Angst at the A.S.P.C.A.

But over the next couple of years, as Ms. Adams continued to serve on the board, dressed in a more politically correct manner, she was certainly an energetic patron. She plugged the A.S.P.C.A. relentlessly in her column in The New York Post; started an annual blessing of the animals at Christ Church on Park Avenue; and arranged a meeting between Christine Quinn, the City Council speaker, and A.S.P.C.A. executives, who’d had a tough time getting traction with elected officials. That relationship with Ms. Adams came to a sudden end this spring, however, when she resigned from the board after receiving, she said, a letter from someone on the board criticizing her for various offenses during her five-year tenure, though she did not want to discuss the details. The news made its way to The Post, where Ms. Adams is an enduring star. The article, quoting unnamed sources, said the A.S.P.C.A. was riven by “internal disagreements” and noted another recent defector from the board, Randy Levine, the president of the New York Yankees. The defections allowed a glimpse into an organization that, for all its good works and undeniable fund-raising prowess, seems to be a place of warring factions and competing agendas. Indeed, over the last seven years, the A.S.P.C.A. has occupied one of the most fractious places in New York City philanthropy, with more than 15 members of the roughly 20-person board resigning and being replaced. Last summer, the A.S.P.C.A.’s president, Ed Sayres, announced he was stepping down after almost a decade, as it was becoming clear his contract would likely not be renewed. Several board members had voiced misgivings about his $566,064 salary, more than double that of Wayne Pacelle, his counterpart at the Humane Society of the United States. And Mr. Sayres’s generous payment of a consultant, Mal Schwartz, back in 2006, sowed deep resentments in the board and staff, some of whom began a sub rosa e-mail campaign suggesting financial improprieties (none have been found). A new president, Matthew E. Bershadker, was named in May. “The A.S.P.C.A. board, for whatever reason, is not a happy place to be,” said Penelope Ayers, who left the board in 2008. Ms. Adams’s take: “It’s Iraq and Iran with all the varying sects.” How did it get to this? And why now, when the endowment has been on a seemingly nonstop upward trajectory for about a decade, aided by smart ad campaigns and a hit reality show?...more