Expelled treasurer leaving conflict

Expelled Wingatui Community Hall committee treasurer Brian Isaac is walking away from bitter feuding within the group, saying his character has been "sullied".

Mr Isaac was discharged from the committee at a meeting on March 20, at which he was not present.

He believed the committee did not follow due process because no agenda was circulated to members for the meeting, he had not sighted a letter of complaint, and had no chance to defend himself.

In a statement supplied to the Otago Daily Times, he "absolutely" denied any wrongdoing.

"The conflict on the committee [has] been ongoing since July 2011 and has become personal, and the actual issues at the heart of this are now being clouded. As a result of this, I am choosing to walk away. I have been defamed and my character sullied," he said in the statement.

Two factions of the committee have been embroiled in strife, after the committee was reincorporated under a set of rules drafted by Mr Isaac.

At the time, chairwoman Bex Hill criticised him for reincorporating the society without notifying all members.

The committee had been incorporated since August under a constitution which stated, should the committee wind up, any remaining property or assets be given to the New Zealand Olympic Wrestling Union to be held in trust for secondary school Olympic wrestling.

Mr Isaac is heavily involved in wrestling at a regional and national level.

However, correspondence between the committee and the Companies Office revealed the rules he submitted were only proposed and should not have been registered when the society was restored.

When questioned about the rule regarding winding up and distribution of assets, Mr Isaac said, "That was taken off draft wrestling rules I had not finished."

The Companies Office said the only solution to rectify alterations to rules registered in error was to declare the rules invalid and approve a new set.

Former Dunedin mayor Peter Chin was brought in to mediate and produce a new set of rules, which were approved last month.

However, Ms Hill said the committee was "refraining from signing them until the general meeting".

A general meeting, set down for April 24, had been postponed until June because the committee was taking legal action against Mr Isaac.

The group was seeking $10,000 through the Disputes Tribunal to recover legal fees accrued as a result of the reincorporation of the society.

- ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz

 

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