LEVY: Pride board mum on improprieties
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The beleaguered members of the Pride board — faced with a number of pointed questions about alleged improprieties at a heated annual general meeting Wednesday night — evaded answering until they managed to run out the clock.
Board co-chairman and the self-appointed meeting chairperson Michael Erickson — who came across as highly defensive, arrogant and patronizing — refused to give any reasons for executive director Olivia Nuamah’s sudden firing on Jan. 15 or whether they’ve planned for a successor, repeatedly insisting that he can’t comment on a human resources issue.
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In fact, he referred to her termination as a “departure,” suggesting perhaps that she left of her own accord — which is untrue.
Edna, who did not want her last name used, said she was very upset by what happened to Nuamah.
“This has divided our community,” she said.
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Asked about the $35,000 investigation by downtown lawyer Gregory Ko into allegations of financial improprieties and harassment by two board members, Erickson at first claimed conflict is often mistaken for harassment.
He added that the investigation is complete and assured members that if any wrongdoing was indeed found, it “has been addressed.
“We are an organization that has conflict that is often experienced as harassment subject to your own family culture,” he said, repeatedly flipping his hair.
When one woman asked about the media coverage of issues surrounding the board — provided in the past week in a series of Toronto Sun exclusives — Erickson said that a lot of things reported were “false and harsh.”
Approached during a break in the meeting to clarify what was false, he adamantly refused to answer a series of questions from the Sun and turned his head away.
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When a member asked about minutes from the Special General Meeting of Jan. 14, when the interim board installed themselves in three-year terms, Erickson said they were not available and none of the decisions made that evening are “binding.”
If the decisions weren’t binding, why not hold another vote of the membership to ensure they want the board to stay on, the member asked.
Erickson waffled, saying they could do another vote maybe in three weeks time that would not be “binding” — insisting they are still three-year board members according to Pride’s bylaws.
He commenced the meeting by reminding the crowd that they should think about how they treat the board members — who serve “loyally and well.”
The meeting — disorganized, chaotic and heated — ended at 9 p.m. (when the venue was supposed to close) before a vote for new board members was completed, other motions were addressed and promised questions answered.
There was no indication given whether another meeting to finish the agenda would be held in the near future.
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