No quorum, no Pride Society board meeting

'We cannot have a meeting because we have no board to do business': Coolen


A Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) board meeting set for Feb 15 has been cancelled due to a lack of quorum.

“There is no meeting because there are not enough directors to conduct business,” VPS general manager Scott Blythe told Xtra hours before the meeting was scheduled to begin.

When asked if anyone in the community has expressed interest in filling any of the eight vacant seats,” Blythe said he didn’t have that information and directed Xtra‘s enquiries to the remaining four board members.

Last week former VPS board member Ray Lam delivered a requisition for a special general meeting (SGM) to the VPS’s offices. Almost 40 requisitioners called for a meeting to address what they call “voting irregularities” during the reelection of president Ken Coolen at the annual general meeting in January. They are demanding a reelection.

Asked if the VPS plans to hold an SGM, Blythe again directed Xtra to the board. “That’s a good question,” he says. “But I can’t speak on that. It’s not my decision. I’m an operational person.”

Coolen also confirms that business could not be conducted because of the lack of occupied seats on the board.

“We cannot have a meeting because we have no board to do business,” he said.

The VPS’s bylaws state that there must be at least five board members on the VPS for business to be conducted. Only four board members now remain after Trevor Ashcroft gave written notice of his resignation last week.

 

Asked what happens now, Coolen says he won’t be discussing board issues any further with media.

“I will not be making any more comments until this issue is resolved,” he says.

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