MAC’s ex-boss wants job back

The fired executive director of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture says he’s ready to go back to work, while his lawyers say he’s still technically in charge.

Meanwhile, some members of the museum’s foundation board are calling for the resignations of MAC board members who led the effort to fire Forrest Rodgers.

Attorneys representing Rodgers say their client’s firing was illegal and should be treated as if it never happened.

Rodgers remains the executive director of the museum, and if the board votes again to terminate him, he will “assess his legal options” and may file a tort claim for more than $750,000, according to the letter Rodgers’ attorneys, Susan Nelson and Bob Dunn, wrote to Chris Schnug, president of the Eastern Washington State Historical Society Board of Trustees, which oversees the MAC.

The support he’s received from the community has given him confidence that he would remain an effective leader for the museum, Rodgers said Friday.

“What that letter reiterates is my desire to get back and do the job I was brought here to do,” said Rodgers, who expressed disappointment that the letter was made public because it might worry museum employees.

Rodgers has requested a contract through June 30, 2014, that would require the board not to fire him without cause.

The executive committee of the society board violated its rules April 24 when it fired Rodgers without a vote of the full board.

Members of the MAC board’s executive committee have given no reason publicly for his firing, but they convened a meeting of the full board on May 2 and met privately before voting 13-7 to uphold the termination.

Rodgers, who earned $120,000 a year as the MAC’s executive director, had requested that deliberations about his future be open to the public, but the board voted to meet in secret.

Dunn said Friday that the members who participated in the “illegal” vote of the executive committee should not have been allowed to vote in the follow-up meeting.

Attempts to reach Schnug were unsuccessful Friday.

Rodgers was hired last summer and is the former president and CEO of the High Desert Museum in Bend, Ore., and former executive director of the Central Washington University Foundation.

His firing was extremely divisive, and Rodgers continues to enjoy support of the museum’s separate foundation board.

Paul Ellyson, the foundation board president, said he supports the reinstatement of Rodgers and that the board remains united in support of him. He added, however, that it’s difficult to make a full assessment of Rodgers because the MAC board still has not explained the reasons behind Rodgers’ firing.

He said the foundation board may consider a vote of no confidence against the executive committee of the MAC board at a meeting on Monday.

Peter Moye, the immediate past president of the foundation board, said the executive committee of the MAC board has damaged the museum’s reputation and “brought it into disrepute.” He supports holding a no-confidence vote.

“The best possible way to move forward is for them to resign,” Moye said.

Some museum donors have warned that they are holding back support as a result of the controversy, he said.

“They’re not going to give until this mess is cleaned up,” Moye said.

MAC board member Jim Sullivan, who opposed Rodgers’ termination, said Rodgers’ letter “accurately portrayed” the handling of the firing.

“I still think that Forrest is a really good fit for the community and the institution,” he said.

The letter from Nelson and Dunn said that the executive committee’s action is enough to trigger liability.

“However, Mr. Rodgers desires to act in accord with what he perceives to be the best interest of the community and the MAC. His preference is to retain his position at the helm and continue the fresh, innovative and professional leadership he has been publicly acknowledged to have demonstrated during his tenure.”