Karen McGillis, Hermitage Cat Shelter Vet Tech, resigned this afternoon upon learning that her supervisor, Paula Smith, had been fired. I think that leaves only one vet tech, two vet tech assistant, and two cleaners left, staff-wise.

Paula Smith, Cat Care Manager and head vet tech at the Hermitage Cat Shelter, was fired this afternoon. Paula has been associated with the shelter for 20 years, almost all of her adult life. As part of her job, she lived on the property to both provide security, and tend to the many medical needs of the kitties after hours. Paula also has 12 special needs cats that she has adopted from The Hermitage. She has been given two weeks to vacate her apartment, and there is a security guard on duty to prevent her from entering the shelter. You can email her at pjsmith1967@yahoo.com, but please wait a day or two to call, she needs some alone time. I promise to post here if/when she needs help moving or with anything else.

Paula was the last senior staff member left at the shelter, and her firing makes a total of 5 employees this week. She is the 13th employee to vanish since August.

Megan Morris, another young member of the Hermitage's hard-working cleaning staff, was also fired by phone today after work. Since she and Keith were the only ones scheduled to work cleaning tomorrow, I wonder who will be scooping all the litter and feeding the 313 cats tomorrow?

If you're as worried as I am about what's going on, I think this weekend would be a very good time to visit the shelter and check on any cats you sponsor and see what the cleanliness level is. Better yet, go in and ask about a specific cat, and see if RosaLee, the tourgiver and approver of adoptions, even knows who/where the cat is.

Today, Mary Jo fired Keith Godbee, one of the energetic young cleaning staff at the Hermitage, after hours via speakerphone. His termination was immediate. Carol Porta, a volunteer and donor, who has also used her position at Beaudry to request financial assistance from the dealership when repairs were needed on the shelter truck, was sent an email saying Carol's "services will no longer be needed". I understand that other volunteers have received similar letters, but have only heard this indirectly and cannot confirm this.

A shelter volunteer and donor sent me this contact information for the remaining Executive Board members, who are the only ones able to vote, and the Executive Director. This information was posted on the volunteer bulletin board by the board members themselves during the last big confrontation in September, and then removed shortly thereafter.

President Tom Tulowitzki, tomtincal@msn.com , 548-5389 cell
Vice-President Kendra Kent, ksquaredaz@msn.com , 275-0189 cell; 748-7794 home
Treasurer Ron Zack, wsuron@yahoo.com
Executive Director Mary Jo Spring, mspring4@hotmail.com , 981-3849

In an update to yesterday's departures at The Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter, Rachel McCaffrey, Board Secretary, resigned. The Board Secretary is one of the four Executive Board positions, which are the only ones that have voting power. Remaining board members, as listed on the website, include President Tom Tulowitzki, Vice-President Kendra Kent, and Treasurer Ron Zack. I emphasize "as listed on the website" because no one but the board themselves knows if there was an election in the parking lot after they left the Ward 6 offices. And direct contact information for board members doesn't exist on the website, and is not posted in the shelter, so there is no way to ask. Not the way I would want run a public nonprofit organization that exists based on donations from the public.

Joleen Snowdon, the Relief Manager at The Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter, was also fired this morning. That makes three employees gone in two weeks, pretty impressive for an organization with less than 15 employees.

In broader news, The Hermitage has entered into agreements with the Humane Society, which will be taking over cleaning responsibilities and providing veterinary care for the shelter. While I am sure the Humane Society vet is well-qualified, getting to them will take at least three times longer than trips to Encanto Pet Clinic did, and it is my understanding that the Humane Society is not equipped to perform diagnostics. Additionally, euthanasia decisions will no longer be made by the Hermitage vet tech staff, who provide the daily hands-on medical care, know the cat's normal behavior and history and understand the cat's prognosis. Instead, they will be made by an admnistrator who doesn't even know the cat's name and has no medical background. The only possible reason I can see for this is that euthanasia decisions will now be made based on cost. And shipping your cats off to another group to have the expensive ones euthanized is not what no-kill means.

I have no personal quarrel with the Humane Society -- their choices about euthanasia are not the same as mine, but they are up front about their policies, and are transparent in their dealings with the public. The Hermitage, however, has been a sanctuary since its inception over 40 years ago, and providing permanent care for unadoptable animals is a part of its mission statement. And that difference is why I, and many others, have chosen to support the Hermitage in the past. I see a huge conflict of interest in having a Humane Society vet providing care for the Hermitage cats. And I see a deceptive nature in the policy changes that have come about without being made public.

The Hermitage board has the right to change the mission of the organization. But they also have an obligation to the public, from whom they accept funds, to be transparent about what they are doing. And if they want to become just a branch of the Humane Society, then they need to make that clear to the public.

Sister Seraphim must be spinning in her grave tonight.

This morning, Carlen Torres, one of the Hermitage cleaning staff, was fired. Carlen was a volunteer who became an employee this past fall, and one of the people who did the physically demanding hands-on work required to keep 300+ cats clean, fed, healthy and happy.

There will be a meeting this evening of concerned volunteers, donors, former staff and community members at 6 PM at the Coffee Exchange, 2443 Campbell Ave (near Campbell and Grant), to discuss the events of last night and today, and what steps to take in response.

The Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter's board meeting at the Ward 6 offices this evening was a fiasco. The May meeting is when the board has its annual elections; there were already at least 6 vacancies, and this was scheduled to be the last meeting for two of the general representatives, their terms being finished. Several applicants who had been both volunteers and donors had been turned down, at least one without even the courtesy of an interview. New members are selected by old board members, and volunteers, donors and sponsors have no say in the process.

Julie Vance, the third Shelter Manager since August, resigned last week, and staff were told she was not being replaced. The Cat Care Manager position (currently held by Paula Smith, head vet tech for many, many years) was advertised on Craig's List on May 13. So tonight there were a number of angry volunteers, staff and others who went to the meeting, which is open to the public, and asked to address the board about Julie's departure, and find out what is going on with Paula's position. Tom Tulowitski, the board president, did not attend the board meeting, but there was a full quorum, and the vice-president ran the meeting. There have been problems in the past getting permission to address the board. (I am familiar with one case several months ago when a volunteer asked a board member how to get on the agenda. The board member said they did not know the process, and promised to get back in touch with the volunteer with the information, but never did). Those wishing to address the board must request in advance, and the board rules are written so that they are not required to grant the request. The board refused to speak to the public attendees, and the public attendees refused to leave the room. The board then left and apparently conducted its meeting in the parking lot.

While the board members were technically within their rights, cutting off communication was the wrong thing to do. When you are a nonprofit, and the people who are upset are the ones who do the actual work and write the checks that keep your organization going, you better listen very closely; otherwise you may find yourself sifting litterboxes with one hand and writing personal checks with the other. This is the second major public confrontation in less than a year, and the shelter cannot afford to lose any more public good will, especially in this economic climate.

The Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter sadly continues burn through personnel. In August Debbie Lundquist, shelter manager and volunteer coordinator was fired, and I gave notice several days later. Shortly thereafter, Lori Navrodtzke, vet tech and administrative assistant departed. A volunteer, who was also the wife of a now-departed board member, took over Debbie's volunteer coordinator duties for two months, and then quit. In December, the shelter manager who had replaced Debbie left. As the year turned, volunteer-turned-employee Linda Riley, who suffered a broken ankle last spring while working on the slick concrete of the Shyster area, was fired. Fred Yost, who served the shelter so faithfully, in multiple capacities, for so many years, was told when he returned from sick leave there was no longer room for him. Julie Vance, the second consecutive manager hired to replace Debbie Lundquist, departed this week.

As of April 1, the shelter stopped conducting home checks prior to adoption; this was not due to a personnel shortage due to vacancies, but a board-level policy change. No one knows the total number of volunteers who have left, since they just vote with their feet. The website is grossly out-of-date. Two of the four sample cats shown for adoption on the main page are not at the shelter, having been adopted quite some time ago, and there is a dead cat listed as being special needs adoptable (I'd say that's very special needs). Multiple sponsors have gone to the shelter over the past few months to visit their sponsored cat, only to learn that the cat died months earlier; this speaks to both a lack of common courtesy and financial transparency. The most current financial information posted on the website is from 2006, and consists of pie charts and percentages and "Plans for 2007", but there is no financial statement, and a notation that the results were not audited. Although there are multiple vacancies for board positions, and the number of board members is declining as members finish their terms and depart, volunteers who submitted applications for board membership this spring have been declined without even receiving the courtesy of an interview.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.