Lack of leader, money woes hurting Operation Bootstrap

LYNN – Board members at the Operation Bootstrap literary program are grappling with the organization’s finances as they search for a new executive director.Although the Lynn-based organization is financially solvent, several programs run with School Department funds are in jeopardy, according to Fitzroy Alexander, the board president.Operation Bootstrap has been without an executive director since Donald Edwards resigned in July for what were described as personal reasons.”We’re looking for somebody to run the organization. What happened is, Don’s way of operating the business collided with the board’s,” Alexander said Friday. “Things were going in too many different directions.”Earlier this summer, Edwards circulated a memo among Bootstrap staff members, informing them of a funding shortfall. The situation was caused by the uncertainty of whether School Department funds would be forthcoming and Bootstrap’s need to obtain matching funds for various grant opportunities.”This year, the School Department has not decided for certain whether they will fund us,” said Alexander, noting that the department gave Bootstrap $250,000 last year. “The school superintendent is still working on her budget.”School Superintendent Catherine Latham has been making final adjustments to the fiscal 2011 budget, making cuts amid a difficult economic climate.Alexander said the search for an executive director could evolve into simply finding the right person to run the organization while not necessarily serving in a director capacity.”I can tell you I want to get Bootstrap to the point where I’m not running it. I’ve got my own business to run,” said Alexander, owner of Traditional Bread. “Right now, we’re not sure if we will be running those programs for the School Department, but we are not in any big financial crisis like we were a couple of years ago.”Jeff Gorman, a Bootstrap board member currently serving as interim operations manager, said his task has been “attempting to straighten things out” following Edwards’ departure.Edwards was executive director for eight years.”We are undergoing an administrative shuffle,” said Gorman. “We are not missing any money or anything like that. It’s more a matter of finding matching funds for grants we have coming in.”The search committee is comprised of board members Joseph Boyd, Steve Dillon and Murray Kremer.Gorman said a job description was drafted in conjunction with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), formerly the Department of Education (DOE).