by Jeremy Morrison, Inweekly
After the termination of its former interim executive director, the Pensacola Humane Society has apparently experienced a mass exodus of sorts, with employees resigning in protest of what has been described as financial mismanagement and poor stewardship on the part of the group’s board of directors.
“It’s my understanding that all department heads have already resigned or intend to do so in the next couple of days,” said Melissa Garrett on Thursday, a day after walking away from her position as the organization’s director of animal health.
Earlier this month, staff and volunteers of Pensacola Humane Society — under the banner WeTheOrganization — raised concerns about a funding crisis due to mismanagement, also making conflict of interest charges and requesting the Gerald Adcox, president of the board of directors, resign. Since then, the board has hired lawyers, a financial auditor and spokesman, and also fired Manda Moore-Joseph, who previously stepped down as interim executive director, from her position of director of development.
Moore-Joseph relayed in an email that the PHS board terminated her on Tuesday, while she was on a scheduled vacation.
“The board didn’t bother letting me know,” she said, adding that she found out in an email from Adcox Wednesday morning.
In their initial approach to the board of directors, the WeTheOrganization collective made a number of accusations — ranging from misappropriation of grant and donor designated funds to violations of the organization’s bylaws — as well as demands, including the removal of Adcox and a forensic accounting of PHS’s financials. They also threatened to resign en masse, which is apparently what has happened in the wake of Moore-Joseph’s dismissal.
“It’s pretty obvious they’re not going to be transparent, and they’re not wanting to work with us,” Garrett said. “So we resigned.”
Garrett confirmed reports that the humane society transferred all of its animals to other shelters in the area in anticipation of this holiday exodus.
“We didn’t want our animals to be left there without knowing if anybody was there to take care of them,” she said. “We just decided early on, if we did this we were going to get them all out.”
According to Andie Gibson, spokesperson for Escambia County, its Department of Animal Welfare has taken in five dogs, as well as another 27 dogs that are currently in foster care. Over in Santa Rosa County, Spokesperson Sarah Whitfield reports that 70 cats have been transferred to the county, with 69 of those currently being in foster homes.
According to Carlton Proctor, a spokesperson recently brought on board by the Humane Society to field inquiries, the board of directors is currently in talks with a potential interim director and that the facility is currently up and running.
“ … from what I’ve been told there were three persons on site and at work at the shelter this morning,” Proctor wrote in an email to Inweekly.
Adcox said Thursday that he could not comment on this matter due to being under a “gag order from the board.” He directed Inweekly to the hHumane Society’s most recent press release, which stated that the group was “heartbroken and deeply concerned,” had not authorized the shutdown of shelters or transfer of animals and was working to restart operations and restore the group’s reputation.
According to Garrett, she’ll miss her job at the Humane Society, but hopes this recent course of events will trigger changes within the organization, particularly on its board of directors.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said, reflecting on her job and friends within the organization. “But, you know, at the same time, it’s sort of a fresh chapter, maybe they’ll finally listen.”
Garrett said she tries to remain optimistic about Pensacola Humane Society’s future. But that’s becoming more difficult.
“I’d like to see this organization continue, but I really don’t see it happening, not with this board,” the former PHS department head said, explaining that she doesn’t find the board’s circle-the-wagons approach to be encouraging: “At this point, I don’t think there’s a good one on the board … Their silence is damning.”
— for more on the apparent meltdown of the Pensacola Humane Society, check out next week’s Inweekly