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United Way chief slams predecessor
By RYAN DAVIS © St. Petersburg Times, published January 28, 2001 In trying to put her mark on the future of United Way of Pasco County, the agency's new president has picked a fight with its past: the retired director, who nearly tripled the agency's fundraising, and his wife. Susan White said her predecessor, Jim Snyder, wasted United Way money on First Call for Help, the help-line social service agency run by his wife. White also deemed the relationship between the agencies "incestuous." White and United Way board of directors president Bob Arnett think their agency might be able to run First Call, an information and referral agency, for less money. They have initiated steps that could put the agency out of business. Their method has drawn fire. Part of the controversy stems from what White has said. "Things that have been said are wrong, and she knows they are wrong," former president Jim Snyder said. "This is a person I would not trust." The other part of the controversy is who she didn't consult. Some of the county's most powerful people are wondering why they weren't called. "I don't really know what their beef is," said Pasco Schools Superintendent John Long, a First Call board member. "(White) sure hasn't bothered to share it with me." "That's not the way to do business," he added. Arnett has scheduled lunch with Long on Tuesday in an attempt to smooth over any problems. The Pasco County Schools personnel are the largest Pasco-based contributors to the United Way of Pasco annual campaign. "I think a wise business person running United Way would at least pick up the phone and call me," Long said. "I want Bob (Arnett) to explain what all's going on." But Arnett also has come under fire. He and White requested a meeting with the St. Petersburg Times on Jan. 9 because they thought the situation might get ugly if they cut ties with First Call. They were right. But part of the reason it got ugly is because Arnett didn't tell United Way board members he was coming to the newspaper, and First Call board members learned about the meeting either through rumor or from a reporter. The First Call board members's biggest concern: that Bob Arnett is also a member of the First Call board. New Port Richey city manager Gerald Seeber, also a member of both boards, said Arnett should have called both boards together, not left members of both boards in the dark. "It would best be done face to face and not through (the Times)," Seeber said. First Call board of directors president Joanne Hurley said she was shocked Arnett would question the necessity of the agency he serves. "It would have been easy," she said, "and it would have been justified (for him) to say let's sit down and talk." Arnett said he will decide whether to step down from the First Call board after reading this article. His only regret, he said: using the word "incestuous." Jim Snyder worked at United Way for 40 years. He took over Pasco County's United Way in August 1988. That year's campaign raised about $350,000. His last campaign in 1999 raised $1.18-million. His United Way in 1993 created First Call, which now takes 20,000 calls annually, to provide much needed referrals to social service agencies. The agency was spun off in 1996, the same year director Cathryn Ann Rowdon and Snyder were married, but the ties remained tight. Those ties started snapping when White took over last February. She immediately took away what she said were special privileges: paying First Call to have Rowdon represent United Way at functions and distributing and partially funding a one-page First Call directory of services. First Call was receiving about $3,000 a year in reimbursements from United Way, Snyder and White said. No other agencies received those privileges, White said. "It's a change and any time there is a change, people are threatened," she said. Snyder defends the relationship. He said First Call is a unique agency for several reasons. It serves every other United Way agency by referring clients and it was started by the United Way. As for the reimbursements, Snyder said, he got more than his money's worth. He couldn't attend functions across the county so sending the director of a closely connected agency gave United Way a presence. That person happened to be his wife, he said. No board members remember any problems, but in hindsight, board member Al Torrence said he would make some changes. "I think it got treated specially," he said, "because it was special in some people's minds." As the bonds broke, White and Rowdon worked 20 paces apart on the second floor of a Port Richey bank. They never spoke. The working environment was so bad, Rowdon said, that she applied for about $26,000 in United Way funding at the end of last year to move out of her rent-free space and into a new office. Her request was denied. First Call's future is likely to be determined by a four-person committee, including Torrence, before the end of next month. "For one year we've been waiting for the other shoe to drop," Rowdon said. First Call's fate is not sealed, White said, but she thinks she could get volunteers to replace some First Call's staff of two full-time employees and two part-time employees. If possible, she would make only one change in her dealings with First Call. "I wish," she said, "I had more finesse than I do."
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