In a series of six e-mails Wednesday morning and afternoon, six members of Edmonds’ South County Senior Center’s ‘old guard’ majority submitted their resignations, effectively halting board operations for at least a week.
The full 15-member board was scheduled on Wednesday night to vote on a controversial provision which would have allowed the senior center’s membership to vote for board members.
When the six resigned, however, and because two members were absent, the board no longer had enough representatives to meet legally. The provision was not discussed.
Nor, without quorum, were the resignations accepted.
The resigning board members included senior center founder Jane Jones, past board president Steve Stout, 2007’s board secretary Mary Thomas, 2007’s board vice president Mel Steinke, former state senator Jeanette Wood and Bernie Sigler.
Board president Rose Cantwell called a special meeting – which has different quorum laws – for Aug. 27 to accept the resignations, and discuss the process going forward.
The center needs to have at least 15 board members to maintain the gambling license it uses to host bingo games.
After the resignations, Wednesday’s meeting became an informal question and answer session with the 50 seniors who attended the meeting, and the seven board members in attendance.
Turmoil has rocked the senior center for months.
It started in October 2007, when popular executive director Farrell Fleming was dismissed by the board without explanation.
Members felt the move was made a board unaccountable to the membership, and since Fleming’s firing have pushed for the right to elect board members.
A proposal that would allow for a wider membership vote was scheduled for the Aug. 20 board meeting.
Nevertheless, it was unclear before the meeting if the board’s dominant majority – derided by opponents as ‘the old guard’ – would attempt to block it.
Instead, it appears they have resigned.
The resigning board members were not immediately available for comment.
For years, the board appointed its own members. But a lawsuit filed by seven members of the center in late 2007 forced a limited vote for board officers in March.
Since then, Cantwell, the new board president who was elected with 80 percent of the vote, has led an insurgent board minority against the stubborn majority.
Cantwell has acknowledged the difficulty in dealing with the majority.
“I think (past board president, and ‘old guard’ member Steve) Stout is trying to think of ways to keep the members from voting,” Cantwell said Aug. 18.
The resignations clearly hurt the center in the short-term, people said. But there was opportunity for progress towards a vote, too.
“We are making progress,” board vice president Bob Brown said Wednesday night. “But unfortunately, sometimes it is two steps forward, one step back.”
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com
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