Aquarium chief placed on leave.

Byline: LARRY BACON The Register-Guard

NEWPORT - Phyllis Bell, chief administrator of the Oregon Coast Aquarium since it opened in 1992, has been put on involuntary administrative leave by the nonprofit organization's executive board.

Neither Bell nor board members would be specific Wednesday about why the board took the action at a Monday meeting.

In a memo issued to the aquarium staff and volunteers Tuesday morning, board member Mark Collson said Bell was put on paid leave because of "personal and family circumstances." Collson, the former mayor of Newport, is a member of a seven-member board that acted on behalf of the aquarium's 24-member board of directors.

Collson, who presided at the meeting in the absence of board Chairman Al Gleason, said Wednesday it was unclear how long Bell would remain on her leave or whether she would return to her job as president and chief executive officer. The situation will be reviewed after Gleason returns this weekend from a business trip to the East Coast, Collson said.

"I hope by the time we get past the Fourth of July weekend, we'll have a lot clearer picture for you and everybody else," Collson said.

Reached by telephone Wednesday night, Bell declined to elaborate on the situation.

"It's personal," she said.

Guy DiTorrice, the aquarium's public relations officer, acknowledged that Bell and other aquarium board members have continued to struggle with financial problems that surfaced publicly early this year. In February, Bell and Gleason said that a drop in attendance after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was causing serious cash flow problems.

At that time, Bell said the aquarium was 90 to 120 days behind in payments to a large number of vendors, but she thought a $500,000 transfer from the Newport Urban Renewal Agency would enable the aquarium to quickly catch up on its debts. However, DiTorrice said Wednesday the financial problems and unpaid debts have persisted.

Before the action regarding Bell, he said, the board had asked staff to provide within a month a detailed account of who was owed money and what commitments have been made regarding repayment so finance decisions could be made.

Asked if Bell's departure was linked to the financial problems, Collson said, `I couldn't answer that as a flat, `No.'

`But I would suggest to you that it's predominantly exactly what we said it was,' he said, referring to personal and family problems.

The personal problems, he said, were making it difficult for Bell to focus on her work, he said. Collson said he didn't feel right about discussing the nature of the problems, but they involved her family and were such that they would make it difficult for anyone to focus on work.

DiTorrice confirmed reports that Bell was asked to turn in her keys to the aquarium when she left. He said Pat Helbling, the aquarium's executive vice president and chief operating officer, is the chief administrator during Bell's absence.