Were they fired or did they quit?

By Scott NeufeldTuesday, March 13, 2007 http://www.dailycourier.ca/article_1028.php

Three members of the former Vernon Land Corporation have left, but the reason for their departure depends on who you ask.Mayor Wayne Lippert revealed after Monday’s council meeting that there are three vacancies on the land committee following the resignation of Pat Lett, Larry Rivard and Michael Tindall.“They didn’t like the new terms of reference of the corporation going to a committee,” Lippert said. The mayor also added that the members quit in part because they would no longer receive a $6,000 honorarium.

However, Tindall told the Vernon Daily Courier that he didn’t quit, he was fired.“I asked the mayor point blank, ‘are you here to fire us?’ (Lippert) said, ‘Yes,’” according to Tindall. “All of the directors on the Land Corp were fired Dec. 19 by the mayor.”Two of the members, Richard Hamilton and Jack Borden, decided to re-apply for the new land advisory committee and will continue to serve the city. Tindall said that once the corporation lost its autonomy, he was no longer interested in being a part of it.“The corporation had a fair amount of leeway in terms of independence and bringing things forward to council,” he said. Losing the honorarium did not impact his decision not to re-apply, Tindall said.

As a member of a number of different volunteer boards including one at Okanagan College, he said he’s willing to offer his services at no charge.“I sit on six (boards). It takes me a lot of time and even costs me money,” he said. “It’s not a big deal; I was a member of something, now I’m not.”Tindall said he’s not surprised at council’s decision to reign in the power of the land corporation. He said, however, that he’s disappointed in the direction the city has decided to take.Lippert made his comments after council voted to cut one member from both the land advisory committee and the airport committee. After the meeting, when asked who would be forced off each committee, Lippert revealed there were already some vacancies on the land committee.“Some advertisements will be going out probably this week,” he said.