McBride resident Allan Frederick submitted this letter to the Village prior to the resignation of MCFC Board of Director member Sheilagh Foster.
Good afternoon Village of McBride Council,
I am writing to you all as I wish to express my concern over the plan to remove Harold Edwards
and Lucille Green from the MCFC Board of Directors. They are volunteers and have done their best with the operation of the MCFC. Removing them will cause a significant cost with their past experience and involvement in the operations of the MCFC.
As a former member of the Council TEAM, I remember meeting with the Board Chair and GM on a couple of occasions where we were advised of their plans and status relative to “in camera” issues.
I believe that there are great credentials of the two being considered for appointment but must identify that there was intent of the former Council to have up to 7 members on the Board of MCFC. Why not have the new appointees added to the Board and not remove the existing members – a slap in the face for these two dedicated volunteers? Also to point out that with the new appointments there would be two members from one family on the five-member Board. Will these two individuals sign the non-disclosure agreement of MCFC?
I also believe that Mayor Runtz would have to recuse himself from such a decision as he has a definite conflict of interest with this decision as he is a consultant for one of the companies involved in dealings with the MCFC. Also, Councillor Kolida may have a perceived conflict of interest with such a decision for MCFC.
I was unable to attend the last Council meeting as I was out of the country but this issue has bugged me after all the work, time and effort that the former Council TEAM had put into their positions. My plan is to attend tonight’s meeting via Zoom and I realize that I cannot speak to this issue as the public input isn’t until after the vote. I did listen to the last Council meeting record and found that some statements by Mayor Runtz were inaccurate and that the questions posed by Councillor Kolida were directed at Councillor Smith and have a difficult time understanding why he asked her those questions as he is the MCFC representative of Council on the MCFC Board – why hasn’t he asked the question to the Board members, the General Manager or why didn’t he attend the AGM of MCFC last year?
I ask that the members of Council reconsider this important decision! You all have a lot of items coming up in the near future such as budgets, taxation, union contracts and especially a CAO and DCO for the Village with the present CAO’s departure at the end of January.
Allan Frederick
McBride, BC
