The struggle for control of the Riley Park Hillcrest Community Association board may finally be over.
Jesse Johl told the Courier he quit as president on Oct. 19, along with board members Todd Constant, Steve Mah, Nick Despotakis and Peter Thanis.
Ken Charko, who remains on the board with Jennifer Palma, Jaimini Thakore and Eli Zbar, claims RPHA will continue to oppose the OneCard with the associations that jointly operate Hastings, Kensington, Kerrisdale, Killarney and Sunset with the Vancouver park board.
“We have a new board that has met (Oct. 20) and we’re making no changes to the arrangement Hillcrest has with the group of six as it relates to the litigation with the city,” Charko told the Courier. “Our objective right now on this new board is to bring us to the annual general meeting that’s in compliance with the judge’s orders and make sure that contractors are paid in an expeditious matter.”
Johl, who is running for city council under the Vancouver First banner, led a two-year battle to keep community centre associations autonomous by opposing the Vision Vancouver majority park board’s rollout of a system-wide pass. A war of words heated up last spring when Charko, Palma, Thakore and Zbar filed a B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit seeking their reinstatement to the board that included allegations of financial mismanagement and sexual harassment that have not been proven in court.
“We’ve all got young families, this is a volunteer position, nobody signed up for this. Here we are trying to make our community better and all we get is grief,” Johl said. “The whole thing is just a nightmare. The bottom line, the board was falsely accused of a number of things, all of it was untrue.”
Charko’s slate ousted Johl’s at a hastily called June 26 annual general meeting, but on Aug. 22, Justice Lisa Warren overturned the election of 14 new directors and ordered the board be composed of Johl, Constant, Mah, Despotakis, Thanis, Zbar,Thakore, Palma and Charko. She also ordered a new annual general meeting be held by Oct. 30.
Johl said there were negotiations with Charko to set a new date after the proposed Sept. 4 meeting was moved to Sept. 14. Charko and Johl are blaming each other for the impasse after Johl brought a mediator to settle on a date. Charko is planning to apply to court for a new meeting date.
“We offered every Sunday up to Oct. 26,” Johl said.
“If the Vision forces want to take it and take over it, and Charko has aligned himself with Vision, there’s nothing you can do with it.”
Charko, a former NPA candidate and director, scoffed at the suggestion he is a Vision supporter. He said he has been a Conservative since age 12. “I’m not related to Vision, never been related to Vision, he knows I’m not related to Vision, that is just a smokescreen,” he said. “Just not going to happen.”
For now, Johl is focusing on the election. “The biggest impact on the community centres will be the result of Nov. 15. We’re the only civic party that has three community centre presidents and two Olympians running.”
Meanwhile, the park board has scheduled a one-day court hearing Nov. 20 — five days after the civic election — in its continuing legal battle with the six community centres.
“Park Board will not be issuing the non-renewal notices to any of your clients without first obtaining direction from the court that such notices are permitted,” wrote city lawyer Jason Twa in an Oct. 3 letter to lawyer Dean Davison.
In the letter, Twa denied the park board is breaching the joint operating agreement by replacing the Active Networks Safari program and not involving the Killarney Community Centre Association in the planning for a proposed seniors’ centre.
“The Park Board will be proceeding with the implementation of new software in the coming year,” Twa wrote. “Again, the JOA will remain in effect in accordance with the injunction order and the purchase of new software has no bearing on the operation of the JOA.”
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