The ongoing Hyack power struggle has taken another twist with the two camps trying to kick one another out at an upcoming meeting of the membership.
Countering notices were issued to members - one sent from the Hyack Festival Association board and one from Hyack president Gavin Palmer. The first one from the board calls for the removal of the handful of executives who fired former executive director Douglas Smith. It also calls for Hyack's borrowing limit to increase from $25,000 to $100,000.
The second notice (which Hyack board director Ron Unger said came out after the first notice) was sent by Gavin Palmer and calls for the removal of several Hyack board directors, including Unger.
"Why do I want them kicked off the board, well, because they are not looking after their fiduciary duties as board members," Palmer told The Record. "Well, they're discussing board business outside the board room."
Palmer said his examples will be discussed at the upcoming Hyack membership meeting.
"I guess it's a deflection move," Unger said of Palmer's notice, which also calls for the removal of board directors Bill Radbourne, Patti Goss, Stephen Lloyd, Michail Boncea and Mariane Kazemir.
The rationale for the need to increase Hyack's borrowing limit will be provided in the next few days, said Unger, who wasn't aware of the second notice until after the board had called its special general meeting for Oct. 22.
"We called a special meeting for the 22nd, the day that he (Palmer) specified. This was a board decision, so it was a board notice that went out. So he's piggybacking his on this one," Unger said.
"I guess he and the past presidents really do like their party. So they are going to do everything they can to protect them," he said. "Our role is official. I think it is still to be seen whether theirs is valid."
Unger recently wrote a letter to the editor calling for the divided party to split into two groups: one that runs the festivals and various events on behalf of Hyack and another - the Palmer camp - that operates as a club and maintains traditions such as travelling to various festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The Hyack brouhaha began when Smith was fired on July 31. He was reinstated after the board at large voted to ask him back. Smith has since left the organization and said he planned to take legal action for his dismissal.
As a result of Smith's firing, the Hyack board also passed a motion calling for the four executive members who wanted Smith fired - Palmer, treasurer Gloria Munro, vice-president Alan Wardle, and incoming president Nadine Proulx - to resign. But they refused to give up their seats. The call is now back to remove those members, minus Proulx, according to the notice.
The City of New Westminster provides the Hyack Festival Association with funding to organize events on the city's behalf, including the Hyack Festival and the Santa Claus Parade of Lights. Hyack members also travel with the group's float and represent the city at parades in the Pacific Northwest and B.C. In recent years, the city has given Hyack Festival Association more than $150,000 in funding and in-kind services annually to organize events on the city's behalf.
The meeting is being held at The Columbia, 530 Columbia St., at 6:30 pm.
