After an apparent internal dispute, the Jersey City Museum may be looking to remove its executive director. However, high-ranking city officials believe that the timing of such a move would hurt the museum.
Some said last week that the issue is one of management, while others said it may be political.
Only months away from the grand opening at its new location on Montgomery Street, Downtown, the museum’s board of trustees may replace Executive Director Nina Jacobs.
“The last I saw the board,” said ex-officio (non-voting) mayor’s representative Kevin Sluka, a member since 1992, “they were seeking to make a change in the museum.” Sluka is the director of public works and a mayoral candidate.
Some worried about the damage that could be done. At a time when the museum is seeking more funding and has its sights set on a May opening, turmoil is the last thing people want.
“It’s very disconcerting,” said Tom Gallagher, Mayor Bret Schundler’s chief of staff, “for the city as the chief investor, to be faced with a change at the helm.”
Some city sources, speaking on anonymity, said that they had been disappointed with Jacobs’s ability to raise money for the museum. Others expressed non-specific disapproval of her management style. But still others said that the move might simply be a political maneuver by forces who want someone else in the position.
The city has provided approximately $2.5 million toward the museum in the last several years. The city recently kicked in an additional $250,000 for this year’s budget when the city could not get funding via bonds.
The board last met in December.
Several sources close to the situation said problems with Jacobs began last year when workers at the museum signed a petition complaining of her management style.
Jacobs had not returned phone calls by press time.
Board Chairman and New Jersey City University President Carlos Hernandez moved to bring in a labor mediator to look into the staff situation. The mediator interviewed staff and recently made recommendations.
While curator Alejandro Anreus confirmed that the petition had been signed and a mediator had been brought in, he declined to comment on Jacobs’s management.
The recommendations were then brought to the board, who will now decide Jacobs’s fate.
“All I can say is I refuted those comments,” said Sluka of the negative portrayal of Jacobs. “The city’s been happy with the development of the museum itself. We understand that it’s a private board, so it’s a board decision.”
The councilman for the Downtown area, Mariano Vega, said he was aware, but not involved, with the situation. “I’ve gotten some phone calls and rumblings going on with the board,” he said. “I reached out to Dr. Hernandez. I leave it to [the board’s] good judgement.”