The other shoe may be ready to drop at the Key West Art & Historical Society (KWAHS). Management and some board members are still trying desperately to suppress details of Executive Director Kevin O'Brien's bizarre firing of Assistant Director Joe Pais two weeks ago— after Pais had already resigned to accept a prestigious job with the State Division of Historic Resources in Tallahassee.
Pais said he was told he was being fired for writing a column in Key West The Newspaper calling for a ban on brightly-lighted soft drink vending machines in the historic district.
But we also know that some members of the KWAHS board are fuming because O'Brien didn't consult them before firing Pais, an act that has embroiled the organization in a firestorm of embarrassing controversy. One former member of the Society has even threatened to organize a boycott of KWAHS events unless the firing of Pais is rescinded.
The general consensus of the people we've talked to around town is that O'Brien's decision appears to be just plain dumb. Don't be surprised to see O'Brien himself getting the ax in the near future.
When O'Brien walked into Pais' office and fired him at 5:30 on Friday afternoon, Dec. 3, this was the situation:
• Pais had already announced that he was resigning effective Dec. 31. The board had already accepted his resignation and had approved a separation package appropriate for a longtime manager.
• Pais had been a key player in building the KWAHS. He had been called in to take over the books after an embezzlement scandal at the KWAHS 11 years ago. He had just returned from Valley Forge, where he received the George Washington Medal of Honor for the U.S. Battleship Maine Centennial Commission, which he spearheaded. He had played a major role in the restoration of the old Custom House.
• In Pais' new job in Tallahassee, he will be one of the decision-makers concerning which museums around the state will get grants. O'Brien knew that. But he fired Pais anyway. Duh! This past year, KWAHS received more than $70,000 in grants from the Division of Historical Resources. Wonder what they'll get next year.
• And, finally, Joe Pais is not just your average citizen or your average employee. He is a public fugure— a former City Commissioner, a candidate for mayor and the current chairman of the City Planning Board. He had written a popular opinion column in this newspaper since November 1995.
People all over the island are asking: What could Pais have possibly done that was so bad that O'Brien felt compelled to fire him on the spot, just three weeks before Christmas— after he had already resigned!? That question has yet to be publicly answered. And to try to keep it a secret, management and some board members quickly joined together in a Conspiracy of Silence. "No comment!" they said in unison. "It's an internal matter. It's none of your business! But don't let that keep you from sending us money."
But that Conspiracy of Silence is gradually cracking. We now know that O'Brien didn't consult the board before he fired Pais because two board members told us. And KWAHS President Susan Cardenas, who just a few days ago would only parrot the "no comment" position, finally relented and wrote a letter to the Key West Citizen this week. She addressed speculation that one of the "soda pop barons" had demanded that Pais be fired and that the Society had folded like a cheap lawn chair.
She wrote: "The decision to terminate Mr. Pais was made by his supervisor, Kevin O'Brien. Despite allegations to the contrary, no one demanded that Mr. O'Brien take this action, nor was Mr. O'Brien pressured by Pepsi or any other entity to terminate Mr. Pais.
"When Mr. O'Brien explained his reasons to members of the board following the termination of Mr. Pais, the board overwhelmingly supported the decision and found it to be justified.
"Out of respect to Mr. Pais, we will not disclose the reasons that justify termination of his employment, nor will we comment further on an internal personnel decision," Cardenas wrote.
Well, that explanation certainly raises more questions than it answers, doesn't it?
It tells us that, while O'Brien didn't think he needed to consult with the board before he fired Pais, he quickly learned that he had some serious `splaining to do after the fact. Was a special board meeting called to give O'Brien an opportunity to "explain his reasons"? Or did he call each member of the board on the phone? Was he required to submit a written report, or did he just wing it verbally? Are there any written records explaining the "Pais incident"?
Cardenas says, presumably with a straight face, that the board "overwhelmingly approved" O'Brien's action. Frankly, we don't believe it. Show us a breakdown of how each board member "voted."
Why is Cardenas so unwilling to publicly reveal what she says is the "secret" reason Pais was fired? We think we know. Because the real reason would sound so stupid that it would damage the credibility of the KWAHS management more than it has already been damaged.
We talked to Joe Pais just hours after he had been fired. "He told me he was firing me because of the content of my `Pais Report' opinion column that had appeared that day in Key West The Newspaper," Pais said. "And he told me that more than once during our 30-minute conversation. He gave no other reasons for firing me."
But in her letter to the Citizen, Cardenas— who is a lawyer— subtly suggests that there may be other reasons Pais was fired, mystery reasons, maybe even sinister reasons, that she does not want to reveal "out of respect for Mr. Pais."
What an unadulterated piece of bull! You do see the strategy here, don't you? The wording of that statement was formulated to stimulate your imagination. Gee, maybe he did do something really bad. Surely they would tell us if he was getting fired just for having an opinion, wouldn't they?. So, if they're not telling us, it must be something else. What could it be? Something to do with money? Sex? Drugs? What!?
Here's what we think: If there are now "other reasons" that Pais was fired, reasons other than the content of his newspaper column, we suspect that those reasons have been manufactured since 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 3.
Enough! Why don't you people at the Key West Art & Historical Society just come clean. Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Quit being so cutesy.
Of course, in this town, as Ms. Cardenas well knows, a tried and true way to justify firing somebody when you don't have any real grounds is to destroy the person's reputation by whispered innuendo. Is that what's going on here? Is this the spin?: "O'Brien really had a good reason for what may have initially appeared to have been hysterical behavior— but that reason is a secret and we won't reveal it out of respect for Mr. Pais." Who do they think they're kidding?
The people who run the KWAHS owe the public an explanation. Trying to argue that this is an "internal matter" won't fly. As long as the Society continues to beg money from the public and use taxpayer dollars, the "Pais incident" is a public matter.
Stay tuned.