There was turmoil at PSPCA headquarters, 350 E. Erie Ave., in December, when a clash between Cosby and board president Harrise Yaron resulted in Yaron's resignation, soon followed by the departure from the board of her sister, Jodi Goldberg, who runs an animal-rescue organization.
In her resignation letter, Yaron said Cosby wasn't up to the job, but the board wouldn't fire her for fear of the bad PR of losing a third CEO in less than a year. After an interim group ran the board for a few months, longtime animal activist Valerie Phillips was elected president in April. Society Hill veterinarian Claudia Casavecchia was elected vice president.
In an interview, Phillips acknowledged that Cosby was not the board's first choice when she was hired but said "she's done an extraordinary job," adding that Cosby managed the trauma of the March outbreak of streptococcus zooepidemicus in the shelter and "brought in strong hires."
Cosby replaced eight members of the 12-person executive team. During an interview, Cosby denied allegations that she had hired her friends, saying she knew only one of the eight. It is not unusual for a new top exec to bring in a new team, especially when the old team was failing. In any event, this is Team Cosby.
About 30 PSPCA staffers were let go to reduce expenses, Cosby told me, leaving a bare-bones 200 employees. The PSPCA shelter in Clarion County was closed to save money and Cosby cut her $130,000 salary to $120,000 this year.
As an executive, she seems willing to make tough choices, even at her own expense.
During her first year, she was criticized from without, as all animal CEOs are, and from within, mostly on social networks. That's when employees and volunteers were forced to sign a confidentiality agreement. As a journalist, I don't like anyone to be muzzled.
