The meeting planned for next week to determine the fate of four Hyack Festival Association board members, who wanted executive director Douglas Smith fired, has been postponed.
The association planned to hold a meeting on Sept. 10 to decide whether to remove executive members president Gavin Palmer, treasurer Gloria Munro, vice-president Alan Wardle, and incoming president Nadine Proulx. But the meeting was cancelled this week.
"We had an in-camera session, and it was felt the (meeting) notice wasn't 100 per cent accurate," Palmer told The Record.
There is a proposed date of Sept. 26, but that wasn't confirmed at press time.
"We've got to scramble and find out availabilities," Palmer said about the plans for a new meeting.
Hyack members will be notified when a new date has been set, said Palmer, who was reluctant to comment on the unusual situation.
"The reason that we are going to the membership is so that the members can make that decision," he said about the question of his future with the association.
Smith was fired on July 31, but was reinstated after the board at-large voted to ask him back.
The agreement was that he would return to work for a period of one month without prejudice - which means Smith could still take legal action against the association for his dismissal.
Palmer won't comment on Smith's firing because, he said, "it's an employment matter."
Smith said he was told he was being let go because of an incident that occurred on Canada Day during a live music performance. A group was being disruptive during a Concerts on the Quay performance. Smith intervened, and later one of the group members accused Smith of assaulting him. Smith was never charged for the incident.
But Smith questioned the rationale for his firing, and speculated that it may have been related to future plans he put forth to re-vamp the Hyack Festival, including a name change to Festivals New West.
The City of New Westminster provides the Hyack Festival Association with funding to organize a number of 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.
