FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOHN HOPE SETTLEMENT HOUSE STRONGLY DEFENDS

UNSUBSTANTIATED ACCUSATIONS

MY RESPONSES TO THIS LETTER ARE BELOW IN RED WITH ACCOMPANYING

DOCUMENTS.

Thank you,

Taino Palermo

Recent events at the John Hope Settlement House (JHSH) instigated by former Executive

Director Taino Palermo together with a group who call themselves “Concerned Citizens for John

Hope Settlement House” continue to point the finger of blame at the current Board of JHSH.

I have nothing to do with the concerned citizens group. I have said what I had to say with regards

to this situation. I have moved on from this situation and do not plan on returning to John Hope

even if she were removed – she has soiled that organization and it can never recover. The

community it has always served is getting jerked around and has been for years, I think they’re

fed up and want their center back but she has taken it beyond repair.

I’ve been in this city and state less than 6 months, if I can rally this group and get press coverage,

that must make me pretty influential for being a new guy right? I think she’s reached a tipping

point with enemies she’s made and it took me, being from the outside and not associated with

anyone (and therefore I have no fear of her or what she thinks she can do), to shine light on how

she’s been screwing over the very people/community she acts like she serves – I think with me,

she may have gone too far and they’re upset and they have every right to be. But for them to

come from me is ridiculous, I just got here.

I can’t be controlled and therefore I’m a threat. The community response is no longer afraid and

so they’re a threat. I have dedicated my life to helping people so when I come across people with

questionable intentions, I will let it be known and remove myself from the situation – that’s what

I did at John Hope. Everything resulting from it has been a distraction away from the real

issues…including this desperate letter.

Their five point plan requires a response. However, it is important to recognize that the Board of

Directors does not wish to engage in a public debate with this group nor its prior Executive

Director, who voluntarily resigned from his position on August 25, 2014 after he was met with a

number of Code of Ethics and Conduct Policy violations that included:

I emailed my letter of resignation on Monday, August 25th

effective Friday, September 26th

(I

believe you have a copy Kate) as seen in the email on page 6. It was voted to be made

immediate on Thursday, August 28th

after a botched attempt to make it effective the next day

(August 26th

) by Williams without realizing her own bylaws require 48-hour notice to the board

before such a vote can be had.

1. Changing banking codes without Board knowledge or approval;

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOHN HOPE SETTLEMENT HOUSE STRONGLY DEFENDS

UNSUBSTANTIATED ACCUSATIONS

Bank codes were changed because I was added to the account. Williams was given

the codes as well as the auditors from Balancing Act who actively accessed the

account in order to manage JH’s books. She was made aware of the need to re-secure

the account given that Peter Lee still had a John Hope credit card in his name that

hadn’t been cancelled and a random transaction done by Nina Pande into the JH

account…all reasons the account security needed to be updated. This was also

explained to the RI State Police who are investigating financial misconduct by

Williams.

2. Committing JHSH to financial obligations in excess of his authority;

Aside from bills which are financial obligations regardless of authority, the only

financial obligation was leasing a vacant property at 11 Higgins Avenue for a day that

BROUGHT IN $1,000 for a movie. The date of the shoot took place after I left but

was signed before hand because I wasn’t able to live out the terms of my resignation.

3. Hiring personnel without Board knowledge and approval;

In my time there I had 3 staff – all of which were made aware of to the board. JH was

in danger of losing its daycare license because it had no Lead Teacher, Daycare

Director, and Youth Director…I hired all 3. It was public knowledge from an article

in 2013 – I’m pretty sure the board was aware of the need to hire those positions and

that’s all my contract states…they were to be made aware, not decide who and for

how much. NO FUNCTIONING BOARD HIRES STAFF- THAT’S THE ED’S

JOB…PUTTING THIS IN THE LETTER ONLY PROVES THE LACK OF

KNOWLEDGE OF BOARD MEMBERS!!!

4. Hiring JHSH personnel who were not properly vetted by DCYF through CPS, BCI,

and fingerprints; (These clearances are vital to ensure the safety of children and

families who utilized the programs)

The only staff hired by me, as stated in #3, were all director level staff and hired

while under the consultation of Dr. Daycare who was responsible for all clearances.

The only staff who had an issue was the Youth Director who needed new fingerprints

having just come from the YMCA and fingerprints are site-specific, but had a clear

BCI. The other two staff were clear – this is a bogus claim.

5. Increasing salaries and benefits without Board knowledge or approval;

That was actually restoring one person’s hourly rate and hours after it was arbitrarily

reduced by THE BOARD PRESIDENT WILLIAMS – AGAIN, WHY IS A BOARD

MEMBER ADJUSTING MY STAFF’S SALARY AND HOURS?? In regards to

benefits, it troubles me this is from the “board” who doesn’t even know JH doesn’t

offer benefits.

6. Had JHSH documents shredded without Board knowledge or approval;

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOHN HOPE SETTLEMENT HOUSE STRONGLY DEFENDS

UNSUBSTANTIATED ACCUSATIONS

What documents would that be and why would I need board approval as long as I’m

in compliance with state and federal file retention requirements? A STATEMENT

FROM AN INEXPERIENCED BOARD.

7. Failing to have the Agency’s vehicles re-registered and inspected by June 30, 2014;

Seems like someone is trying to pass the buck after getting in trouble for the vans not

being in compliance. See attached ED Report from 8/22/2014 (pg 7-9) and email

with her stalling me from fixing them (and everything else – pg 10-11) before the

school year started – they were out of inspection since before I started working there

and they weren’t used for field trips in the summer, we rented yellow buses. It needed

to get done before the school year started but it was the week before all this

happened.

8. Contracting with an unlicensed company who employed personnel for a summer

camp and afterschool program, who were not properly vetted by DCYF through CPS,

BCI, and fingerprints, which forced DCYF to shut the program down;

Summer camp with this group was in place before I even started – contract was in

place by Michael Shepard, the office manager who was given the right to rent the

facility by the Board before I started. I never contracted anything regarding after

school and there is no documentation to prove otherwise.

9. Refused the Board’s initiative to work with a four member panel to assist in

facilitating effective communications between himself and the Board;

This wasn’t between myself and the Board, it was a four-person committee to

facilitate communications between myself and Williams - AFTER SHE

THREATENED THREE OF MY STAFF. AM I THE ONLY PERSON WHO

FINDS THIS EVEN BEING PUBLICLY DISCUSSED, ODD?? I FEEL LIKE I’M

IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE. IS THIS HOW THINGS ARE DONE IN RHODE

ISLAND? No one sees a problem with (or better yet, why there would be a need for)

a 4-person committee for two people to talk?

WHY ARE WE NOT TALKING ABOUT:

A BOARD PRESIDENT WHO IS ON DISABILITY LEAVE FROM HER

CITY JOB IS AT JOHN HOPE 5 DAYS/WEEK, DRIVING THE VANS TO

PICK UP KIDS (DCYF KNOWS THIS) AND SHE’S STILL THERE??!!!

AND HAS HER JOB?!!!!

SHE HAS OPENLY VIOLATED THE BOARD OF ETHICS POLICY AND

BYLAWS AS STATED IN MY LETTER OF RESIGNATION

THERE ARE TIMESHEETS PAYING JOHN HOPE STAFF AND USING

JOHN RESOURCES FOR HER POLITICAL BENEFIT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOHN HOPE SETTLEMENT HOUSE STRONGLY DEFENDS

UNSUBSTANTIATED ACCUSATIONS

TOTALLY BAFFLED…

This conduct was deemed, by the Board, to be detrimental to the best interest of JHSH.

As it relates to the plan proposed by the Concerned Citizens to remove the Board Chair and the

existing Board Members, these volunteer Board Members who have a long and storied

commitment to the mission of JHSH, and who have done nothing that would otherwise warrant

removal from the Board, have no intention of removing themselves merely because some

individuals have decided to level unfounded and specious allegations against the Board. It

would be unconscionable for the Board to walk away from their fiduciary responsibilities to

JHSH and its surrounding community at this critical point in time.

With respect to the invalidation of Frank Corbishley to any leadership role or authority of JHSH,

Mr. Corbishley offered his services on a voluntary basis during this interim period and he is not

being paid, contrary to the rumors and character assassination he has been subjected to. Mr.

Corbishley has a wealth of experience in the non-profit community spanning over 30 years and

has served in high level positions in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. He is a man of

commitment, honesty, and integrity and those who have interfaced with him know of his

continued commitment to helping the poor, elderly, and families within the community.

As it relates to the rehiring of the former Executive Director, The Board has no intention of

doing that. Mr. Palermo violated many of JHSH’s rules, regulations, policies, and procedures as

well as his Employment Contract that spelled out in part his duties and responsibilities. Prior to

the Executive Director’s voluntary resignation, the Board offered and established as an interim

step, a four member panel to work with the Executive Director to improve communications with

the Board. This offer was summarily rejected by the Executive Director before he voluntarily

quit.

The Board is committed to fulfilling its mission in an appropriate, responsible and transparent manner. It is devoted to those that the JHSH serves while treating them and all employees with

the upmost professionalism in an environment enveloped with respect and dignity.

We welcome any and all who are interested in helping with the growth of JHSH and anyone who

is interested in applying for the Executive Director Position may submit inquiries to:

ihall.johnhope@gmail.com. Thank you!

WHO IS ON THE BOARD??

According to the RI Secretary of State’s site, of the listed members there are only 12 members

left on the board. The remaining members are listed below. THIS IS ISN’T EVEN A LEGAL

BOARD!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JOHN HOPE SETTLEMENT HOUSE STRONGLY DEFENDS

UNSUBSTANTIATED ACCUSATIONS

ANASTASIA WILLIAMS

WALTER MORGAN

SANDRA BARONE

ELLEN MARK

JAMETTA ALSTON (I NEVER SAW THIS PERSON AT A MEETING)

SUSAN LEONARDI

ROXANN JOHNSON-NANCE

JOAN BADWAY

INESSE JONES

JUDITH A. COVINGTON (I NEVER SAW THIS PERSON AT A MEETING)

CLOTIDE J. TAYLOR (I NEVER SAW THIS PERSON AT A MEETING)

WIL FLEMING (I NEVER SAW THIS PERSON AT A MEETING)

Executive Director Weekly Report Week ending: 8/22/14

1. IMPORTANT: MUST HAVE BOARD PHONE CALL TO ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING –

Agreement with ALSD re: starting JH's FY2014 audit

Hiring of Michael's replacement – I want to hire Dena Pruett to work 9-4pm at

$13/hr

Settle on office rental rates

2nd Floor bathroom repair (awaiting bids from Sue Leonardi’s contact list)

Installation of ProCare hardware for early learning center

2. JH will be getting an intern from the Office of Minority Health, Rhode Island College and the

Community Health Workers Association of Rhode Island. This person will work 5hrs/day, 3 days a

week for 6 weeks and be responsible for promoting and/or recruiting for events/programs like

Check up from the Neck Up, affordable health care, ESL classes and our food pantry.

3. There is a grant opportunity through the RI Foundation’s Black Philanthropy Initiative to fund the

following (if not all) programs that Kenya Fullen (formerly of Urban League) is willing to co-write

with me and bring from the Urban League to JH: o HS Alternative “Bridge” Program for students on the verge of the getting kicked out of the

PPSD. This used to be housed at Urban League in conjunction with the PPSD but is no

longer in existence and no such program exists.

o Fatherhood Program which is a comprehensive case management service and

professional development for young/new fathers – no such program exists.

o Family Home Visits is a comprehensive case management service for parenting

and childcare intervention

o Homeless Teen Shelter for homeless teens which is a huge need in the city and

the only shelter in existence closed down. Kenya believes says she can get

support from RI Housing, DCYF and DHS and is setting up a meeting with them

next week. Michael ran the bridge program and fatherhood programs at Urban

League and would be willing to return to run them. It also may be an option for

the use of 11 Higgins Ave.

o JH After Hours is a membership program I want to fold into the above programs

to serve as a “wrap around” option for the public during the hours of 6pm to

Midnight for drop-in use of our computer lab, small gym (for fitness activities

and/or workshops) and the large gym for (open gym/leagues for adults and

teens)

Collectively, all these programs service the entire needs of individuals other than having a place for them to sleep at night. The grant will be written in a way that can be funded as one large project or individual projects.

4. I met with the Southside Land Trust and they want to discuss partnering with JH to

create a community lot for the West End where the playground is and the surrounding

land on our property. They would like to join a board meeting to discuss the feasibility of

it in late fall.

5. Monthly bills are (or will be) paid – checks are written and need to be signed if they

haven’t been already. When Sue returns, she’ll enter them into Quickbooks. Sue is out

this week on vacation but returns next week. She was given a list of accounts in order to

categorize JH’s finances more clearly in Quickbooks.

The accounts are as follows:

Operations

o Includes: administrative costs, maintenance costs, and transportation costs

of vans

Early Learning Center (daycare – we’re moving away from calling it that)

Youth Development

Adult Education

Social Services

o Includes: healthcare navigator and any future social services we will offer

Facility Rentals

o Includes: short term & long term rentals as well as office space rentals

6. Michael’s last day is today. With everything going on, there was little time for a

thorough interview for his replacement. I sent the resumes of the top two candidates I

like. I liked Dena more than Angelee – more experienced and can do

communications/media stuff.

7. Attached is the flyer for the RWU ESL classes. Please review and reply with any revisions

directly to Ariel Wilburn at awilburn@rwu.edu. She assured me the JH logo will be

added.

8. I met with Paula, our insurance broker. She provided me with a binder of all of JH’s

insurance policies and explained each of them to me.

9. I called Joe McCarthy about another temporary alarm company since Mt. Pleasant

Alarm hasn’t gotten back to me with an estimate. He recommended Easter Alarm Co.

and I left a message for them. No alarm has been put on 11 Higgins St. He called me

today to tell me that the rest of the copper was stolen and our insurance broker, Paula,

believes if we get a plumber to assess the cost to replace the piping vs. the plan’s

deductible, then it may not even be worth filing a claim.

10. A cook will need to be hired. The Food Bank has not gotten back to Michael about

whether or not they’re able to accommodate our feeding needs since we were too late

to sign up (waiting for JWU). Follow-up will be done on Monday and if not eligible, a

cook will be interviewed and hired from a list of resumes we have from the beginning of

the summer. There is enough food to last through next week until a cook is hired or

Food Bank allows us to participate in the school-year program.

11. Summer camp ended today with a small cookout. Monday and Tuesday the staff are

coming in to plan and prepare for the school year programs which begin Wednesday.

12. The vans will be taken in Monday and Tuesday to get serviced and re-inspected.

13. The fire company will install the heat detector and pull station in the daycare storage

room next week which is the last thing to be in compliance and restore the daycare

license to full approval and take it off the probationary license status.

14. Monday, RWU students come to paint the daycare hallway and a mural. There was

enough white paint in storage so all that was purchased for the day were rollers, paint

trays, and paint tape. The cost was under $150.00.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

8/25: RWU’s Community Connections – 30 students come to pain the daycare hallway

and create a mural

8/26: Back 2 School Cookout for JH families only (they are incentivized to bring a referral

for a $50 gift card)

9/4 & 9/6: RWU ESL Class orientation

9/15: First of the 10-week long RWU ESL class

9/25: Check up From the Neck Up (flyer attached)