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What next for Alzheimer center?

By MELANIE AVE
Published November 25, 2006

TAMPA - A controversial move to reorganize the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute will get a full airing next month as new questions surface about its spending practices.

The institute board will hold a special meeting Dec. 7 at the request of several board members.

At issue is a recent recommendation by Johnnie Byrd, the board treasurer who as Florida House speaker created the institute in his father's name, to eliminate several of the institute's top managers. His most controversial suggestion: replace the scientist-chief executive officer with a business professional.

Huntington Potter, the institute's chief executive and scientific director, said such a change would be "going into completely new waters" because most research institutes are run by scientists.

"If the board wants to take it that way, we have to rethink everything," Potter said. "I'm the board's employee. I can't really tell them what to do. I have to tell them what the facts are, and they have to make the decision."

Byrd's plan calls for a leaner management structure by eliminating at least six other jobs, including the chief operating officer and chief lobbyist.

On Nov. 1, after a presentation by Byrd, a board subcommittee approved the changes and forwarded them to the entire board for approval.

But other board members question Byrd's abrupt presentation, which shocked many institute managers who fear for their jobs.

"I definitely felt everything should be presented to the entire board at one time," said Sherrill Tomasino, president of Sherwood Forest of Temple Terrace and a University of South Florida trustee.

Several board members said they are withholding judgment on Byrd's proposal.

"I'm sort of in a fact-finding mode," said board member Allen Mortham, a retired educator and husband of former Florida Secretary of State Sandra Mortham. "I'm going into the December meeting with an open mind."

Byrd, whose father died of Alzheimer's disease, has publicly questioned some of the institute's spending practices.

The Plant City Republican said too much money has been spent on administration instead of research.

"The more I dig, the more I see of the creation of a bureaucracy that's costly," said Byrd, who became the board's treasurer two months ago. "I think there's a need to make sure we push all the money we can toward research."

Byrd said Potter lacks business acumen and has ceded many management responsibilities to the chief operating officer, Lilly Ho-Pehling.

"It'd be great to have a researcher who is also a great manager," Byrd said. "But we don't have that now."

Potter counters that last year the institute spent 7 percent of its $15-million budget on administration costs, down from 12 percent the year before. He also said annual audits have shown no financial problems.

And, Potter said, its scientific successes have included discovering five drug treatments that are now ready for clinical trials and a study showing caffeine might help prevent Alzheimer's disease.

"The institute has done supremely well under its current structure," Potter said. "Exactly how we got here is a function of the organization and my leadership."

Byrd also questions why the institute has its own lobbyist, chief of external affairs Melanie Meyer, yet pays thousands to outside lobbyists and another $100,000 for a public relations firm.

He said he also has unsuccessfully sought documents about the institute's relationship with Dr. Paivi Liesi of the Brain Laboratory at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

Potter said the institute paid Liesi about $500,000 over the last two years for research on neuroregeneration.

He said he has given Byrd numerous documents about Liesi, whose contract ended in July.

Liesi chose not to continue collaborating with the institute, but Potter said the scientist's work helped jump-start the institute's research. The work is now being done in house.

"I just want to see what we got for the money," Byrd said. "That really gets to the heart of the issue."

The Legislature established the institute in 2004 and has designated $60-million over the next four years.

In this year's legislative session, Gov. Jeb Bush signed a law stripping the institute of control over its own board of directors, several of which had connections to Byrd. The old board was disbanded and Bush, House Speaker Allan Bense and Senate President Tom Lee appointed many new members.

Byrd said he wants to make sure the institute's future funding is secure and the only way to do that is to make sure it is spending its money properly.

"At the end of the day," Byrd said, "I don't think the Legislature intended to have a freewheeling bureaucracy."

Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Melanie Ave can be reached at 727 893-8813 or mave@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 25, 2006, 00:16:17]