At the heart of operating any municipal department, one has to ask, why it would be considered normal practice to staff a public, essentially retail department with only one person? Each time I look at the controversy over at the Norwalk Museum, I wonder just what planet this museum operates on.
The brief history, as I understand it (but feel free to add details in the comments) is one where one person, the curator is responsible for, well, curating, and otherwise operating the museum and overseeing other historical city properties. The museum has set hours that must be open to the public. And none of these tasks gets performed with any regularity or accountability. The reasons, have fueled many a news story over the several years, and rather than recapping the back and forth, I will just focus on the latest, but here’s Robert Koch’s summary from the Hour:
Since becoming curator in 2000, Gunn and the commission have been at odds over museum staffing, access to the building, and oversight of grants and other funding.
Four years ago, former Mayor Alex Knopp commissioned a panel to untangle the relationship between Gunn and the commission. The panel traced the problem to the museum curator reporting “directly to the mayor and not to the Historical Commission, undermining the commission’s authority and ability to function.”
Several years ago, Gunn filed a grievance against the city seeking alleged unpaid overtime money. She was denied the $44,927 sought, but the resulting settlement did boost her salary from $60,125 to $63,125.
The curator, Susan Gunn has been on medical leave for several months. As a union employee, she has a contract that protects her job while on leave. That for the most part is understandable, and one of the benefits of belonging to a union. It is odd though that a museum curator is under a union contract though, but I don’t know the details of how that arrangement occurred, and most of the museum curators I know were not union members at all, but academic experts. But I digress, it is mind boggling that any city department operate with only one staff person. No real world business would operate this way. So for the curator to be out on leave, with no staff replacement in place is a fantastic absurdity.
As usual Gail Wall manages to take a simple problem and conflate it with extra helpings of drama. From the Hour:
“I have a very, very serious concern here. We have a volunteer organization opening and closing the museum. We’ve had no staff person supporting the Historic Commission since December,” said commission Vice Chairwoman Gail Wall. “This means that the Norwalk Museum is basically at risk. It means that if there’s a fire there, if there’s water damage, there is no one that is a first responder to address the matters.”I think we should bring it to the attention of the Land Use Committee. I think the Land Use Committee should investigate the situation and maybe help us secure and find a remedy,” Wall said.
In the business world, when you have key staff members out on leave, you hire temporary workers to fill the vacancy. That is the sane and rational thing as the work must go on. And in the non profit world of curating, there are many people out there who step into situations just like this. The roster of acting-insert-titles-here, is legendary.
Newly appointed and newly elected Chair Peter Bondi has been essentially punting on the issue, which is not good. Relying on volunteers to manage the department, is a short term and emergency management solution, This situation is clearly a long term one, since the hours and tasks of the position have been under dispute for years.
“The leave of absence has now been extended another two weeks with another two-week possibility. The reason for this is for all parties involved to determine how Sue is going to phase-in her comeback,” Bondi said. “The personnel director and corporation counsel need to get together and make (the return) work.”
Bondi said he had spoken earlier Wednesday with James Haselkamp, director of personnel and labor relations for the city. He described Gunn’s absence and return as a “union issue” that is “out of our hands.” Gunn is a member of the Norwalk Municipal Employees Association.
Haselkamp said Gunn was granted a 12-week family medical leave in January. That leave expired at the end of March. She is now on a personal leave of absence, he said.
“There will be one more three-week (extension) while we await information,” Hasel-kamp said. “I would think that, at a minimum, she’s going to be out another three weeks. At that point there will be an assessment of her situation.”
Mark Carey, the Southport attorney representing Gunn, could not be reached for comment.
It’s the long term that needs to be addressed.
source: The Hour, Curator’s leave extension causing panel tension, By ROBERT KOCH, April 27, 2007
