We live in a small community, so when a prominent environmental leader like Bob Ferris, suddenly resigns his post as executive director of RESources, theories and rumors spread like wildfire. The situation was not helped by the one-two punch of a cryptic message from the board president stating Ferris has “chosen to leave the organization and pursue other opportunities,” then Ferris refusing to comment further when asked about it by the Herald. “RE Sources’ release speaks for itself: I resigned to pursue other opportunities,” said Ferris.

 
Naturally, with RESources involved in a high-stakes struggle with SSA Marine and the local labor community over the proposed terminal at Cherry Point, everyone had their pet theory about what happened to Bob Ferris. In my research for this article, I ran into theories from “Craig Cole had him sacked,” to “SSA Marine bought him out,” to “Kelli Linville hunted him down for secretly supporting Dan Pike.” Setting aside the crazy, I endeavored to shed a little more light on the situation.
 
The Executive Director of RESources is overseen by the Board of Directors, currently nine members of the community, that decide the direction and leadership of RESources, and like the professionals they are, none of them are talking. When asked about the situation, all those I spoke to deferred to either the statement sent out by the board president, or to Ferris himself.
 
However, Bob Ferris' departure does appeare to be sudden. The website was updated throughout the day of Feb. 21st in anticipation of the announcement that afternoon. A current staffer, Crina Hoyer, was appointed as an interim Executive Director to tide the organization through this leadership change, and as far as I could tell, there were few signs this was coming from within the organization.
 
When I discussed the matter with Hoyer, she also declined to comment on Ferris' departure, but did make a number of points. His departure had nothing to do with opposition to the coal trains. As she put it, “We do not anticipate any change in that direction, although Bob has been credited as the public face in opposition, Matt Krogh has been the key staff person since our involvement began, he is engaged working on it full-time.” You can find a recent editorial about the terminal by Krogh in this week's Cascadia Weekly. Hoyer continued, “I don't think you will see any change other than Bob Ferris' name will no longer be involved.”
 
Off the record, some local officials thought Bob Ferris' focus on the coal issue, was the cause. In a Facebook post, County Councilman Ken Mann speculated that, “I am guessing the board was not happy about becoming a single-issue organization. Their original mission barely resembles the narrow focus or public image Mr. Ferris adopted.” Other locals familiar with the situation spoke off the record saying that the staff was not particularly fond of the way Ferris ran RESources. They noted the struggle a few months back when the County Council tried to vote down funding for an environmental education grant that RESources oversees based on RESource's opposition to the Cherry Point Terminal. Others I spoke to questioned his work ethic, but none of these people were ready to discuss the matter publicly. But when I talked to staffers within the organization, they repeated that Ferris' departure was “nothing scandalous.”
 
Hoyer reaffirmed this idea, “Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't, often changes like this are a result of circumstances of things that aren't in the public eye. The real story is there won't be a major impact.” Hoyer will stay on for the next six months as RESources engages in some long-term strategic planning, charting the organization's focus for the next five, ten or even thirty years. “We want to make sure our organizational structure fits with our strategic plan.”
 
But Hoyer wanted to reiterate that, in the end, the decision was Ferris'. “He chose to move on, it was his choice. He contributed a lot, but we are going to be fine. I joked recently that one person leaves, and fifty-four people stay. That is the story.”