After 35 years at the helm of the Tennessee State Museum, executive director Lois Riggins-Ezzell has left the building, but the recent controversies under her tenure have not followed her into retirement.
The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission, the governing body of the agency, is set to meet Jan. 24 and discuss prospective replacements for Riggins-Ezzell — a process that has been ongoing for well over a year and until last month actually included Riggins-Ezzell as a non-voting member of the search committee. Whether they find a new executive director to hire or put off a decision for the future, one thing is clear — the management of the museum is in shambles, both internally and through the commission itself.
Over the years, Riggins-Ezzell maneuvered to ensure the DHSMC — technically, her bosses — was filled with her supporters. Currently the only critic of any of the management missteps is former Knoxville mayor Victor Ashe, who has a reputation for stirring things up wherever he’s serving. Since the rest of the commission is irked by Ashe’s provocations, they tend to act like whatever point he’s making is invalid, even when he is raising issues of real concern.
One such issue was the 25 percent raise that Riggins-Ezzell and her deputy director, Mary Jane Crockett-Green, gave themselves in March. Rep. Steve McDaniel, then the chair of the commission, was the only member who knew about the raise, and all three pretended for months that it hadn’t happened. Yet when the commission found out about the raises, there was no discussion of the possibly illegal action, just a quick vote at its December meeting to retroactively approve them.
At that same meeting, there was a motion to appoint Crockett-Green the official interim executive director, complete with a raise for her new temporary job, despite questions about nepotistic hiring practices. Crockett-Green’s sister had been working part time for the museum, directly under her supervision, according to the museum’s organizational chart — a violation of state law. (Crockett-Green’s son had also worked for the museum from 2005 until 2015. However, he was never under his mother’s direct supervision.)
The motion failed only because DHSMC chair Tom Smith convinced members to hold off on making a decision until the January meeting in the hopes that a new executive director could be quickly hired. But as deputy director, Crockett-Green technically remains in charge of the museum. Last week she fired the agency’s two part-time employees, her sister and another employee who had been there for 10 years, ostensibly for budgetary reasons.
But the other fired employee, Linda Jent, says she suspects her firing was retaliatory, as was that of curator Rex Weeks in November. Weeks had filed several complaints about museum management with the Department of Human Resources, and Jent had been openly critical of Crockett-Green.
In response to questions about the firings, Department of Human Resources spokesperson Ashley Fuqua emailed, “Both part-time employees were brought on to assist with specific projects and/or tasks. With those projects/tasks reaching completion and no anticipated special events or temporary exhibitions until the museum is moved to its new location in 2018, there was no longer a need for the part-time positions.
“Additionally, the museum is anticipating the hire of a new executive director to occur very quickly. A request was filed for an additional $40K in our FY 17/18 budget to support any difference in salary between Lois and the new director. However, if the hiring takes place prior to July 1, as expected, the Museum has to be prepared to supplement that money until the annual budget is increased.”
When the Scene pointed out that Jent had been at the museum for a decade — not exactly a hiring for a specific project — Fuqua responded, “Linda Jent’s primary responsibility was to support staff in administration, collections, exhibits and special events. Again, since the museum is not planning any more temporary exhibitions or special events until the new museum opens, the position was not needed at the time.”
But according to Jent, that’s not true. In addition to the annual Tennessee Waltz fundraising gala in April, with which Jent has helped in the past, she says there are at least 11 outside events scheduled in the next two months alone.
“This is my busiest time of year,” Jent says.
But Smith says he’s not concerned with any personnel changes Crockett-Green is making in the absence of any supervision.
“It’s my understanding part-time state employees serve at the will of their direct supervisor and may be terminated at any time without cause,” Smith emails. “The museum is always looking for ways to minimize unnecessary costs. If these part-time folks no longer had work to do, then letting them go would in my opinion be an appropriate action. … Simply being good stewards of taxpayer dollars seems to me.”
Jent says she is weighing a lawsuit; Weeks is reportedly doing the same.
