When Past Pratt Area Humane Society Board of Directors President Dedra Brandt said “Let’s turn this into something good and positive,” it was a call for the factions involved with controversy at PAHS to move ahead and resolve the issues surrounding the discharge of Mike Hill as PAHS executive director and the status of the PAHS Board of Directors as legal members of the board.
Brandt’s comments came at the end of a PAHS Board of Directors meeting Friday July 17 at the Pratt Community Center. Approximately 60 people attended and heard an explanation and clarification of Hill’s dismissal, a rebuttal from Hill, a statement requesting a call for an election of a new Board of Directors and some took part in a question and answer session where speakers were each given two minutes.
While some disagreed with Hill’s behavior they did agree that he was a valuable asset to the humane society and had done much to bring to it’s present standing.
Board President Pam Howell gave a lengthy visual presentation including a history of the shelter, its current operation status, a lengthy description of Hill’s dismissal and the events afterward plus a list of statements and whether they were fact or fallacy.
Some in attendance were displeased with the presentation while others appreciated having the information.
“I think it was in poor taste. I think it was dirty what they did to Mike,” said Duane Hanks.
Several board members and several in attendance wondered where all those at the meeting had been when the board needed help at the shelter.
Among the items in Howell’s presentation was an explanation that Hill had been dismissed because of inappropriate behavior including being belligerent, hostile, could not control his anger, insulted other board members and disrupting a meeting to the point business could not be conducted.
A discussion of a euthanasia policy was planned but Howell said Hill refused to discuss the matter and no policy was discussed. Three members of the board left the June 11 meeting because Hill would not cooperate. The meeting was recessed until June 12 when Hill was dismissed by a vote of five to two. Each Board member, including Hill, was given five minutes to speak on the matter.
When Hill was dismissed he asked if he could take his desk and was told he could. Hill said he left the office in a mess when he got the desk out and was planning on cleaning things up but he didn’t want confront the board and left, planning on returning later. Howell showed pictures of the office after Hill left. Hill apologized for the mess.
Hill’s wife Shelly addressed the crowd and said she had never seen any of the board at the shelter and did not like the presentation.
The presentation accused Hill of two sexual harassments. Hill gave a volunteer the nickname “Sparky” because she worked quickly. A letter from the volunteer said that she felt like it made her feel like one of the dogs in the kennels.
Hill admitted he had given the volunteer the nickname and but it was not sexual harassment and he apologized that it had caused a problem. No specifics about the second harassment were made but a letter from the second person was available.
A volunteer, Debra Nasca, said that she had worked with Hill and that he was never condescending and very respectful. Nasca wondered why when she volunteered to help clean at the shelter her request was denied. A board member said Nasca supported Hill and why would they didn’t want her to help.
People supporting Hill and those supporting the board gave statements about the issues and what was the best plan of action for the society.
“We’re not here in favor or against anyone. We’re concerned about animals and keeping the humane society active,” said veterinarian LuAnn Dorman.
Brandt said that it would be hard to find anyone who worked with animals as well as Hill but that he was hard to work with. She also said the board had a thankless job and they were the ones who showed interest in the shelter. But there is a problem and it needs to be fixed.
The board had many supporters in the crowd that backed the action to dismiss Hill. Christi Wilson, PAHS volunteer coordinator, wanted to know why Hill didn’t want a euthanasia policy while Jack Frasier questioned Hill’s overall cooperation with the board.
“If you refused to take orders from the board and refuse to cooperate you have no business being there,” Frasier said.
During the question and answer period Hanks, representing 26 others, presented a statement calling for an immediate election for a new board of directors citing action board outside PAHS bylaws including improper election of board members, absence of a quorum, having an election as soon as convenient if no election is held at a general meeting, improper appointing and dismissal of board members and poor judgment in recruiting board members.
The statement also called for the board to update and clarify bylaws, communicate with all local veterinarians about policies impacting animals, learn from the ones involved with the day-to-day operations and establish a new level of professionalism.
The actual society membership was also an issue that was briefly discussed but never clarified although some information was clarified.
“A lot of us that thought we were members found out we were not,” Dorman said.
If the board was not elected according to the bylaws then their actions, including dismissing Hill, were not binding.
Board member Judy Montei said only the board showed up at the November 2008 annual meeting so they elected themselves. Hank’s information said the board had to be elected from the general membership and if a quorum of members was not present they could not conduct business.
He said that board member Cassie Steele told him that she was the only member of the society.
Howell said that according to the PAHS attorney the board was legally elected.
The issues of who is a board member and were the board members legally elected were never completely resolved.
Another issue was access to computers after Hill left. The presentation said Hill refused to give the Petpoint password to Howell, member Fay Miller, new executive director Kristen Ritzman or Pratt Police Sgt. James Sheldon. The program had a variety of vital information necessary for the running of the shelter and it took some $850 to get the computers repaired.
Hill said he had been locked out of Petpoint and if had to be reset it had to be done from scratch. There were three computers in the building and he wanted proof that he had done anything, Hill said.
There were numerous items in the presentation and Hill did not comment on several items.
