The City of Winooski and a Burlington landlord have terminated their leases with North End Studios, following extensive allegations of sexual misconduct against the arts organization’s cofounder, Ben Bergstein.
The actions follow the recent resignations of four members of the five-person board of the Vermont Performing Arts League, which oversees the organization.
At a Monday night meeting, the Winooski City Council unanimously voted to end its lease agreement with North End Studios. Hinsdale Properties, which owns the organization’s home base in Burlington’s Old North End, told VTDigger Tuesday that it’s terminating its lease as well.
The City of Winooski had sent the organization a letter Feb. 4 warning that its lease would fall into default if it did not address Bergstein’s alleged “offensive and sexually harassing conduct” on the property, which it said violated both state and local laws.
The letter was sent to April Werner, who is married to Bergstein and was serving at the time as vice president of the organization. Bergstein has since resigned, and Werner has announced she also plans to resign, following allegations that she facilitated or ignored Bergstein’s alleged behavior.
The city’s letter included a long list of accusations it received about Bergstein and found credible, including that he engaged in “unwanted/prolonged hugging and massages; unwanted groping of breasts and touching of other body parts; multiple instances of unwelcome kissing on the mouth; unwelcome requests for dates or romantic relationships; inappropriate staring at body parts, including breasts and backsides; and unwelcome comments on bodies, weight, physical appearance, and diet.”
VTDigger later interviewed eight people — including three former North End Studios employees — who made similar allegations.
Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott said Monday night that the council had decided that the organization had not done enough to rectify the harm that Bergstein and Werner allegedly perpetrated. Therefore, Lott said, the lease would be terminated, effective May 7. The motion passed unanimously.
“We do not believe there are sufficient structures in place to provide confidence that that harm will be addressed and prevented,” Lott said, “nor that the Vermont Performing Arts League as a tenant can comply with the terms of release at this time.”
As for the Burlington location, property manager Jacob Hinsdale confirmed the termination of the Old North End lease in a statement sent to VTDigger. He declined to elaborate.
“Out of respect for the legal process, there will be no further comment at this time,” Hinsdale said.
The Performing Arts League issued a public apology to the Winooski and Burlington communities for Bergstein’s actions. It also created new sexual harassment and discrimination policies.
But Lott said these efforts fell short because both policies direct members of the league to report harassment or discriminaton to the leader of the organization, and Werner remains at the helm.
Werner has left her position as vice president of the league but said she’s continuing on as the organization’s executive director for several months to help with its transition.
Lott said excessive turnover in the league’s leadership added to her concern and that of the Winooski council.
Jane Knodell, a former Burlington city councilor, told VTDigger she resigned from the league’s board of directors Friday. She said she knows of three others who also resigned, but she declined to provide their names.
Werner told VTDigger on Tuesday that four board members had resigned, one staff member had been terminated and three other staffers had resigned. Two staff members currently work for the organization, she said, and two others may be hired.
Werner said that newly appointed board members had not had a chance to meet as a group before appearing before the Winooski council on Monday and were therefore unprepared to answer questions about how the organization would move forward. She said they weren’t given “a fair shake.” Werner also said the organization had made efforts to show the city it was serious about reform through the new harassment and discrimination policies.
She denied the sexual misconduct accusations leveled against her husband. “I believe in my heart that none of the major allegations there are truthful,” Werner said.
The new board members are David Cooper, Joseph Pensak, Victoria Moore and Michael Meehan. All said at the council meeting they had been involved in Vermont’s art scene in some way and had no prior knowledge of the allegations against Bergstein.
Pensak told the council that he wanted to take the new policies around harassment and discrimination even further to create a more accepting and safe environment at the Performing Arts League.
“There just needs to be a new culture established for it to be healthy,” he said.
(After publication of this story, Pensak told VTDigger that he had resigned from the new board the morning after his appearance before the Winooski council.)
A handful of Winooski residents called into the council meeting to encourage the body to terminate the league’s lease with the city.
Winooski resident Sarah Mell expressed skepticism that the board members, who have worked with or around the league in the past, would continue holding the organization accountable for the harm that it allegedly caused people.
“As an artist, as a person wanting to participate in these spaces,” she said, “I need to know that I’m not going into a space of Ben and April’s friends who have taken over their organization.”
This story was updated to include information from Joseph Pensak that he had resigned from the new arts league board.