Lake Tahoe Humane Society reorganizes and adds transparency

The Lake Tahoe Humane Society and SPCA organization has elected a new board of directors and all members of the previous board will stepping down.

Michael Dalton will be the new president and is joined by VP of Governance and Compliance Sandra DeLeon, VP of Operations Chantale Hansen, Mariel Berei, secretary and Elizabeth Naylor, treasurer.

Lorna Lefler, Sue Pritchett, and Kim Stephenson, the board who tried to hold things together after the firing of their former executive director, will be stepping down effective immediately.

"The board of directors thank them [Lefler, Prtichett and Stephenson] for their years of service to the community, holding down the fort during a very high period of conflict and negativity, continued support, as well as their help as we transition into our new responsibilities," said the board in a press release.

"We were very humbled and grateful for the overwhelming response and amazing pool of applicants who came forward to offer their talents, time, and energy to this organization," said Lefler, the past president. "It was challenging to narrow down to the final five that the bylaws allow for, however we believe that we have chosen a board with a core set of professionals who are passionate about changing the existing landscape of the organization. Each bring an array of professional skills and non-profit business acumen -- in addition to an incredible love for animals and contributing to the greater good of Lake Tahoe."

Dalton and the new board will publish a "Restart, Rebuild, Restore, and Re-engage" document in the next 30 days, outlining their plans to regain the trust of the community after the former executive director, Niki Congero allegedly misappropriated funds from the organization early in 2017.

The El Dorado County District Attorney's office has had the case since January, 2018, after the South Lake Tahoe Police Department finished their investigation in December.

"Because the Lake Tahoe Humane Society organization is funded 100 percent by donations and grants, and now staffed and supported by only volunteers, we will have to make changes to drive cash flow, so that we can reduce operating
expenses and increase services," said Dalton. "Unfortunately we were welcomed by a significant amount of debt that we will need to reduce through changes that we will need to make."

Both Chantale Hansen and Sandra DeLeon stated that the new board intends to drive transparency by partnering with the community’s media resources to publish new updates. Regular updates will be posted on the society’s website and Facebook
page, and we will engage with the community through outreach and engagements.

They have released a "TransPAWrency" document can be seen on the Lake Tahoe Humane Society website: http://www.laketahoehumanesociety.org/board-of-directors.html.