The 2013 Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games board has vacant positions to fill after a trio of members resigned last week.
Board chair Henry Romanchuk announced his resignation on Dec. 3, and although he refused to elaborate further on the circumstances of his resignation, he said there were several things he took into consideration before making the decision.
“There were a number of incidents, comments that were made that morning … along with some other things, that caused me to do that and that’s about all I want to say about that,” he said. “I’ve resigned and at this point, I don’t have any intention of taking any part in what’s going to happen.”
Communications and safety director Ken McCarthy resigned from his position because he will be moving to Edson on Jan. 1 for job reasons. Promotions director Angie Hampshire also resigned.
After news of Romanchuk’s resignation reached members of the executive committee, which consists of elected officials from the four host municipalities, a meeting was set up for Dec. 7 to discuss a plan of action.
“The executive committee discussed Mr. Romanchuk’s resignation and with regret, they accepted Mr. Romanchuk’s resignation,” said Westlock CAO Darrell Garceau. “The reason for the meeting was to address the matter and basically, deal with it.”
In the meeting, the committee decided to ask vice chair Gerry St. Pierre to fill the position of board chair, which he agreed to do.
“You got to realize in the back of your mind that there’s always that possibility that you’ll have to accept more responsibilities … so it wasn’t entirely a surprise or unexpected,” St. Pierre said, adding he was disappointed to hear of Romanchuk’s resignation.
He said he was not aware of any of the directors’ resignations as of Dec. 9 and was surprised to hear the news as well, but said this is a minor setback for the Games and will be overcome in the new year.
“There’s always a few changes initially, but once you get established with the right people in place, then everything goes fairly smooth,” he said. “There’s plenty of time and we’ve got some really good people we’re working with on Alberta Sports and I’m very confident in them and I’m confident about the rest of the directors.”
Barrhead County reeve Bill Lee said having the three directors resign now was better than having them wait a few more months to act.
“This is good, in some respects, because I’d rather have people leave their positions now or find a new chairman now than a year from now when we’re in the middle of getting it all going,” he said.
Although the resignations may come as a surprise to some members of the board, Garceau said it was something that the committee was prepared for, since many previous committees faced resignations in the years leading up to the Games.
“We had discussed and reviewed and gave consideration to the fact that there may be changes relative to a person due to illness or job placement,” he said. “We always knew that might happen and we would have to deal with it.”
“The most important thing was to appoint a chairperson and in terms of filling those vacant positions, those director positions, that will be done in the near future,” Garceau said. “We’re working on that as we speak and that will be an ongoing, concurrent process.”
For Barrhead County CAO Mark Oberg, it’s a chance for a new beginning for the board and the Games.
“We’re looking forward to having the people who will be taking the place of these volunteers (who resigned) step up,” he said. “It’s not always easy, but I know that our joint communities are determined to do a great job of this and that’s what’ll happen.”
Lee echoed Oberg’s sentiments about the bright outlook for the event.
“I think the big thing people need to know is that we’re still excited about the games,” he said. “They’re still going ahead. These hiccups happen and we’re dealing with them.”
The next 2013 Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games meeting is set for Jan. 25, 2012.
