It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.John "complexion" Duesler's 2nd job is in public relations
Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 6:13 pm - by Alan Tu. Filed under: Community.
John Duesler makes an appearance in this promotional video for Professional Disc Golf Association
John Duesler the President of The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley admits that his use of the word “complexion” was a poor choice of words. I’ll give him a little slack because not everybody can be a professional PR guy all the time. I mean really with the pressure of visiting screaming children and the demands of neighborhood parents it’s enough to make you want to dive in to an empty pool.
But…the slack ran out when I learned that Duesler is also in public relations. That’s right the guy, who as President of The Valley Swim Club told a TV station that the organization canceled the membership for minority summer campers was because of concerns about their complexion, is a PR guy.
He’s the national Marketing Director for the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA). In that capacity, he ensures that serious “Frisbee golf” attracts new members and the sport is taken seriously.
I don’t know exactly why The Valley Club canceled the Creative Steps summer camp agreement but one thing is for sure that swimming pool club could use a real public relations expert.
Another thing that bugs me about the way The Valley Club has handled everything is that as soon as the story broke broke last week the Club took down its website.
When I tried it on Monday 5:00 p.m. it was offline. http://thevalleyclub.com/
See archived page of The Valley Club website
P.S. The Valley Club re-invited the Creative Steps summer campers back to the pool but for some reason the kids don’t want to go back. Also, From The Source blog also reports that Althea Wright, executive director of the Creative Steps camp plans to make a public statement at 6:15 p.m.
If you were one of Creative Steps kids, would you want to return to the pool?
July 13th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Give the director of Valley Swim Club a call; he loves to hear from you.
John G Duesler
(personal address deleted)
July 14th, 2009 at 8:00 am
In that capacity, he ensures that serious “Frisbee golf” attracts new members and the sport is taken seriously.
Really good journalism with that comment. keeping it completely objective I see. Research “Disc Golf” before you write your next article. Show me proof why it is not a sport to be taken “serious”. There is no reason to drag the PDGA into this issue, you are just looking for some glory.
July 14th, 2009 at 8:10 am
You would think that there is nothing else happing in this City , State , Country or World with the amount of media attention this Swim club issue is getting . The President screwed up big time but the media crucifixion of him is really pathetic . Now the “outraged” parents are “demanding” that he and the board step down . He is a volunteer so he would probably welcome that . Then they want the removal of members that made “racially disparaging” remarks . Are they kidding , “what are all of these black kids doing here” is racially disparaging ? Even if some member did make racial remarks there is still something called Free Speech in this country . You may not like what they said but they DO HAVE A RIGHT TO SAY IT !
What if anything is being done about the death threats that this man and his family are receiving ? Are they being investigated as HATE CRIMES ? The last time I checked threatening a persons life is a crime and if it is racially motivated it is a Hate Crime . Maybe it doesn’t qualify because he and his family are white .
July 14th, 2009 at 10:52 am
While it is certainly within the realm of the possible that members of the club, or even Mr. Duesler, hate minorities, I find it far more plausible that a lack of communication led to this situation. A likely scenario is that the board, led by Mr. Duesler, found that pool memberships were becoming a difficult sell in this economy. Looking for additional revenue, they hit on the idea of selling limited membership to day camps. They probably figured this idea had nothing but upside: the campers were offered 90 minutes once a week for seven weeks at a price of $1,950. In other words, the club could pick up a quick $2,000 in exchange for only 10.5 hours of time, all without adding to their expenses in any meaningful way (assuming insurance, lifeguards, and pool maintenance had already been paid for). Where this brilliant idea appears to have broken down, based on the reactions of club members, is that the board clearly did not inform existing members of its plans or the impact 65 screaming kids would have on the atmosphere at the pool. My favorite quote to date came from an Inquirer piece on the story which quoted a woman as saying “if I wanted to go to a public pool, I would have gone to Fox Chase.” I think that says a lot more about this story than whether Duesler meant to use “complexion” according to its primary definition of “skin color” or its secondary definition of “aspect.” Clearly, during those 90 minutes, an aspect of the pool changed. Whether you think the focus of the members was on the race of the kids, or the sheer number kids, probably says more about you and your experience with racism than it does about them.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Here is the respose from Brian J. Graham the Executive Director regarding John Duesler’s actions:
“As a person from a multi-ethnic background who has worked very closely, traveled and shared accomodations with John Duesler many times over several years, I can unequivocally say that the allegations of racism against him are absolutely untrue. It is unfortunate that the media has taken one ill advised word from his statement and run with it attempting to paint him as a racist. John Duesler is a man with impeccable character who deplores racism and it is criminal what is being done to him. I stand behind John and his family with my support and prayers and I urge everyone to withhold judgement and refrain from making uninformed comments. This is a media witch hunt and the truth will eventually come out.”
Here is the original source:
http://www.pdga.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=32063
Please call and express your concerns, PDGA, (706) 261-6342
July 14th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Yea? He just acts like a racist and speaks like one too. Even the Klan went to the Baptist church and acted like they cared about other people. They hid it later as their true intentions were shown after they donned hoods and robes so to hide themselves from their victims.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
So he used a long word.
I know, lets dumb down public discourse to the point where no long words get used.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I just saw a clip on CNN about this story. One of the little boys started to cry when asked by a reporter what happened.
Whether you agree with what happened or not, as an adult, the well being of children should be one of our main concerns. This little boy was articulate and explained, while trying to hold back tears, what he heard members saying about him and his group.
Yeah, there are a lot of things going on in the world worthy of media coverage, and I’m glad that this issue got a piece of it! What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, and I hope that little guy, and the other kids affected, don’t linger on this ignorance for too long.
July 16th, 2009 at 1:10 am
John Duesler is also the Director of Marketing for the PDGA, there are over 40,000 members, but only 3 are black. Please call and complain, they have a pool at their corporate headquarters, I bet no blacks are allowed there too. Call them and let them know this isn’t right!
John Duesler
Director of Marketing
PDGA 706-261-6342