The vitriol towards Julie Bank seems to be approaching Michael Vick level among animal lovers.
Here's a question for ya -
Is the relationship beyond repair?
What if, and I highly doubt her ego will allow for this, but what if, she made a public statement, expressing sorrow for the way has she handled things, reinstated Emily/Jeff, and promised to hold town hall type meetings with the animal rescue community?
Would that suffice? Or, are her crimes (not sure whether to put that in quotes) so egregious that her Reign of (T)error can not be salvaged?
What do you think?
Rock On,
Harris Bloom
Founder/President
http://www.stewietotherescue.org/
Here's a question for ya -
Is the relationship beyond repair?
What if, and I highly doubt her ego will allow for this, but what if, she made a public statement, expressing sorrow for the way has she handled things, reinstated Emily/Jeff, and promised to hold town hall type meetings with the animal rescue community?
Would that suffice? Or, are her crimes (not sure whether to put that in quotes) so egregious that her Reign of (T)error can not be salvaged?
What do you think?
Rock On,
Harris Bloom
Founder/President
http://www.stewietotherescue.org/
10 comments:
If she immediately followed her statements with positive actions like the reinstatement of both Emily and Jeff and then provided proof of structural change, I would consider it a miracle, play a lottery ticket, and yes give her a chance to redeem herself for the suffering she has caused.
I'm not sure what I'd do. She really and truly would have to redeem herself.
Yes, she would have to
1. reinstate all the good volunteers and employees she fired,
2. change the system altogether and make it exemplary and worthy of envy,
and
3. make a public apology and spell out all her sins.
I'd would also like to see her cleaning some of the cages as well.
If it were sincere, try to forgive, but never forget. The welfare of ACC animals needs to be our primary focus, not her past actions/inaction. If she took real steps to significantly improve the conditions and lives of the furries under her control, how could you not support that change? What benefits the animals supercedes any need for retribution over past sins. Caveat: if it were proven that any past actions/inaction violated any laws, legal justice should certainly be meted out accordingly, despite her penitence.
Hey all,
Here's something else to think about as well - we've had EIGHT executive directors in the last EIGHT years - Point being, this isn't ALL her fault - She certainly has exacerbated the situation with her attitude and corporate-mentality leadership (which doesnt work in a shelter), but she's not the ONLY problem...
Harris
Ms. Bank cannot salvage her position. Even if (BIG if here) she "promised" to change, she has proven herself (time and time again) to be untrustworthy and fascist. Egypt's Mubarak promised a lot when he saw his position threatened, but everyone knew those words were emptier than most citizens' wallets (and cupboards). Although, as a side note, I think the former dictator would be a huge fan of Ms. Bank's current policies.
Going beyond any possible promises, Ms. Bank is not qualified to run the shelter system. Period. All she could do, at best, is metaphorically plug leaks on the Titanic. The ship's going down due to her reckless abandonment of not only the stated purpose of AC&C (and animal shelters nationwide), but basic moral standards. She doesn't seem to grasp the difference between sheltering an animal and simply housing one. You don't have to be an animal lover to know that leaving animals to suffer and die in too small, unkempt cages is wrong. And, to make matters worse, this isn't the first time she's driven an animal shelter into the ground
It would take only a microscopic portion of her six figure salary to install crate bowls on all cages (to prevent cage crazed dogs or cats from overturning food/water bowls or contaminating them with excrement). But, instead of that, she's had surveillance cameras installed. Even more ridiculous, she states it's due to "death threats." The woman is never at the shelter (she's maybe been seen twice in the past year for photo ops). It would be like me (a female) installing security cameras at a freemason club because one of the men said something nasty about me. What's blatantly apparent is that she's doing it to spy on staffers and volunteers in her continuous campaign to squash all opposition.
Ms. Bank has irreparably damaged any chance of a civil relationship between AC&C and rescue groups (and volunteers or individual rescuers, among countless others). There's no foundation to her ivory tower.
While Ms. Bank isn't the only problem at AC&C (*cough* DOH *cough*), the woman exhibits some serious symptoms of a dissociative disorder. I wouldn't trust her with sea monkeys. And I certainly don't want my taxpayer dollars going to cover her EZ-passes and countless other frivolities or for more orders of Euthasol and freezers for dead bodies.
Reinstating Jeff and Emily she should do anyway, since there was absolutely no reason to let them go. As for her redeeming herself? Not a chance, shes has proven to be an arrogant, cold-hearted killing machine, she would have to kiss some major ass to ever be trusted or welcomed into the shelter system again. Her name is known throughout the country, and not in a good way. She needs to give up her 6 figure income and leave the caring of animals to us who really care.
To err is human. To forgive, canine. We need more compassion in the world.
A second chance, yes. No third chances, though
It's hard to say. She has certainly not shown herself to be at all willing to work with the volunteers or the people in the community on Urgent Part 2's page who try to save the dogs at the shelter. While some of the shelter's issues can be blamed on insufficient funding there is no excuse for firing volunteers who work for free at the shelter when there is so little staffing to begin with. If she really did the things you suggest, maybe she could redeem herself. But I very much doubt that she would do these things. In all fairness, it is possible that some of the animal lovers out there have gotten carried away with their hostility as well. Animal lovers are very passionate and also judgmental, I find. An ideal situation would be a sympathetic director at NYC AC&C who would work willingly with the Facebook pages and rescuers who are trying to help the animals. So far that is not even close to happening. -Mimi "Crossposter" Michalski
I have to agree with previous comment, 'To err is human to forgive is canine'. However fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. No third chance!
The entire system needs over-haul and Julie Banks has proven she could never be trusted with the coffee-money fund let alone the lives of helpless innocents. Establishing blame is pointless - FIX THE PROBLEMS - HELP THE ANIMALS!!!!! The filthy conditions are atrocious, the murders unnecessary, the terminations of volunteers pathetic & delusional. Spend Julie's ridiculous salary on some P/R promotions to get the Donald Trumps and the Bloombergs and the other obscenely wealthy NYC residents to donate to NO-kill shelters. Lots and lots of empty buildings that could be refurbished - ask A-Rod and Jeter and the Steinbrenners for some money. For goodness sake, certainly zillions of dollars made and spent in NYC, use it for NYC furry angels and not over-paid, incompetent serial killers! This is not that difficult to permanently fix FOR THE HELPLESS ANIMALS!! And as Shakespeare so aptly said, First (fire) all the lawyers!!!! What a shameful humiliation for the supposed greatest city in the world! SHAME!!! Where is the Governor on all this - the mayor has been useless.
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