We believe this Board of Directors has violated it’s legal responsibilities. These are as follows:

Duty of Care:

This involves keeping copies of by-laws, articles of incorporation, and tax form 990 available at all times for public inspection. Also refers to employment practices follow state and federal guidelines. Making sure income and assets are used for the mission of the organization.

Duty of Loyalty:

This involves accountability to protect the assets of the organization. Assets include the feline residents, people (donors, sponsors, adopters, volunteers, and staff), and property.

Duty of Obedience:

This quite simply says a Board of Directors must be faithful to it’s organization’s mission.

If you look at the newly redesigned Hermitage website, this is what it says about the location of its board meetings:

Board meetings are normally held at the Ward 6 City Council offices near Speedway and Country Club on the fourth Wednesday of every month, beginning promptly at 6:00 PM. Meetings are normally scheduled for, but not limited to, 2 hours.

Apparently, things have not been, and are not expected to be, "normal" for quite some time, because a call to the Ward 6 City Council Offices reveals that the Hermitage Board meetings are not on their schedule any more, and have not been for some time. They are certainly not on the schedule to meet there tonight. And since the entire website was redone just this month, the board cannot claim that this is a recent change that hasn't been posted yet.

While hiding board meetings may make things more comfortable for board members who are uncomfortable with openness, it does not do much for public trust in a non-profit organization that makes its living by soliciting funds from the public.

The Hermitage Board has its monthly meeting this evening, 6 PM at the Ward 6 Council offices. Last week, they rejected a formal request made through an attorney for an opportunity for the attorney and myself to address the board at this meeting; they rejected a request for an informal meeting between the attorney and a board member; and they rejected an request for mediation, to be facilitated by a national animal rescue group not involved in the current situation, who has agreed to help. The board made it crystal clear that they wished to have no communication in any way, shape or form with those unhappy with the current situation.

The Hermitage has an odd organizational structure. The old board appoints the new board. There are no memberships or shareholders. There is no general vote on the leadership. The volunteers, sponsors, donors and staff have no vote or say in what goes on. So far, those who disagree have been speaking out, writing letters and making phone calls. They were then fired, banned, forced to resign, received imperious letters or were ignored. Now it is time to vote with our feet and our dollars. At 6 PM this evening, I recommend people start changing their wills, canceling their sponsorships and directing their donations elsewhere.

If you look at the "Who's Who" page of the Hermitage website, you'll see yet another board member is gone. Lori Lundberg's name has disappeared from the masthead. That's the third departure since April, following Dick Blanchard and Judy Showers. For a board that only has 5 members, that's a pretty heady turnover. If you've been following this for any length of time, you'll know that what has been happening is that there is an ugly triumvirate of board members (Taylor, Tulowitzski, Zack), who together with the prized Executive Director have ridden the organization into the ground. On a board of five, three is a majority. So the board has cycled through member after member after member in the other positions, each lasting a relatively short time until the true situation became clear, and then exiting stage right.

This resignation is interesting, because it takes board below the minimum required by their by-laws; at least, that's the minimum number required in the last set of by-laws the general public laid their eyes on. And since the board now meets privately at an unpublished time and location, doesn't make available to the public their meeting minutes, and doesn't publish their by-laws, who knows what new rules they've created for themselves.

When this all started, the coalition consulted several lawyers about how to get the board out. Due to the odd legal structure of the Hermitage Board (the old board selects the new board, and all seats are by board approval, without participation by volunteers, staff, donors or sponsors), the only two ways to remove board members are to demonstrate out-and-out legal fraud, or force them out through public humiliation. Gross incompetence and hideous management, no matter how appalling, are not enough to force a legal coup. So we have had to go the other route of making public the Hermitage's dirty laundry, hence this blog, letters, interviews, etc.

And then, at the beginning of August, something fell into my lap which I think will demonstrate to even the most staunch Hermitage supporter that it's time for the three old boys to go. Because of certain legal restrictions, I've had to wait until the wheels of justice finish turning before I can make this public. And those wheels turn excruciatingly slowly. But turn they do and my hope is that VERY shortly, that will change.

If Ms. Parker-Hotchkiss or Ms. Lundberg would be interested in talking, please contact the webmaster.

Update May 26: The newest board member's name is now fully listed as Susan Parker-Hotchkiss.

And the Hermitage Board changes its composition yet again. Kenna Smith has vanished, and been replaced by a board member who apparently only has a first name, "Susan", according to the website. I guess having only a first name makes it easier to avoid the riff-raff. Other positions were shuffled around among the remaining players.

So, that makes 10 board member changes since May of last year: Dan Moynihan, Denise Moynihan, Rachel McCaffrey, Kenna Smith, and Kendra Kent all left; Vernon Alexander, Dick Blanchard, Dawna Spencer and Judith Showers all joined and then left; and Lori Lundberg just joined. Not exactly a testament to the stability of the organization.

In a related note, the official Hermitage blog, whose purpose is, in their own words, "to inform our sponsors, donors and adopters of the ongoing activities and programs of the Hermitage Cat Shelter in Tucson, Arizona." has suddenly been completely and entirely removed from the web. It appears they no longer feel a need to inform sponsors, donors or adopters about anything.