adminPART ONE OF TWO
By LESLIE COLLINS
Northeast News
July 17, 2013
“You could have heard a pen drop,” said Amelia “Amy” Hull.
All of the board members were stunned, she said.
During the July 8 Kansas City Museum Advisory Board (KCMAB) meeting, Chief Executive Officer and President of Union Station Kansas City (USKC) George Guastello announced that Christopher Leitch had been fired from his position as house director of the Kansas City Museum. Despite questions from the board, Guastello refused to answer why Leitch was let go, and stated he could not comment on the matter since it was a personnel issue.
“I was completely aghast,” Hull said, KCMAB member and chairman of the KCMAB Advisory Board. “I think he was the best museum director we’ve had in recent history. He has done a great deal for the Northeast, for the diverse communities and their histories.”
She described him as effervescent, articulate, a director who welcomed all visitors and knew how to see the museum through the visitor’s eyes.
“It’s hard to describe, it really is,” she said.
Martha Lally, chair of KCMAB, echoed Hull’s sentiments.
“Christopher has been a kingpin in the ongoing revitalization of the Corinthian Hall facility and his outreach to Kansas City’s non-contiguous communities has brought new vision to the museum,” Lally said. “His vision and dedication to the museum and the Historic Northeast community will be deeply missed.”
Since 2006, Leitch has served as house director of the Kansas City Museum and previously served as program manager for the Belger Arts Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, assistant dean for Academic Affairs/Special Programs for the Kansas City Art Institute, among others.
Currently, Denise Morrison, director of collections and curatorial services for Union Station Kansas City and the Kansas City Museum, is serving as interim house director.
In a July 8 memo to Union Station staff, Guastello stated, “Denise Morrison will be responsible for all day to day management at the Kansas City Museum, and we will be evaluating future staffing needs on house management and programs.”
Calls and emails to USKC Board members were not returned. Joy Torchia, director of strategic marketing for Union Station, spoke on behalf of Guastello and Jerry Baber, chief financial officer and senior vice president of Union Station.
“At this point, those are internal conversations that are not being commented on,” Torchia said of the memo. “All I can say is that we’re continuing to honor our commitment with the city and maintain operations of the museum as we have in the past. The fact that Christopher Leitch is not in that position anymore does not change anything with our contract with the city. We remain committed to the preservation of the collection and continuing to carry out the objectives for the museum and Corinthian Hall.”
Hull believed the memo hinted at a reduction in staff or a closure of the museum altogether.
Kansas City Mayor Sly James, who was not informed of Leitch’s firing ahead of time, is working to smooth things over between Union Station and the Kansas City Museum.
“The mayor is talking to all the parties involved in that issue and trying to forge a positive path, so the Kansas City Museum remains the important civic institution that it is today,” said Joni Wickham, director of public affairs for the city of Kansas City Mayor’s Office.
When Lally talked to James via phone July 12, he assured her closing the museum was not an option.
“He said there would be no changes to the museum, other than a re-evaluation of the configuration of the (house) director’s position, and that the employees would remain in their positions at Corinthian Hall,” Lally told Northeast News. “The collection and the museum are safe.”
Union Station Kansas City and the Kansas City Museum became intermingled in 2001 when its two entities merged together – the Kansas City Museum Association (KCMA) and the Union Station Assistance Corporation – to form Union Station Kansas City, Inc. (USKC). During the merge, several KCMA board members resigned in protest. In 2007, the city of Kansas City approved a new management agreement with Union Station to manage the operations of the Kansas City Museum for the next 20 years, with an option to renew for an additional 10 years.
As a result of loss of governance to USKC, the Kansas City Museum lost its accreditation with the American Association of Museums (AAM) in 2005. Despite addressing a number of AAM’s concerns in 2006, the Kansas City Museum failed to regain accreditation and continues to remain unaccredited. In an August 2007 letter addressed to then-CEO of Union Station Kansas City Andi Udris, AAM states, “We still have major concerns regarding immediate and long-term financial stability. You have spent the majority of the principle of your endowment (for Union Station) over the last six years, and there is no definitive plan for replenishing this fund… While you have improved your financial position, there is no track record of financial stability.”
Another challenge, the letter stated, is finding the resources to adequately maintain and renovate Corinthian Hall as well as ensure collections stewardship.
“Given these considerable challenges, and the fact that this is a first-time accreditation for the merged entity of Union Station Kansas City, rather than just the Kansas City Museum, the Commission has decided not to award accreditation at this time,” the letter stated.
According to an inside source, USKC fired a third party management consultant for the Kansas City Museum in 2010, the same year that city staff sent a letter requesting financial updates from USKC. In 2011, the city issued a warning letter to USKC about non-compliance with its contract due to ignoring the June 2010 letter. The source also told Northeast News that during 2012, KCMAB members began questioning the nature and usefulness of the relationship with USKC and that the KCMAB chair met with the mayor and city manager to discuss ongoing questions.
The chair later met with city council members who recommended conducting an audit of the management agreement. City Council members Jan Marcason and Scott Wagner, who both serve on KCMAB, sponsored an ordinance, requesting the city auditor to conduct an audit of the management agreement with USKC. City Council members approved the request on Jan. 17, 2013, and the city auditor was scheduled to report back to the city’s Finance, Governance and Ethics Committee at the end of March regarding the proposed scope statement and timeline for completing the audit. To date, no presentation has been made. According to the ordinance, the audit will examine the scope and adherence of USKC’s management contract for operating the Kansas City Museum, will review allocations and shared expenses as well as the management of the museum’s collections and will review the mil levy fund use, among others. According to an inside source, USKC has been working behind the scenes to try to redefine the audit scope and allegedly told staff and KCMAB that “global thermonuclear war” and “scorched earth” would occur if the audit and contract talks did not proceed as desired.
Several Kansas City Museum initiatives could be endangered with Leitch’s departure, Lally said, which include Nuestra Herencia: Collecting Hispanic History and Culture; the historic gardens renovation; the Gay & Lesbian Archives of Mid-America; museum planning; the Historic Garment District Museum, Family Fun activities, among others. Leitch provided leadership and input on a regular basis for all of the above initiatives, she said.
“I have cherished the last seven years working at the Kansas City Museum and with the Historic Northeast community,” Leitch told Northeast News. “Historic Northeast is a community full of people with passion and it’s that passion that drives the vision and the goals of the museum and its ongoing mission to interpret and display Kansas City’s history and culture.”
Northeast lost its museum director, but residents shouldn’t give up on the museum, Hull said, who encouraged Northeast residents to contact city council members regarding the Kansas City Museum.
“I think the council people need to know how the Northeast voices think of this as well,” Hull said, “because it’s a city project. It’s a city museum.”
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