Rebekah’s fills recent void for chief operating officer with
Mike Hayes from Gilroy
Gilroy – A native Gilroyan with a decade of ties to Rebekah Children’s Services will replace the agency’s former chief operating officer, fired last month over an office romance.
Mike Hayes, 42, has held three different positions at the nonprofit agency at separate times over the past 10 years, most recently as a manager of therapeutic recreation services. Prior to that he served stints as a residential counselor and later as the assistant director of the residential program.
He joins RCS as it seeks to emerge from weeks of turmoil following the controversial firings in November of Chief Operating Officer Michael McGrath, Chief Executive Officer David Tollner, and Chief Administrator Officer Patrick Wiley. In October, McGrath disclosed that he was involved in a relationship with a clinical director under his supervision. Tollner and Wiley, in consultation with other top agency officials, chose to reassign McGrath’s love interest to a new department rather than accept his resignation. The board of directors terminated all three over the matter, saying the punishment was inadequate.
McGrath and Tollner in particular have been credited by employees, many of whom have threatened walk-outs over the matter, for re-energizing the agency after years of low morale.
Hayes, who will start the new job Dec. 18, had no illusions about the mood of the agency.
“You can’t ignore that the situation has created a certain anxiety level for staff,” Hayes said. “But again, being with Rebekah’s over 10 years in a number of positions, you obviously get to know the staff at every level. I’m hoping that within those years I’ve represented strong integrity and results, and that I’m a people person and I can understand what the people are going through.”
For some, Hayes is a poster child for the agency’s mission.
He is an orphan born in Frankfurt and raised in Gilroy in a family of 16 kids. Hayes was the oldest of the 11 children Kathy and Alan Hayes adopted from all over the world. In the course of raising their family, the couple helped put the agency on the map as the only provider of intensive child care services in South County, according to Eleanor Villarreal, the agency’s chief fundraiser.
“Some of their kids had special needs and the family has been involved in mental health services for many years,” Villarreal said. “About 20 or more years ago, the family got really involved in drawing attention to the need for mental health services in South County. They were instrumental in Rebekah Children’s Services receiving county funding.”
In addition to his work at RCS, Hayes has a master’s degree in social work form San Jose State University. He currently works as regional director for Unity Care Group, a San Jose nonprofit agency that provides educational and social programs for at-risk youths. He was on the job for about three months when RCS asked him to serve as chief operating officer.
He returns as the agency, which receives more than 70 percent of its budget from the county, faces stiff competition for funding from other agencies looking to provide the same intense, at-home children’s services that have become a trademark of RCS.
The loss of the agency’s top brass could hobble RCS as it seeks to renew its county contracts, according to anonymous accounts from some employees.
The hiring of Hayes restores some of that lost stability. While it remains unclear how employees receive him, Hayes appears safe from the threat of losing his job as the result of a lawsuit.
Steven Cohn, an attorney representing McGrath, said his client is not interested in reclaiming his position. Nor is he interested in “diverting the agency’s resources” with a costly lawsuit, Cohn said. Instead, McGrath wants to understand the circumstances surrounding the firings, especially the involvement of interim Executive Director Sharif Etman. Speaking through their attorneys, McGrath and Tollner claimed that Etman, whose wife worked under McGrath and continues to serve at the agency, “poisoned” the board of directors against them as part of a power grab. Etman and the board of directors have refused to comment on the matter.
“Mr. McGrath’s desires are merely to know the truth and to let the truth be known,” Cohn said. “Once the truth is out, then we can make a determination as to how we should proceed.”
Tollner has threatened to sue the agency if he does not get his job back. The Dispatch has been unable to reach Wiley.
Hayes, who will receive $93,000 in salary, was chosen from three candidates after interviewing with a hiring committee – made up agency directors and staff – and with Etman and Villarreal. His appointment was approved by the board of director’s hiring subcommittee, Villarreal said, but must still be ratified by the full 11-member board.
