Pack Board of Directors meeting -article by PGs Tony Walter

Posted May 31, 2007

Packers Board of Directors, not public, gets details on Jones

Closed-door meeting touches on Packers president's departure

By Tony Walter
twalter@greenbaypressgazette.com


The Green Bay Packers Board of Directors was given details Wednesday about what the team's executive committee said were "management concerns" involving President John Jones, and which led to his taking a leave of absence from the organization.


But Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Harlan, who has postponed his retirement because of Jones' departure, declined to provide specific details at a press conference following the board's quarterly meeting at the Lambeau Field Atrium.


"I'm still going to give the respect to John and his family," Harlan said after the nearly two-hour meeting ended. "They're management issues which lingered for a number of months."


Jones could not be reached for comment Wednesday.


While board members were asked not to share details of the meeting with the media, several confirmed that enough information was provided that led to a unanimous endorsement of the executive committee's recommendation that Harlan continue to lead the franchise.


At least one board member told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that "it was a strange meeting."


Jim Temp, a director emeritus and former executive committee member, said he was satisfied with Wednesday's explanation.


"I feel more comfortable after the meeting than I did before it," said Temp. "They explained everything from the day it started to today."


Harlan said problems with Jones' management style first surfaced last fall.


"When this came to light last fall, my thought was we're going to be very patient and study this, re-evaluate it as time goes along, and see if things improve," Harlan said. "I wanted to give him every opportunity to see if the situation wouldn't get better and we could move forward. I had some incidents myself so I knew that a problem existed."


One board member, who asked not to be identified, said four staff members went to Harlan earlier this month to express concerns about Jones. Harlan then went to the executive committee.


Executive Committee Secretary Peter Platten III presided over Wednesday's board meeting, more than half of which involved the Jones situation. One board member told the Press-Gazette that members were told that there have been no discussions yet about how long Harlan would remain but Harlan said, "I don't think it will be a full year."


Harlan said conversations about a severance package for Jones have yet to take place.


"We're strictly in a situation where John's on leave, we're going to sit down and look at it and decide what our next steps are," he said. "We don't have any steps definite right now, mainly because we've been so preoccupied with settling this situation and going to our board."


The Packers are still paying off former coach Mike Sherman, who was fired after the 2005 season and still has a year left on his contract with the team. But the settlement is reduced by the amount of Sherman's compensation with his current team, the Houston Texans.