"It makes people look foolish." Now that's an understatement.
As the Hyack brouhaha took another couple of twists and turns this week, the mayor shook his head and uttered the above comment.
We, like other watchers of what has become a bit of a reality sideshow, aren't sure what to make of the most recent turn of events.
Both groups vying for control of the once venerable city society looked ready to have a vote-out at a showdown meeting Tuesday night. Then five directors who were part of the anti-Palmer slate resigned. The pro-Palmer slate then cancelled the meeting. We received a press release in our editorial email at 6:30 p.m., after our office closed, stating that the Hyack board had accepted the five resignations and cancelled the special board meeting set for last night.
However, about 25 members turned up for the meeting and the resolutions for firing Gavin Palmer, Alan Wardle and Gloria Munro were voted on and passed. That leaves Hyack without an executive and without an executive director. Also, Hyack has agreed to settle with former executive director Douglas Smith. The settlement is, so far, a secret. But it's fair to assume it's a good chunk of change.
It would be next to impossible for the organization to regroup and manage to pull together to put on the annual Santa Claus parade and, we think, even function for next year's events. But there's a lot more at stake than festivals. The society has a significant chunk of land its office sits on, and, despite funds being drained for lawyers and settlements, a substantial amount of money.
The irony of all of this debacle is that the forces who believed there was a plot afoot for the city to take over Hyack in the first place have now, by their very own actions, made that a necessity.
