Rumors of a change in leadership at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center have engulfed Milwaukee’s Jewish community in speculation for several weeks.
During the week of June 23, the staff and board of the JCC were notified that longtime JCC president Jay Roth and his wife, Susan Roth, director of family services, “have been placed on administrative leave.”
Roth and the JCC board are saying very little about the situation, which appears to involve ongoing negotiations. Roth spoke with the Chronicle on Thursday, July 3, but declined to comment on the reason for his current employment status, his plans for the future or anything else pertaining to his position at the JCC.
Todd Lappin, chairman of the JCC’s board of directors, spoke to The Chronicle by phone on Tuesday, July 9. Lappin too was reluctant to explain what is happening, he said, “because of the sensitivity of the situation right now.”
The decision to place the Roths on paid administrative leave was made by “mutual decision,” Lappin said.
Lappin said he hopes the issue will be resolved in a week or two.
When asked about the financial condition of the JCC, Lappin said that it “took a little bit of a hit when we were in the middle of the construction,” but that since the completion of the construction at the Karl Campus and the opening of the Hy & Richard Smith JCC Family Water Park in Mequon, “there has been a resurgence in membership.”
“The highest priority of the board,” Lappin said, “is increasing the membership and making sure that the quality of the programs is not only maintained, but enhanced.”
He added that he wants to make sure that everyone understands that “all of the JCC’s programs, and staff are functioning beautifully. The camps, in particular are having a great year and the water park is very busy.”
Associate executive director Mark Shapiro has been directing operations in Jay Roth’s absence.
Roth assumed his position as JCC executive in March 1985, when the facility was still located on Prospect Avenue, where Chai Point Senior Living Apartment Complex now stands. He was 39.
According to an article in the March 29, 1985, issue of The Chronicle, just three weeks into his tenure, Roth was working on the JCC’s plans to develop a Whitefish Bay campus on the site of the old University School of Milwaukee.
Roth came to the Milwaukee JCC with some 15 years of experience working in Jewish community centers. For the five years prior, he served as executive director of the Samuel Fields YM-YWHA in Queens, N.Y.
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