Disgruntled ex-members sue Boone County Historical Society

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The fate of the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Birthplace lies at the core of the lawsuit filed Friday against the Boone County Historical Society by four disgruntled former members of the society.

Jason M. Casini

Four Boone County residents and former members of the Boone County Historical Society (BCHS) filed a lawsuit Friday in Boone County Districy Court against the historical society .

The suit alleged the eight members of the BCHS board of directors and the BCHS executive director engaged in “mismanagement” and “intentional misconduct,” according to the petition filed by Des Moines attorney Jason M. Casini.

The 16-page petiton claimed the board and its director committed “repeated, blatant and intentional violations of the bylaws of the BCHS and Iowa law.”

The plaintiffs — Sally Courter, Joan Hamilton, Kevin Miles and Linda Millis — were described in the petiton as “members or former members of the BCHS whose memberships were purportedly terminated by the BCHS.”

The defendants named in the suit were former BCHS Executive Director Mara MacKay and eight members of the BCHS Board of Directors: President Janet Tait, Donna Cottington, Robin Crouch, Karen Dannen, Pat Hahn, Rebecca Miller, Matthew Parsons and Tom Sandve.

The suit alleged three violations of civil law — breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and intentional interference with existing contract — and asked the court for equitable relief, declaratory judgment, a temporary injuntion and a permanent injunction.

According to the petition, the BCHS board committed a number of technical violations of its own bylaws and of Chapter 504 of the Iowa Code, including acting in the absence of a quorum, refusing to provide the non-profit corporation’s records to members who requested them, failing to give timely notice to members before the January 2018 annual meeting and several others.

Also prominent in the petition was the plaintiffs’ professed concern over the BCHS board’s management of the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Birthplace (MDEB). The petition claimed some historical society members in 2017 “began raising concerns regarding mismanagement of the BCHS” by MacKay and the BCHS board, particularly when the board “announced that it would be closing the MDEB for two years to focus its resources on other projects and was considering converting the MDEB into a vacation rental or ‘bed and breakfast.'”

In response “to member concerns and community concerns,” the Boone City Council voted  in December 2017 to withhold its annual funding from the BCHS “until the dispute regarding the fate of MDEB was fully resolved,” the petition noted. The Boone County Board of Supervisors and half-a-dozen local funding agencies were also induced to deny funding to the BCHS at about the same time.

The suit claimed the bylaw violations by the BCHS board at the January 2018 annual meeting were followed by further violations at a March 2018 special meeting, including tampering with the vote. The BCHS board, it was alleged, “issued numerous ‘complimentary’ new memberships to multiple persons who they believed would vote in favor of their positions, in order to influence the votes at the special meeting.”

According to the suit, “the issuance of new memberships just prior to the special meeting materially affected the result of the votes regarding removal of the board.”

The plaintiffs and their fellow opponents of the BCHS board failed to remove the board at the March special meeting. Following the meeting, the “members who had raised concerns regarding mismanagement of the BCHS and violations of bylaws and Iowa law by the executive director and board of directors began receiving letters notifying them of the recommended termination of their memberships,” the petition said.

Some terminated members challenged their expulsions at hearings before a committee of the BCHS that they later described as “‘kangaroo courts’ that appeared to be ‘scripted’ to provide the illusion of good faith and due process,” according to the petition.

The petition noted that Boone Mayor John Slight requested the State of Iowa Auditor’s Office in June to conduct a financial audit of the BCHS “due to numerous complaints from members of the community.” Complaints have also reportedly been made to the office of the Iowa Attorney General.

The petiton also quoted from an Aug. 29, 2018, letter from BCHS President Tait addressed to “members who had previously raised concerns regarding mismanagement.” The letter listed several reasons for the termination of their memberships, including their becoming “aligned with a group who mobilized the community against” the BCHS “and in so doing damaged its reputation.”

The letter said the terminated members engaged in “actions [that] damaged the reputation” of the BCHS “on social media and in the community,” including asserting that the board “mismanaged funds” and failed to maintain the MDEB, thereby reducing the historical society’s “ability to connect with future supporters and raise funds.”

Tait’s letter also claimed the expelled members used their positions of prominence in the local community “to influence others in pursuing a special agenda” against the BCHS.

Ending the petition’s list of claims was the recently announced “sale or other disposition of the MDEB and related artifacts, which are irreplaceable community treasure.” The plantiffs claim the BCHS board is pursuing its plans “over the stated objections of many longtime members of BCHS and other members of the Boone community.”

The plaintiffs asked the court for “compensatory damages and punitive damages” and “any additional relief the Court deems just and equitable under the circumstances of this case.” They also claim that due to “the extreme nature of the intentional misconduct” of the BCHS defendants, the defendants “are not entitled to statutory immunity.”

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