by P.D. Lesko

Since the July 31, 2021 publication of the first in a series of investigative articles about the mismanagement of SafeHouse Center, the County’s domestic violence shelter, all 18 members of the Board of Directors on whose watch the mismanagement occured, have left the Board. This includes the County Administrator Greg Dill, County Sheriff Jerry Clayton, the Head of School at Emerson and a former U.S. Attorney.

SafeHouse Board of Directors in July 2021

OFFICERS

Tara Mahoney, President
Corporate Employment Counsel
MASCO

Joyce Hunter, Vice President
President/CEO
African American Cultural & Historical Museum of Washtenaw County

Todd Kephart, Secretary
Managing Partner
Retirement Income Solutions

Cindy Byrne, CPA, Board Treasurer
Certified Public Accountant
Rehmann, Retired

DIRECTORS

Suzette Bouchard-Isackson 
President,
Bouchard Group Consulting LLC

LaRonda Chastang
Diversity and Inclusion Consultant
Trinity Health

Jerry Clayton
Sheriff
Washtenaw County

Karen D. Collins
Client Services Executive
Hylant Insurance

Gregory Dill
Washtenaw County Administrator

Jamie Guise
Senior Vice President
Old National Bank

William B. Holmes
Retired American Airlines Pilot
Chelsea Milling Company (Jiffy Mixes), VP

John Huber
Head of School
Emerson School

Jim Knauf
Chief Operating Officer
Huron Valley Radiology

Barbara McQuade
University of Michigan Professor from Practice
Former U.S. Attorney General

Darcy Rhoden
Sales Manager
Google

Luke Rodehorst
Account Executive-Nonprofits
Google

Christy Summers
Principal Landscape Architect
Beckett & Raeder, Inc.

Eddie Washington
Executive Director, Division of Public Safety and Security
The University of Michigan

In Jan. 2022, Barbara Niess-May was ousted from her job as the Executive Dir. of SafeHouse, the County’s only shelter for victims of domestic violence. After an investigative series on the mismanagement of the shelter, the filthy conditions, and the punitive treatment of the victims of domestic violence by SafeHouse staff, the then Board members launched an independent investigation.

County Commissioners allocated $75,000 to house the victims who’d been thrown out of the shelter by Neiss-May for talking to The Ann Arbor Independent about conditions in the shelter, and for providing video and photographic evidence of the filthy conditions of the rooms, bathrooms, kitchen and living areas in the shelter.

In the case of two of the survivors who had spoken to the newspaper, Neiss-May had the women “trespassed” by the Pittsfield Police Dept., led by Matthew Harshberger. This use of the police as if the force were her personal goon squad meant that the women could never again seek shelter at SafeHouse.

One of the victims’ most pressing concerns was the shelter’s lack of a working video camera security system. This latter problem was particularly shocking given the fact that the County Sheriff Jerry Clayton and U-M’s Executive Dir. of Public Safety, Eddie Washington, were SafeHouse Board members.

Neiss-May repeatedly claimed that a video camera safety system would violate the “privacy” of those in the shelter. Instead, there was a non-functioning video camera over the entrance used by the survivors and their children. Multiple domestic violence shelter executive directors in southeast lower Michigan reported that their shelters had working video camera security systems.

Since Neiss-May’s ouster, everyone who was on the SafeHouse Board of Directors in Jan. 2022 has quietly resigned. County Administrator Greg Dill is gone from his position of Vice President/President of the SafeHouse Board, Sheriff Clayton and Eddie Washington are both gone, as well. Barbara McQuade, described as Neiss-May’s staunchest ally on the Board, is gone. McQuade, ironically, has a new book out: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America.

The lengths Neiss-May and SafeHouse Board members went to discredit the newspaper’s reporting included Board members issuing a public statement dubbing the investigative reporting, photos and videos “misinformation.” Neiss-May sent emails to officials at the Michigan Dept. of Health and Human Services in which she wrote: “I can assure you everything in the article is untrue.” Neiss-May fed disinformation to the members of her Board, fed disinformation to state officials and said in public statements that she took personal umbrage at the allegations, which were “hurtful” and damaging to the the survivors housed at the shelter.

An individual with direct knowledge of the situation, said that Barbara McQuade backed Barbara Niess-May to the bitter end. And then after Neiss-May was forced to resign, McQuade quietly left the SafeHouse Board of Directors.

The SafeHouse Center Neiss-May, Greg Dill, Jerry Clayton, Eddie Washington, Barbara McQuade and 14 other board members oversaw was one where domestic violence survivors and their children were forced to sleep in filthy rooms, and use bathrooms with dangerous, broken fixtures, moldy tile, dirty bathtubs and, in one instance, blood on the walls. The women documented their allegations with dozens of photos. The survivors and their children, did not receive medical or mental health services. The survivors were “empowered,” according to Neiss-May, by cleaning the shelter, including the industrial kitchen, common areas and laundering bed linens. A survivor who did not clean or whose cleaning was not deemed satisfactory, could be “exited” from the shelter.

With a budget of over $2 million, Barbara Neiss-May and the Executive Dir. of Food Gatherers, Eileen Spring, struck a deal whereby the shelter’s food came from Food Gatherers. Survivors snapped photos of out of date and moldy food in the SafeHouse kitchen. Photos of the two refrigerators in the kitchen where survivors were supposed to be able to find food to feed themselves and their children, revealed refrigerators that contained mostly condiments. Kitchen cupboards were bare, and photos of the inside of freezers showed frozen blood on the shelves and freezer walls.

In the end, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners allocated $350,000 to refurbish and update the building’s living areas, kitchen and bedrooms. A working video system was installed.

The domestic violence shelter building is owned by the County and leased to the non-profit SafeHouse Center. It’s unclear why Neiss-May and County Administrator Dill allowed the facility to become run down and unsafe. In Jan. 2022, the Board members hired from within to replace Barbara Neiss-May. Present Executive Dir. Christine Watson was a long-time staff member.

Just as when Neiss-May led the shelter, the Board of Directors still does not include a licensed psychologist, child psychologist, pediatrician or physician. It does include an employee of a local real estate development firm, two AAPS administrators, a banking center manager, and multiple PR professionals. Barbara Neiss-May, who was accused of perpetuating racist policies and practices, was recently hired as the Executive Dir. of the Ypsilanti non-profit Meals on Wheels. Her bio. on that non-profit’s webpage includes this: “Prior to her most recent position as Development Manager at The King Center, Barbara served as Executive Director of SafeHouse Center in Ann Arbor, transforming the organization into a progressive service provider supporting survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.”

One former SafeHouse Board member was outraged.

“This woman lied to the members of out Board. She deceived the members of the Board. She lied to elected officials. She lied to the public. To save her own skin, she humiliated the entire Board in the eyes of the community. What she did to DV survivors is unforgivable and she has no business leading another non-profit.”

A local domestic violence advocate expressed her dismay. Nicole Beverly is the Executive Dir. of The Enough Initiative, a non-profit that “offers comprehensive Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention presentations to schools, colleges and youth groups.”

In 2021, Beverly worked with County officials to find safe housing and food for survivors and their children whom Neiss-May had thrown out of SafeHouse for speaking to The Ann Arbor Independent.

“How disappointing,” said Beverly of Barbara Neiss-May’s hiring.

The present members of the Board of Directors of SafeHouse are:

Christina Howard, President
Attorney, Vice President of Legal and General Counsel
NSK Americas, Inc

Doreen Tinajero, Vice President
Project Manager
Center for Social Studies- University of Michigan

Kristin Wessel, Secretary
Corporate HR Manager
NSK Americas, Inc

Joe Thomas, Treasurer
Banking Center Manager
Old National Bank

DIRECTORS

Jazz Parks
Ann Arbor Public Schools
Assistant Superintendent

Cherisa Allen, MSW
Founder, Women & Men Working for Change

Tami Strickman
Special Advisor to the President & Executive Director -Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX
University of Michigan

Brandy Merritt
Communications Director
Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation

Michelle Munro-Kramer
Assistant Professor. Director of Global Programs
University of Michigan, School of Nursing

Frances Hollander
Associate Attorney
Starr, Butler, Alexopolous & Stoner, PLLC

Molly Haller
CFO
Oxford Companies

Jonathan Dean, CPA
Strategic Advisory Practice Leader, Shareholder & Board of Directors
Member (Retired), Doeren Mayhew, CPAs & Advisors

Patrick Wells-O’Brien
Vice President, Communications and External Relations
Gift of Life