FAIR GAME
OPEN SEASON ON VERMONT POLITICS BY PAUL HEINTZ
Downton the Tubes
22-26
12 FAIR GAME
SEVEN DAYS
01.22.14-01.29.14
SEVENDAYSVT.COM
T
4v-LakeChamChoc012214.indd 1
here’s plenty of drama on Vermont Public Television — but off-camera, the station’s experiencing its own turmoil. Upset with a board of directors they say has “gone rogue,” VPT staff members are in open revolt against the station’s volunteer leadership. They say a majority of VPT’s employees plan to attend a board retreat next Monday to demand that chairwoman PAM MACKENZIE and vice chairman ROB HOFMANN resign. “We feel betrayed by the board,” says VPT major gifts director CHUCK BONGIORNO. “I’ve been in the nonprofit world for 30 years, and I’ve never seen behavior like this.” “This is a rogue board that has gone out of control and is acting in a way that’s hurting the institution they’re supposed to be supporting,” says BRENNAN NEILL, the station’s on-air fundraising manager. “I find it appalling.” The staff insurrection stems from an anonymous complaint submitted to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on Christmas Eve. The letter alleges that Mackenzie, Hofmann and others held at least 20 secret board meetings over the course of two years, during which they “conducted business, voted and acted on behalf of the board.” “Board leadership has routinely, deliberately disregarded open meeting requirements, despite repeated attempts by [president and CEO JOHN KING] and staff to provide recommendation and training on CPB open meeting and certification requirements,” the anonymous complaint says. VPT announced on January 8 that CPB, which provides nearly 16 percent of the station’s $7.7 million operating budget, is investigating the complaint. The station’s spokeswoman, ELIZABETH METRAUX, declined to answer questions about the situation, saying, “Management and staff can’t speak to ongoing legal issues with the board, so we have no comment on the CPB investigation.” VPT could face significant fines — including complete withdrawal of CPB support — if it is found to have violated the Communications Act of 1934, which mandates that federally funded stations hold “open meetings preceded by reasonable notice to the public.” CPB assistant inspector general for investigations HELEN MOLLICK, who is overseeing the VPT inquiry, did not respond to a request for comment. According to Bongiorno, Neill and other staff members who would not speak
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on the record, VPT employees have expressed outrage in recent staff meetings over the prospect that board intrigue could threaten the nonprofit’s bottom line. “If a major fine is instituted as a result of whatever the inspector general finds, it doesn’t impact the board. It impacts us,” Neill says. “And it impacts potential cuts in service, cuts in programs, cuts in jobs at VPT.” Even though staff members were not aware of, nor involved with the alleged secret meetings, Bongiorno says, “Once an organization’s reputation is damaged, it’s very, very difficult to fix that in a quick time period. So we’re mad.” Why board members would convene in secret remains unclear, though several people close to the situation say that the meetings had to do with the “toxic relationship” between current board leaders
WE FEEL BETRAYED BY THE BOARD.
C H UC K BO NGIO R N O
and King, who joined VPT in 1987 and became its president and CEO in 1998. In recent months, at least two senior managers have left the station. On the same day VPT disclosed that it was under investigation, Mackenzie announced at a board meeting that its former chairman, JIM WYANT, had resigned from the board in November. Shortly after that meeting, board member SCOTT MILNE tendered his resignation. Both men say their departures were not directly related to the CPB complaint, but they each hinted at dysfunction within the board’s ranks. “I know they’ve got a lot of work to do to get this straightened out,” says Milne, who owns Barre’s Milne Travel. “If, in fact, as the complaint alleges, there were 22 meetings that were not properly open to the public, I think that’s a problem. Whether it’s a selectboard, a volunteer fire department or anyone relying on public funds, a basic responsibility is transparency in operations.” Wyant, a business consultant who continues to serve on the board of the affiliated Public Television Association of Québec, says VPT’s problems stem from a discernable change in board culture. “Two years ago a new board leadership took over, and I think at that stage the whole concept of policy governance pretty much got thrown over the side, and the board began to take a more active role,” he says.
Mackenzie, a business consultant who also serves as chairwoman of the South Burlington City Council, became VPT’s board chairwoman in July 2012. Hofmann, the vice chairman, is a senior vice president of Morrisville’s Union Bank. He served as commissioner of finance and corrections and then secretary of human services under former governor JIM DOUGLAS. Both board members declined to comment, deferring to Northfield Savings Bank president and CEO TOM PELLETIER, who chairs the board’s audit committee. He says the board is conducting its own inquiry into the matter, apart from the CPB’s. “I can assure you that the board at VPT is committed to proper corporate governance, adherence to the rules and regulations that apply to Vermont Public Television,” Pelletier says. “In the event we had a misstep, we need to correct it. Whether we’ve had any missteps is still open to question.” Staff members, who express support for King, say they believe that if Mackenzie, Hofmann and others allegedly involved in the situation resign, the CPB may show some lenience. “There will be fines levied unless there are resignations,” Bongiorno says. “To what level those fines are going to be, we don’t know.”
Case Closed
A much-anticipated rematch of the 2012 Democratic primary for attorney general ended this week not with a bang, but a whimper. Since he lost to Attorney General BILL SORRELL by a mere 714 votes, Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. DONOVAN has publicly and privately contemplated a second run for the state’s top cop job. But on Monday, Donovan told Seven Days he’s decided against it. Instead, he said, it’s “likely” he’ll seek a third four-year term as state’s attorney. “In the final analysis, I came to the conclusion it’s not the right time for me personally and professionally,” the 40-yearold Burlingtonian said. Evidently, the decision wasn’t easy. “I’ve been struggling with it for quite some time,” he said. “Literally my mind would change every morning when I woke up. I’d feel one way one day and the next day I’d feel another way. And, you know, I had to make a decision, so I did.” Donovan said that after several of his 2012 campaign proposals were signed into law, he had fewer issues on which to run. He said he also hopes to focus on helping Gov. PETER SHUMLIN spread Donovan’s rapid-intervention community court to