JS Online: Hands-off board hurt museum

JS Online: Hands-off board hurt museum: "Hands-off board hurt museum
Members' lax attendance, cruise-control attitude contributed to financial crash
By AVRUM LANK and DAVE UMHOEFER
alank@journalsentinel.com
Posted: June 25, 2005

When the board of the Milwaukee Public Museum gathered in June 2003 to consider an ambitious budget for the 2004 fiscal year starting that September, eight of its then 25 members were in the room.
55252Public Museum
Membership


The museum board met only once every two months, and attendance was spotty.
Board members often found their private interests and museum responsibilities overlapping.
The board's organization concentrated power.
Directors acknowledge that they put too much trust and authority in museum managers.
Museum Board

The $26 million spending plan, by far the largest in the institution's history, was approved within an hour without change, with seven more directors assenting by phone. Some late-arriving members missed part of the budget presentation."