This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 14, 2013 - As trustees of the Missouri History Museum begin the process of finding a president to replace the departed Robert Archibald, they plan to let the existing managing directors run the institution rather than hire someone to be in charge in the interim.
John Roberts, chairman of the museum board, told a meeting of the trustees’ executive committee at the museum Monday that if any decisions are to be made about day-to-day operations, he would make them in consultation with the directors. And, he said, the search committee to be led by trustee Donna Wilkinson would also include commissioners from the Zoo-Museum District subdistrict.
That way, he said, the new president will be acceptable to both groups now in charge of budgeting and compensation for the museum. To handle the search in any other way would be, in the words of trustee Bill Rusnack, “the dumbest thing we could do.”
Archibald’s surprise resignation last month, after he had signed a new one-year contract, culminated a period of several months when the museum was under fire for his compensation and for a deal in which a tract of land was purchased on Delmar for use as a community center that was never built.
Before he resigned, Archibald was paid $566,000 for unused vacation days. He will receive $270,000 for the first six months of this year to act as a consultant during the transition following his departure.
As a result of the controversy over Archibald's compensation and the land deal, a new contract between the museum’s trustees and the subdistrict commissioners was negotiated by former Sen. John C. Danforth. It took effect on Jan. 1, giving equal representation to both groups on the museum’s budget and compensation committees.
Though it does not require subdistrict commissioners to be involved in the search for Archibald’s successor, Roberts said the most sensible way to go forward would be not only to include commissioners but also to reach out to the public, to make sure the final choice has wide acceptance.
“We will make sure that this is very community-based,” Wilkinson told the group.
Roberts said that the work of the compensation committee and that of the search committee will proceed on similar paths because anyone who would consider coming to the museum would have to know what the compensation would be.
He said that compensation for the new president might have to come not only from the museum but from another source, perhaps a university that could offer a teaching position to attract someone with the proper credentials.
The museum needs to be able to hire the best person possible, Roberts said, adding:
“We need a person of significant stature. Maybe we will have to figure out a dual compensation structure…. We have built wonderful institutions here. We don’t want to try to hire a person we can’t adequately compensate.”
Given the new contract between the trustees and the subdistrict, and the active involvement of commissioners in budget, compensation and search, the executive committee of the board had some discussion over who precisely has final responsibility for the museum’s operations.
Trustee Wayne Goode said that while the trustees retain the fiduciary responsibility to protect the museum’s collection, “I don’t see how as a practical matter we are going to do anything without the subdistrict.”
Roberts agreed, saying, “We’re not going to hire somebody they are not happy with.”
Until a new president is hired, Roberts said, “my role will be to calm the external storms so we can move on to see what this museum will be in the future and how it will operate most efficiently.”
He said he had been working on the situation seven days a week, nearly 24 hours a day, since taking over as head of the board of trustees last month, and has met with senior staff, directors and other staff members at the museum.
“I’ve told all the staff,” he said, “that if anyone wants to talk to me, I’m available…. I’ve assured them that everybody’s job is not to worry about external issues.”
Because of the situation, he added, hiring an outsider as an interim head of the museum would not be a good idea.
“Bringing an interim person in at the juncture, unless that person was very familiar with this institution, doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Roberts said.
Some of the trustees said they would like to see a more aggressive communication effort to let the public know that what they have been hearing about the museum in recent months should not overshadow what the institution has to offer.
Trustee Laura Shaughnessy countered that she thought that the museum is doing a good job of getting its message out to the public, but more work is going to have to be done on a one-on-one basis to talk with donors and other backers “to dig us out of this hole.”
“We’re in a crisis,” she said, to which Roberts replied:
“Nobody knows that better than I do.”
To help rebuild the museum image, he said, it needs to act more like its sister institutions in Forest Park, the Zoo and the Art Museum, to get the word out about the good things that are happening.
“We probably need to step up our external communications,” he said, “so people understand what is here.”
In their reports to the trustees, managing directors said attendance last year was up, to 380,000, which they said is more than the attendance at similar institutions in places like Chicago and New York City. They also said that more than 484,000 people got information from the museum’s website, an increase of 41 percent.
As the year progresses and the search process begins, Roberts said, he wants the trustees – or at least various groups of them – to begin meeting more often, to keep closer track of spending and budgetary issues. He also wants to begin a strategic planning process and draw up policies and procedures to clarify the museum’s governance structure, for the sake of both the public and the museum’s staff.
“We’ve really go to start to change the culture here in how we deal with our employees,” Roberts said.