Rushing in some 45 minutes after a town hall forum had already started on the viability and stability of YouthPride, the agency's executive director almost immediately began arguing with the forum's volunteer organizers.
YouthPride Executive Director Terence McPhaul also disputed the independent task force’s presentation on the finances of the agency, which showed it to be almost $81,000 in debt. The forum was held March 6 in the sanctuary of Saint Mark United Methodist Church.
Some 25 young people attended the meeting, seated in the front two rows of the church, joined by another approximate 20 people including task force members and concerned citizens. The meeting because raucous at times when McPhaul repeatedly cut off people as they tried to speak and angrily denied the agency was facing the crisis that the ad hoc committees uncovered after weeks of research.