Former board members of the Hillcrest Community Centre are hoping transparency will put a very public internal conflict to an end.
“Any settlement…will require a full independent audit to be completed,” said former board member Ken Charko. “An open AGM is really what we’re looking for, full accountability.”
The settlement Charko is referring to is a proposed deal that would see current chair Jesse Johl removed from the board.
Over the last year the Hillcrest Centre, home to Olympic curling in the 2010 Olympics and one of the most popular community centres in the city, has been mired by infighting. Three members of the board, including Charko, have been removed. The centre has spent thousands in legal fees battling changes imposed by the Vancouver Park Board over membership rules, but lacked money to put on their annual Easter Egg Hunt.
MORE: Fighting between Vancouver Park Board and community centre affecting services
Ian Robertson, who was an NPA Park Board Commissioner from 2005 to 2011, was liaison to Hillcrest during his tenure. He agrees with the ousted board members that Johl is the source of the problems.
“The way in which he took over the board was quite terrible, and I can agree that since then, from what I can see, the association has not been run effectively, it’s all been about Jesse trying to raise his personal profile,” he said.
Politics weigh heavy in this fight, with Charko a former candidate for NPA president, while Johl was an NPA nominee for council in 2011, only for the nomination to be rescinded before the election.
Robertson said it’s one of the reasons community centres need oversight.
“There had been in the past some questionable activities taken by other community centres, and this is why I do support the park board having some kind of oversight. The challenge is that quite often you get individuals in with their own personal agenda,” he said.
Looming over the entire fight is a letter by the park board, demanding an accounting of all expenditures since 2012. They’re also asking why residents who purchased memberships have credit card statements showing charges to a charity headed by Johl.
But Johl, who said a computer glitch caused the membership money to be misdirected to his foundation, has otherwise declined comment.
– With files from Jas Johal
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