Walking into the Old Dutch Church on a brisk Tuesday evening, attendees to the public meeting organized by former Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center executive director Richard Heyl de Ortiz were greeted by an individual at the base of the ramp leading to the door handing out stapled copies of a letter addressed to the center’s board of directors from community center staffers.

For almost everybody at the meeting, including Heyl de Ortiz, this was the first time they were ever seeing this letter. The “mysterious allegations” that have shadowed his recent termination were, in this letter, outlined for the public to read. On the reverse, to add fuel to the fire, was a grainy scan of a Poughkeepsie Journal article from Feb. 11, 2005, with the main story titled “State to audit YRDC [Youth Resource Development Corporation] finances.” The photo of the ex-YRDC chief on the left-hand side of the page is Heyl de Ortiz.

It wasn’t this reporter’s first time seeing this letter. Since publishing our initial story on this matter last Friday, staff members at the Community Center reached out to tell us their side of the story.

Provided at the beginning of the interviews with three staff members was this letter, dated July 7 of this year. To note, in the timeline of events we laid out in the last article, Heyl de Ortiz was placed on paid administrative leave on July 28, following a planned mediation between himself and board chair Kade Friedman that did not occur.

The letter begins by expressing “deep concerns for the board’s lack of action regarding Executive Director Richard Heyl de Ortiz’s behavior toward staff.” It follows with “After speaking to Richard about his angry outbursts and the low morale of staff several times over the course of a year (Oct. 2024-Aug. 2025), we decided as a last resort to go to the board last August for help.”

The timeline Heyl de Ortiz provided Kingston Wire in the previous article stated that after returning from a vacation in August 2025, he was approached by Friedman and the board’s vice president Alan Ince who said that “there had been workplace complaints against me and all the staff were ready to quit.”

The letter said going to the board was a “last resort,” following Heyl de Ortiz “not responding to our prompts to stop yelling at and undermining staff.”

The next paragraph references how the staff were “heartened” that the board stepped in at this time, and said that “[Heyl de Ortiz] regained control of his feelings long enough to address staff in a half-day meeting where he gave us an overview of the community center’s history in an effort to give context to the pressure he felt as the ED.” It then stated that Heyl de Ortiz “apologized for his behavior and asked us to speak about what we found problematic with his leadership.” The staff then outlined their concerns in the meeting, and wrote they “appreciated Richard’s bravery and attention to our concerns.”

The letter then stated that in December, Heyl de Ortiz’s second anniversary as executive director, he was scheduled to have a staff review of his work thus far conducted by the board, but “[Heyl de Ortiz] pushed back and shut down the process, claiming that staff were too tired/overworked from the busy season.” They say they were “not consulted about that decision and we were not invited to give feedback that month, nor in subsequent months.”

The next paragraph stated that as far as its authors know, Heyl de Ortiz “has only ever brought the subject of his August 2025 ‘calling in’ to show off to the public (at the NYS LGBT Network convening we hosted) how we as a staff work on our internal issues, and in private to say how he hopes to never have an ‘August’ situation happen again.” The sentence that follows says that “he never said this in an apologetic way that took responsibility for his behavior, he said it in an angry/hurt way, implying he was victimized.”

They said that the meeting in August was the only time Heyl de Ortiz attempted to “heal any damage he did in that first year.” They reiterate that “when staff directly express concerns or attempt to hold him accountable, which we have many times throughout these last two plus years, it is met with immediate defense and no improvement afterward.”

It follows by saying that since that time in August, the staff have spent “almost a full year in the trenches with Richard,” and say that “this spring, Richard’s behavior got increasingly worse, his angry bouts, more frequent, and he became intolerable in a way that none of us can continue to weather.”

The next paragraph is the only one in the letter that is bolded and italicized: “We have lost all confidence in his ability to lead the staff and the vision of the community center in a way that aligns with the values and mission of the organization and staff.”

The following paragraph writes that this matter is “urgent” and if the board doesn’t take “swift action,” they will “risk losing more staff and more board members, and worse, the hard-won community support we’ve earned.” They then said outright that they “want a change in leadership.”

A timeline stated in the next paragraph, where the staffers state that all communications from staff members “regarding Richard’s behavior should be taken in totality as part of a unified complaint.” They then cite their bylaws, stating the board is “required to take certain actions within 30 days of receipt of a written report by a whistleblower.” They follow by stating that they expect a response by Friedman on this matter by July 31 and if “corrective action” is not received, they are “organized and prepare to withhold our labor.”

They end the letter by posting conditions “in the immediate and long term,” which include the board notifying staff of a timeline and plan to inform Heyl de Ortiz of their complaints; postpone training by NYCON and any strategic planning meetings until this matter is resolved; any meetings staff will have with Heyl de Ortiz will have a minimum of two members present; and “for the future: staff, as a group, lead, in collaboration with the board, the creation of a new organization structure that engenders a healthy working environment.”

The letter is signed by “current staff under Richard,” though the names in the letter provided to Kingston Wire are blacked out. There are six names blacked out, which would include each member of the current staff, excluding one who started after the letter was sent. Staff members noted that Michael Erp, the gallery coordinator at the community center, is also not included in these names because he isn’t a full-time employee.

At the Meeting

Back at the Old Dutch Church, a room with at least 50 faces quickly amassed in the Bethany Hall space the meeting was conducted in. It ran for nearly two-and-a-half hours, starting just past 5:30 p.m.

The moderator prefaced “compassion and civility” at the meeting’s inception, which began with a speech by center co-founder Ginny Apuzzo. Her remarks prefaced that she wanted people to leave this meeting committed to making the community center “what you want it to.”

"People stop giving because they lose confidence,” she said.

Speaker Jay Blotcher described the situation as a “closed, silent campaign to assassinate Richard’s character.”

Heyl de Ortiz began his speech by describing his outstanding commitment to the community center and explained that the letter each individual received outside the meeting came as a complete surprise to him. He described it as “emblematic of sabotage.”

The letter outlines Heyl de Ortiz’s tendency to raise his voice. He said his leadership in his first year of employment with the community center was “very directive.”

Coming off the negative impression the community had of the center in the wake of 2021 allegations of racism and transphobia against a previous director, Heyl de Ortiz said he worked hard to create a better standing for the center within the community.

He also spoke about the age-based discrimination directed at him from Friedman and to the termination letter he initially received stating no cause which, according to their procedural handbook, was against policy.

Heyl de Ortiz said that last Friday he received a new termination letter outlining causes, which, the letter stated, included bouts of anger, poor leadership, tension, pounding on desk, cursing and more.

He ended his speech emphasizing again that the board “does not understand their role.”

The Community Speaks

The floor was opened up to community members to voice their opinions on the matter.

The first individual who spoke said she worked under Heyl de Ortiz when he directed the YRDC. She said she would not be the “strong executive I am today if it wasn’t for [Richard].”

This narrative about Heyl de Ortiz wasn’t isolated. Person after person rose to speak to his credibility and the impact he’s had on them in the time they’ve known and/or worked with him. Another individual rose and said Heyl de Ortiz was the “best employer I had in my life,” and said she is a “better worker today because of Richard.”

Heyl de Ortiz’s husband rose to speak as well, and said that although he can be “intense,” he stands by the claim that if you are working for an organization you have to “do your job.”

But what kept emerging time after time in the conversation, in this reporter’s eyes, was the generational divide that many claim to be a source of these issues. One woman even asked the room why the vast majority of attendees are grey-haired people. “This is problematic,” she said.

This fact was starkly emphasized by a recurring line that continued to be spoken and whispered throughout the event: “I can’t hear anything.”

Around the middle of the meeting, organizers handed out a double-sided sheet of paper outlining two agendas: The Growing Impact of the recent actions of the Board of Directors, related to potential financial loss, and Other Impacts.

The sheet states that the Community Center’s 2026 budget is just over $1 million. The bullet points that follow list lost financial support, support in jeopardy and potential financial loss. The most glaring line items are the first two, which describe the loss of a three-year contract to fund expanded legal services in six counties for $450,000 and a three-year contract from the New York State Office of Victim Services for $440,000.

The sheet states the first could not be completed because Heyl de Ortiz was locked out of the system which the proposal needed to be uploaded; he second states that his abrupt departure leaves the center without the capacity to complete the contracts.

The following losses include items at $100,000, $60,000, $45,000, $30,000, $12,000 and $7,000. This includes a cancellation of their 2027 fundraising gala held in March of next year, and other private and federal funding streams.

The “Other Impacts” section on the other side includes incidents that have occurred since and are expected to persist – the resignation of volunteers, resignation of three board members, cancellation of programs by presenters, reputational damage, trust earned over three years destroyed, loss of credibility as a collaborative partners, questioning the community center’s mission as a “safe, supportive environment,” and an “embarrassing spotlight shined on our community.”

Following this, an audience member questioned Heyl de Ortiz in reference to recent rumors that he was going to funders asking them to pull their funding.

Heyl de Ortiz responded that he has not encouraged anyone to pull funding, and equated it to “harming your own baby.”

The meeting ended by attempting to establish a route forward, which centered around finding a way to hold the board accountable for their actions. When the moderator asked if there was a note in the bylaws that would assist in this process, Center co-founder Apuzzo stated there was not. An audience member encouraged people to apply for the board so they can make change by being personally involved.

There was briefly talk about attempting to get the board in a room with Heyl de Ortiz to discuss, with the community, what transpired here, though there’s no saying at this time if such a thing can occur.

Apuzzo emphasized again that “funding will fizzle if the board is dysfunctional.” The need to get the community back on board with the community center is, they said, vital.

Finally, a new petition from the one posted online was handed out for people to sign, emphasizing holding the board accountable for their actions.