Today’s Hour has a nice editorial about the Norwalk Museum.

The saga of the Norwalk Museum, located in the former City Hall on North Main Street, could make a miniseries for television with its many twists and turns.

The Friends of the Museum, a volunteer organization, has put forward an agreement to operate the museum, amending it to read, in conjunction with the curator, Susan Gunn.

The agreement drew a quick response from the attorney representing the Municipal Employees Association, of which Gunn is a member.

The Friends’ proposal is heading (or not) to a council committee and the corporation counsel’s office and ultimately the council.

The union has rejected the proposal out of hand and has threatened filing a prohibitive practice complaint.

Under the agreement, the organization would be responsible for fundraising, staffing, providing volunteers, opening and closing the building, responding to emergencies, conducting inventories, maintaining the reference library and putting on exhibitions. That seems to cover everything.

That the museum could be a strong attraction in South Norwalk, there is no doubt. The constant squabbling between the Friends and the curator can only hurt that effort.

It is up to the city’s director of personnel and labor relations and Corporation Counsel Peter Nolin to find their way through this legal minefield.

As for the dedicated volunteers, it calls to mind the expression “no good deed goes unpunished.”

So let’s see what the proposal really said:

As the City’s Museum lease prohibits subletting, the understanding would be in the form of an operating agreement codifying what is already in place.

1. The City shall continue to house the Collection and to pay for the current leasehold.

2. The Friends shall be responsible for and shall continue to perform all operations necessary, related and usual in the operation of a museum, including but not limited to: fundraising, staffing, volunteers, opening and closing, emergency response, programming, inventory and care of the Collection, mounting exhibitions, developing and maintaining the Norwalk Historical Reference Library, applying for grants, publishing, promotion, training and supervision of volunteers and interns, web site content and maintenance, and hosting events for other not for profit corporations and community groups at the Museum.

3. The Friends shall continue to notify and obtain authorization from the Norwalk Historical Commission concerning accession, de-accession or loan of any Collection materials.

4. The Friends shall continue to maintain liability insurance coverage for their members and volunteers, and for functions hosted by the Friends at the Museum. This shall not be construed as a requirement to insure items in the Collection, for which the City is self-insured.

Read the whole thing here.

The Hour is wrong to cast this as The curator is not attending Historical Commission meetings, as the sole staff person this is unheard of. The curator does not perform basic curatorial duties, and has shown little interest as most recently failing to show for an appointment with an exterminator. The City of Norwalk should do the right thing, and fire the curator for negligence.