should think long and hard because there is liability involved,” she told the members.

Pat Loftus then moved that the Commodores board schedule an emergency meeting to discuss Zeida’s motion. An overwhelming majority passed that motion, with 15 in agreement, and that meeting should happen within 10 days.

Beth Linney followed that with her own motion, one that never came to a vote. “I motion that we stop sending e-mails and Twittering and Facebooking and stop talking to newspapers about this,” she said.

The board then went into executive session to discuss correspondence that Christine Clark said had to be done in private because of “attorney liability.”