Co-op board on the hot seat at AGM regarding decision not to acknowledge former GM
By Brendan Quinn
Kootenay Co-op Board members could not get away from Wednesday’s Annual General Meeting at Selkirk College Tenth Street Campus without answering a few questions about the former General Manger Deirdre Lang.
Lang was let go and replaced in the interim by former grocery manager Paul Kelly during a spring shake up that saw two members of the board — Olindo Chiocca and Leon Pigott — step down.
Both Chiocca and Pigott felt the decision to remove Lang was not done according to the board’s policies and rules.
As the evening continued one could feel the tension rising and it became evident that some members in particular weren’t pleased with the apparent whitewashing and lack of recognition for the work of Lang during her long tenure at the Kootenay Co-op
Lang is now helming the Commons project along with Russell Precious.
At the end of the member’s information meeting, a member asked the directors to explain what exactly happened and why nothing had been mentioned or discussed during the meeting.
Board of Directors member Paula Sobie replied with the following statement.
“The board of directors was faced with an extremely difficult situation at the end of December 2014,” Sobie said.
“I can say with certainty that it caused a lot of people pain and suffering during that time. Because this is a situation that involves personnel I’m not legally able to disclose details.”
Sobie continued, saying, “We made some very difficult decisions that we felt aligned with the best interests of the co op going forward. Like I said, it was an incredibly difficult situation, but we felt looking at the store and that the new building we were moving into required some changes in terms of the management structure we had and we have confidence in the decisions we made.”
This vague answer did not sit well with some of the crowd, who felt that Lang received the short end of the stick.
“We are really upset with what happened to Deirdre. You keep telling me it is a matter of confidentiality and personnel. She is a member of our community, she served our co-op for years on end and she did an excellent job. Deirdre was shafted,” said a Co-op member in response to the statement from the Board of Directors.
As to why the Board of Directors had neglected to acknowledge Lang during the meeting up until that point, it was explained that this was at her request.
“We had wished to do an acknowledgement of Deirdre and her service, but it was at her request that we not do that,” said VP Susan Morrison.
