In October, the city fired Tami Maciejko from her role as the aquatics manager at the Gunnison Rec Center. She served in the position for just under four years.
Maciejko has been teaching Gunnison families how to swim for more than four decades. Following her termination, roughly 50 people packed into city council chambers to protest during a regular meeting on Nov. 12. The group, consisting of parents, lifeguards, swim team members, friends and long-time colleagues, implored the city for answers.
“We don't know the details of Tami losing her job, but we feel this is a major loss of our community, and a decision like this should be taken incredibly seriously,” said Annamarie Meeuwsen. She read from a letter signed by more than 70 families. “We would ask that this decision be looked at again with the strictest scrutiny and only carried out if she is felt to truly have acted below your standards. She is well respected and revered and loved by our families and children.”
In a statement to the Times following the council meeting, Maciejko said she believed that the city was misled with false information from “unreliable sources.”
“It’s amazing that the community came out like that,” Maciejko said. “I have never received a poor performance report, and really, I just want my job back.”
While she is no longer employed by the city, she will continue to coach the Gunnison High School swim team, which is already training for the upcoming winter season.
“Tami is a long-time coach here and [is] very respected and appreciated,” GHS athletic director Kevin Mickelson told the Times. “So from our end, it's business as usual for Gunnison High School girls swimming with Tami at the helm. We’re excited to have her back for another year.”
The city hired Maciejko as the aquatics manager in January 2021. The supervisory position oversees the swimming pool facility, works with lifeguards and other recreation staff on aquatic programs and monitors pool chemical levels. The aquatics manager role is separate from the Stingrays competitive swim club team head coach position. The club team program, open to swimmers as young as 4, typically starts in April and runs through August.
During Maciejko’s time as the aquatics manager, the Stingray club was run as a recreation program through the city. In years past, the swim club rented space from the recreation center, and operated as a private club, similar to the West Elk Hockey Association. Gunnison Parks and Recreation Director Dan Vollendorf said that next season, the program will likely not be run through the city and will instead return to its club format.
“At the end of the day, if Tami wants to continue coaching the Stingrays, the city won’t preclude her from doing so,” he told the Times.
At the city council meeting, City Manager Amanda Wilson took responsibility for the decision to fire Maciejko. She said the details of the separation were a confidential personnel matter and she declined to comment further. She said the city will “stand behind” the decision. The city is currently searching for a replacement.
“Please consider, like many situations in life, and many of you are likely supervisors as well, there is usually more details than you may be aware of, and more than one side to a story … My hope is that you will recognize that many factors went into this decision, and it was not taken lightly,” Wilson said to the crowd. “Tami remains welcome at our facilities. She has already started coaching at them again, and if we are all lucky enough, she will continue coaching in this community.”
Maciejko plans to continue coaching at the high school team, but residents worried about the impact of her termination on the rec center’s existing swim programs.
“How many other small communities like this have programs where the pool is full constantly … It's all because of Tami,” said Kyle Balch, a former lifeguard. “You fire her, and you lose that avenue that all of these programs thrive [in], and the reason that that rec center pool is there will disappear.”
(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)
(Alex McCrindle can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or alex@gunnisontimes.com.)
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