Executive Director of Shelter on Voluntary Administrative Leave
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By: Gini Pitisci
Tallahassee, FL – According to The Shelter board member, David Maloney, “The Shelter board placed Mel Eby, the Executive Director of The Shelter on voluntary administrative leave, effective immediately.” This action was taken while the ongoing investigation on activities at The Shelter is conducted by the Tallahassee Police Department. Maloney says “the Executive Board and The Shelter board pledge that when the report of the Tallahassee Police Department is issued, we will take whatever action appears to be appropriate and we will do it promptly.”
Two additional shelter employees are also being dismissed for not meeting employment standards. One of them was the employee placed on leave last week following Renee Millers sexual harassment allegations when she went undercover at The Shelter. Priscilla Tharpe, Vice Chair of The Shelter says “our investigations are showing that with some of the complaints that he does not need to be an employee of The Shelter and the other one that’s come up in some of the discussions we’ve had with guests and some of the follow up that we’ve done and that person is also being placed on leave.”
Jacob Reiter has been named acting Interim Director of The Shelter where he has been a paid employee for several years. Maloney says “he is in the Masters Clinical Social Work program at FSU, he has an excellent reputation and he is well known by all of the other homeless providers.”
This year is the 25th anniversary of the shelter and Mel Eby has been there since the very beginning. When asked if he could come back, Tharpe says “his heart is for The Shelter” and Maloney states “it’s all going to depend on what comes out of the investigations.” According to board members, they do not expect the police report to be complete for at least a week and could take as long as a month. Once the investigation is complete, they will make a decision on Mel Eby’s future employment with The Shelter. We reached out to Renee Miller this evening for a statement on her reaction to tonight’s decisions and at this point, have not heard back from her.
Board of Directors, Tallahassee-Leon Shelter Release
The Shelter’s Board of Directors placed its Executive Director Mel Eby, on voluntary administrative leave today effective immediately.
The action was taken while an investigation into activities at the Shelter conducted by the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) is ongoing and with which the Shelter continues to cooperate to the fullest extent.
Mr. Eby’s status is not a reflection of his integrity nor is it the result of substantiation of the allegations raised in the internet blog that led to the TPD investigation.
The Executive Director’s status will be reviewed by the Shelter Board at the time that TPD releases its report, expected to occur in early March.
The Shelter Board reiterates its pledge to the City of Tallahassee, Leon County, the Shelter’s funders, donors, staff and volunteers throughout the Big Bend Region and, most especially, to those whose needs are met by Shelter services, that it will promptly take all action determined to be appropriate following the release of TPD’s report.
Board of Directors, Tallahassee-Leon Shelter Release
RE: Shelter Acting Director Named
Jacob Reiter, an employee of the Shelter, was named Acting Director of the Shelter immediately following the placement of the Shelter’s Executive Director on administrative leave.
Mr. Reiter has worked with the Shelter through VISTA and as a paid employee for several years. He is currently in a Masters of Social Work Program at the FSU College of Social Work.
Professor Tomi Gomory of the College of Social Work and a member of the Shelter Board said, “I know at this difficult time for the Shelter that Jacob Reiter is exactly the right person for the demanding job of Acting Executive Director. Along with the Shelter Board and the many providers of homeless services in the community, I have full confidence in Jake.”
RE: Shelter Comings and Goings
Among Acting Director Reiter’s first actions were the announcement that he would hire a woman to manage the woman and children’s side of the Shelter. He also dismissed two employees, including the employees accused by Renee Miller in her internet blog that led to an ongoing investigation by the Tallahassee Police Department. Director Reiter explained that the employee accused by Ms. Miller was not dismissed on the basis of Ms. Miller’s as-yet unsubstantiated allegations but on the basis of the employee’s failure to meet employment standards implemented at the Shelter.
Wednesday, board members for Tallahassee’s homeless shelter held interviews with guests about possible misconduct on the job.
It’s the latest in a story we broke last week, after a pastor who went undercover there claims she was propositioned by a staff member.
Board members are waiting for the city to finish a report it’s conducting, but holding their own internal investigation in the mean time.
They want to know if shelter guests have experienced sexual harassment or any other issues they need to address.
“We had several ladies come in, they say there were no sexual harassment, they had no knowledge of any and they had not experienced it themselves,” said shelter board member Priscilla Tharpe.
“I think the community is kind of coming together about this in unity in order to address what’s a very serious problem,” said board member David Maloney.
The board members say they met with police today and are waiting for them to finish their investigation. However, they don’t know when that will be.
So far no other guests of the shelter have reported to them claims of sexual harassment.
UPDATED
By Julie Montanaro
February 20, 2013
Board members at The Shelter in Tallahassee are interviewing guests tonight about sexual harrassment allegations and other concerns.
It’s the latest in a story we first brought you last week, after a pastor who went undercover at the Shelter claimed she was propositioned by a sfaff member.
Pastor Renee Miller detailed her experiences in a blog on line.
This evening, board members will be interviewing shelter guests.
They want to know if they’ve experienced sexual harrassment – or if there are any other health and safety issues they need to address.
They are conducting their own internal investigation while Tallahassee Police work on theirs.
Tallahassee Police say they are still working on their investigation into the sexual harassment claims. We’ll let you know when that report is ready.
UPDATED
By Garin Flowers:
February 20, 2013
The Shelter’s executive board met Tuesday evening to discuss sexual harassment allegations leveled by a pastor who spent one night undercover there.
This is the first time the entire board for the Shelter met since the allegations made last week.
According to several board members, they say the meeting was to update the other members on what’s been going on.
The whole incident unfolded last week. A pastor who works with the homeless went undercover there for a night and claims she was propositioned by a staff member. She relayed all of this on a blog.
The blog about it all came as a shock to the Shelter board. The board’s vice chair said the employee in question was placed on unpaid leave immediately. He was told not to report to work Thursday night.
On Friday, Tallahassee’s city manager asked Tallahassee Police to investigate further. TPD spokesman David Northway says that investigation is still under way and he did not have a target date for its completion.
“We’re anxiously awaiting the police report that was ordered last Friday by the city of Tallahassee, so that we can find out what the police discovered on any further investigation,” said board member Priscilla Tharpe.
“We welcome that investigation and we pledged at that moment to cooperate to the fullest extent possible and we’re looking forward to a report from TPD that will be as exhaustive as possible in the circumstances,” said board member David Maloney.
The board has their own internal investigation along with the one being conducted by Tallahassee police.
Board members say they have a meeting with police and the United Way this week. They continued to stress to us that if the allegations are true, this is something they will not tolerate, but they hope the investigation by TPD will help them conclude their investigation.
One member wanted to remind the community of the 25 years of service they’ve provided to the community and hope to provide for many more years to come.
UPDATED
By Julie Montanaro
February 19, 2013
The Shelter’s executive board met tonight to discuss sexual harassment allegations leveled by a pastor who spent one night undercover there.
On Friday, Tallahassee’s city manager asked Tallahassee Police to investigate further. TPD spokesman David Northway says that investigation is still under way and he did not have a target date for its completion.
UPDATED
By Julie Montanaro
February 15, 2013
Claims of sexual harassment at the Shelter in Tallahassee have prompted two new investigations.
As we first reported last night, a pastor who works with the homeless went undercover there for a night and claims she was propositioned by a staff member.
He’s been placed on leave and there’s a meeting at 5 o’clock today to determine what happens next.
A missionary who works with the homeless says she spent just a few hours in disguise at The Shelter and was propositioned by a staff member before she even signed in.
“He says you don’t want to stay in there, you wanna come with me at my house. I will take you to McDonalds,” Miller said.
“We are taking the allegations very seriously,” board member David Maloney said.
Renee Miller’s blog about it all stunned the Shelter Board. The board’s vice chair says the employee in question was placed on unpaid leave immediately. He was told not to report to work Thursday night.
The board scheduled three emergency meetings today including one at 5 o’clock with the staff member who’s accused of propositioning Miller.
“If the employee admits the allegation, I think he’ll be fired on the spot, if the employee denies the allegation, there’s going to have to be an investigation,” Maloney said.
Tallahassee Police say they were called to the Shelter that night, but did not write a report and based on Miller’s comments did not find a crime was committed.
The city manager has asked the police chief to circle back to be sure.
“The city manager has asked the police chief to talk to the woman who wrote the blog post, talk to shelter clients, talk to shelter staff … and the real purpose is to determine is there any additional law enforcement issues that need to be looked into,” said city spokeswoman Michelle Bono.
According to Bono, The Shelter receives $402,000 in United Way funding as part of the city and county’s Community Human Services Partnership. She says the city has no oversight of the Shelter’s operations.
Leon County Administrator Vince Long said the same thing, but he said the missionary’s allegations of sexual harassment – and everything from bed bugs to missing backpacks – “”has our attention.”
The Shelter’s board members are just asking the community to consider its decades long track record of free services and not to rush to judgment on these allegations.
“We hope to have the opportunity to give us a chance to find out what is going on and know that as a board we will follow up and any wrongdoing will be righted,” said board vice-chair Prsicilla Tharpe.
A 5 o’clock meeting among the shelter’s executive board, attorneys and the employee accused of harassment has just wrapped up.
A board spokesman says the employee will remain on leave without pay until they can investigate further. They will hire an independent employment lawyer to conduct the investigation.
WCTV will bring you more on this story tonight on Eyewitness News.
By: Gina Pitisci
February 14, 2013
Tallahassee, FL – A local woman who works with the homeless everyday heard complaints about the Shelter before, but after several weeks of hearing the same complaints, decided to do something about it.
Renee Miller, Director, City Walk Urban Missions: “He says you don’t want to stay in there… You want to come stay with me, I’ll take you to McDonalds.”
According to Renee Miller, that was what she was told upon checking in at the Shelter when she went undercover as a homeless woman for the night.
Renee Miller, Director, City Walk Urban Missions: “I asked for a drink of water when I got there, and the guy who had asked me for sex handed me a half drank bottle of his own water– I couldn’t even get clean water from a spigot, or something in a cup.”
The Executive Director of the Shelter says that although events like this are uncommon they plan to look into the issue further.
Mel Eby, Executive Director, the Shelter: “it’s possible, it’s possible any place and we’ll investigate and of course we wouldn’t tolerate anything like that. We’re going to investigate to look more into it and if there is any truth to it, we’ll take action.”
While undercover, Renee also met a woman who was bit multiple times by bed bugs at the shelter.
Mel Eby, Executive Director, the Shelter: “The bed bugs have been a problem all over town, including in the FSU dorms, and we keep working on it, it’s not like we ignore it, but the problem is there are so many transients coming in with new luggage and new belongings and they could be bringing them in.”
Two local homeless men also gave their opinion of the Shelter and their experience while staying there.
Joshua Horne, one homeless man, stated, “It’s alright, Mel’s a good guy, he really is, he’s trying to help people.”
H.B., one homeless man, adds, “At the Shelter, to me, the people ain’t right. See they’ll keep you there, they’ll feed you, but when someone else thought that you are trouble, they’ll put you out and let them stay in there. It ain’t right.”
If you would like to help the homeless in our area, City Walk Urban Missions accepts clothes, household items and monetary donations at their thrift store. They are located at 1351 Thomasville Road in Tallahassee and the proceeds go back to helping the homeless or ex-offenders.
To read Renee Miller’s full blog post, “Undercover at the Shelter”, go to http://www.tallahasseegrapevine.com/blog/view/id_4230/title_undercover-at-the-shelter-in-tallahassee/.
February 22, 2013
Cop Reviews, Crimes, Government Officials, Law Enforcement