Dispute between Filoli, volunteers continues
The monthslong dispute between the Filoli estate in Woodside and its volunteer corps appears to have reached a stalemate.
In December, Filoli’s governing board issued a mandatory agreement to its roughly 1,500 volunteers — the first of its kind for the private nonprofit, which was donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1975. Many volunteers took issue with the lack of discussion leading up to the agreement, as well as the third clause, which states in part, “I agree that I ... will not make a claim of any negligence, personal injury, wrongful death or property damage against Filoli ... for claims and liability which was incurred as a part of my participation in volunteer activities.”
After fewer than half the volunteers signed the agreement, which Filoli Executive Director Cynthia D’Agosta said was drafted “to keep up with the times,” the offending clause was dropped in February. But opposition persists.
D’Agosta issued a statement late last week acknowledging that the volunteer agreement’s rollout was less than ideal. “I will be the first to admit that we could have done a better job in laying the groundwork,” D’Agosta wrote, adding “a small but vocal group of advocates has continued to insist that the very introduction of a volunteer agreement is an insult.”
Longtime Filoli volunteer Valorie Bourcher, a chairwoman and docent in the Nature Education program who refused to sign the agreement, disagrees. “I have not run across a single person who doesn’t think there should be a volunteer agreement,” she said. “This just isn’t the right one.”
Hal Tennant, who took over the group that works on Filoli’s trail system, disbanded it on March 1.
“The agreement kind of changed paradise,” Tennant said.