SEQUIM — Gil Simon, leader of a group that has sought to overhaul the leadership of the Sequim-Dungneness Valley Chamber of Commerce, is accusing the chamber board of breaking its own bylaws and holding an improper election on March 20.
But Walt Schubert, chamber president, said the board has done nothing wrong.
Simon, head of the Concerned Chamber Committee, suspects that several people who participated in the March 20 meeting — during which members voted 84 to 69 against removing the chamber board — are associate members, and therefore didn’t belong in the balloting.
“What apparently happened at the meeting was that there were people not eligible to vote,” he said, adding, “The board knew that in advance.”
After receiving Simon’s furious 15-paragraph e-mail on the topic on Thursday, Schubert sought chamber attorney Alan Millet’s help.
“My opinion is that unless a person has applied for associate membership, they are full members with rights to vote [and] hold office as members,” Millet responded.
In his e-mail, Simon cited chamber’s bylaws, which say associate members don’t have the right to vote or become directors.
Section 8 of Article II of the bylaws states that people who aren’t in business and representatives of nonprofit groups may apply for associate membership.
Said Millet, “Section 8 does not say that a person not in business can’t be a regular member.”
“Any person . . . having an interest in the objectives of the organization shall be eligible to apply for membership,” the bylaws state.
Schubert acknowledged that the two attorneys, Simon and Millet, interpret the bylaws differently.
But the chamber president does not believe his board did anything underhanded.
“There was so much going on when we were getting the meeting together and trying to deal with the anger from the CCC,” he said.
“In any case, I will try to resolve this.”
