Steve Hawley started work this week as the Humane Society of the Black HIlls' new executive director, taking over an agency plagued by turnover, a shrinking budget and - more recently - a handful of complaints that the agency is not meeting its responsibilities.
Hawley is the fifth executive director in the last 10 years. He replaces Phil Olson, who resigned in April, the latest in a line of Humane Society leaders who have left after relatively short terms, either fired or gone with little explanation.
Hawley and the agency's board of directors hope for something more permanent this time. He will be charged with not only managing the agency's important work with animals, but building its public image and strengthening its fundraising and financial standing.
He takes over for Olson, who won't say why he left, just that it was for personal reasons "that will remain personal."
Olson's departure didn't surprise Skip Rudge, a former board member and executive director who has witnessed the turnover through the years, but the delay in the news did.
"What I felt was very interesting was it was a six-week period of time before it was disclosed," Rudge said.
The agency's board president said they weren't trying to hide anything.
"Our No. 1 concern upon Phil's departure was to fill that spot. And anything that was not helpful to that was not something we wanted to get involved in," Gary Johnson said.
The news came to light three weeks ago when Mayor Alan Hanks tried to reach Olson in response to citizen complaints.
"We have been informed that the Exec Director Phil Olsen is no longer there and we can't seem to find out why," Hanks wrote in a June 2 e-mail to city aldermen.
Hanks said he heard from several citizens who said the Humane Society wasn't responding to calls for animal control services, and from one man who said the dog he adopted wasn't spayed as promised and that he was treated rudely by Humane Society staff.
Board president Johnson said despite the turnover in the executive director's office, the agency is properly run and financially healthy and the animals are well cared for. He said the office is working to correct any problems with service.
The board hopes to achieve greater stability and devote more energy to fundraising, and is working on a long-range planning document that should help with that, Johnson said. He said the plan has been in the works for some time but "has never reached a state of completion." The new director will have a role in the planning.
Johnson, who has served on the board about three years, said he doesn't know why the agency has had such turnover in the past and couldn't say more about why Olson left.
"We just have to go on from there," he said. "There's going to be some permanence coming up very shortly."
The citizen complaints and turnover aren't big problems compared to the Humane Society's struggles of a decade ago, when Rudge was active with the agency.
History of disarray
In 1997, the organization was in chaos. A year earlier, the board had fired executive director Jo Anne Jewell and an animal control supervisor, and two more employees resigned in protest.
That summer of 1996, Humane Society members expressed a no-confidence vote in the existing board. Some board members resigned.
In January 1997, Jewell sued the agency for breach of contract, wrongful termination, libel and more. In March, an animal control supervisor was arrested on charges of forgery and grand theft for allegedly stealing from her employees and the humane society.
The woman in the interim director role was fired in April, but things seemed poised to smooth out when Paul Erickson was hired as director in June. Three months later, though, the former, cramped shelter was plagued with disease, board members were fighting and resigning, and tens of thousands of dollars of donations meant for a new shelter was missing.
Concern and intervention from the city and county helped push the agency onto the right track, and the construction of the current animal shelter was completed under Erickson's direction. He continued in the role until April 1999, leaving without explanation.
"We're treating it as a resignation," said board president John Mairose at the time.
Rudge, a board member, was hired as director and served in the role for almost five years. In 2004, the board hired Chuck Baldwin to replace Rudge. Baldwin held the position until the end of 2005 when he resigned. The Journal could not reach Baldwin for comment for this story.
The board hired Phil Olson of Washington to replace Baldwin in September 2006, and now, less than two years later, he too is gone. Olson doesn't know if he will remain in Rapid City.
Board troubles
Rudge, who was a Humane Society board member through the turbulent late 1990s, doesn't know why Olson left, but when he was director, the board had a habit of "micromanaging," a complaint that was common during those years.
Most of the people from that board are no longer with the organization.
"I've seen it happen with many, many humane societies," Rudge said. "It's really funny - things go along really well for awhile, then the board starts taking over. Pretty soon it becomes untenable."
The Journal reported at the time of Rudge's departure that he resigned, but Rudge now says he was fired and didn't want to go.
"My time at the Humane Society was perhaps the most rewarding time of my working life. It was terribly sad to leave it," he said.
Things have been far quieter in recent years. But the Humane Society's financial situation and continued turnover suggest the organization hasn't reached its potential as an agency with stable leadership, positive financial trends and broad public support.
Olson said the most important thing in hiring a new director will be to have the board and the director be "a good team."
Asked whether that was a problem for him, he said, "I don't think that would characterize it," but wouldn't elaborate.
"It's not unusual for a fairly young organization - the Humane Society's about 40 years old and operating in its current fashion for about 20 years - for there to be changeover in a young organization," Olson said.
A common problem
Former board member Jeff Bailie, with the agency from 2005 to 2007, said the emotional nature of the work contributes to turnover among directors and board members.
Bailie said it's trying and stressful for people who care about animal welfare to see so many animals abused, abandoned and euthanized.
"That somehow is contrary to the whole concept of a humane society. I've often thought the term 'humane society' is a little off because if we were a humane society, we would not be putting animals to death."
The shelter makes every attempt to nurse and adopt animals, Bailie said, but animals are euthanized when they are dangerous or cannot be adopted.
"There's only so much you can do, and there's only so much room, and there's only so much resources," he said. "It never stops - the inflow never stops."
There can also be a difference of opinion among members about how to run the agency and their role.
"We had people who would come in and they would serve on the board with good reasons, and their heart's in the right place, but it just wasn't going in the direction they wanted," he said.
The organization still has to be run like a business, he said, and the board should be stewards. "You're looking at the general well-being, and you're not nitpicking."
The issue of turnover comes up "fairly routinely," said Dave Pauli, director of the Humane Society's Northern Rockies regional office, which covers eight western states including South Dakota. He said the Rapid City situation today should not be viewed as a major concern, and that service complaints had not reached his office.
"Is the Humane Society of the Black Hills' situation unique? To have a number of directors in a short period of time? It's certainly not rare and it's probably not unique. Many 501(c)3 animal shelters and humane societies go through three to five executive director positions before they find a long-term candidate."
Pauli said turnover can be positive when directors use their 2-3 years to make improvements, hire good staff, and then move on.
Even when a board does its due diligence - as Pauli believes Rapid City does - the executive director may not turn out to be the best match for a community. He recommends boards screen candidates well, communicate effectively about the board's mission and goals, and understand that the board's role does not include day-to-day management.
"The board and director - it's crucial that they're on the same page."
Hawley, the new director, said he and the board are in the process of setting goals, and share the goal "to get the Humane Society back in a good light across the spectrum."
He said that includes: developing a stronger relationship with area veterinarians, encouraging more people to volunteer, taking extra steps to make sure animals are healthy and ready to live with a family when they are adopted, improving relations with local government officials and better promoting the animals that are up for adoption.
Citizens demand service
The Humane Society president, and city and county officials are confident the agency is on the right track.
"I'm very optimistic they're going to be able to work through the issues," Mayor Hanks said.
He met with interim director Kim Berger on Wednesday, June 4 to discuss the citizen complaints.
The city and county don't have direct oversight over the Humane Society, but they want good service because they contract with the agency for animal control and sheltering services.
The city's 2008 contract with the agency is for $235,197, and the county's is for $50,000.
Hanks wanted to talk to Berger "just to make sure everybody's on the same page. The reason we contacted them, we've had some complaints from the public as far as the Humane Society's response to calls for service."
Sheriff Don Holloway hasn't had complaints from Pennington County residents and is satisfied with the Humane Society's service.
"Really things have been working pretty smooth for us," the sheriff said. "Whenever we've called, they've responded, and periodically somebody will take an animal in and they'll call us to get authorization. It seems like the communication's going well."
He recommended to county commissioners on June 6 that they maintain the current level of Humane Society funding, $50,000, in next year's budget. That budget has dropped from $69,000 and, therefore, the agency and the county have changed their agreement. This year, county residents can no longer drop off stray animals at the shelter without sheriff approval, and the Humane Society doesn't patrol the county for strays. It just provides sheltering for animals the county brings in.
"It's not the level of services we had before where they were out doing preventative patrolling," Holloway said. "I think this is the best alternative."
Board president Johnson said the agency is financially healthy now.
"We always have to keep looking in the future, though," he said. "And having a cut in income does cause some problems."
The agency's revenue has often exceeded expenses lately and the organization has been able to add to its net assets, according to information from the agency's income tax returns.
Assets took a small drop in 2006, a year in which expenses exceeded revenue by more than $20,000. Also that year, direct public support fell by more than $100,000 from the previous year.
The agency's financial information for 2007 is not yet available, Johnson said, but he said the agency has adequate liquid assets, is not in debt and its situation is "sound."
"In my tenure on the board, we've had to work diligently to maintain a profit, or positive cash flow," Johnson said. "It's always work. I cannot address the actual results from 2007 yet, but can say we're holding our own, we're looking positive."
Pauli said the community should support the board during this time of transition.
"I would suggest to not overreact," he said. "It's not a perfect situation but it's a part of growth. Very few agencies find the perfect executive director the first time they hire. … It's a long-term project and it will eventually happen. I give them that faith."
