Musicians' group files formal request to Coastal Jazz & Blues Society for special general meeting
Board says it’s looking into setting up the meeting, as organizers propose a new “caretaker board” to step into leadership
A GROUP that has been calling for the board of the Coastal Jazz & Blues Society to step down has filed a formal request under BC’s Societies Act for a special general meeting.
Signed by 40 members of the music community, the requisition calls for a vote on the removal of all the remaining board members and the appointment of a new caretaker board.
It seeks to appoint the following members as the caretaker board: former board member Zahid Makhdoom, a BC judge; Jai Djwa, a digital media strategist, facilitator and creative director; and Jen Thomas, a former director of administration at Coastal Jazz who now works as coordinator, executive office and fund development for Easter Seals BC/Yukon.
The Coastal Jazz board, meanwhile, says once it confirms the validity of the requisition, it will proceed to hold the special meeting “well before the 60-day time limit”, and intends to respond to the requisition by March 14.
“We are working with a lawyer to be certain we are following the bylaws in every detail,” it said in a statement today.
The board has said anyone registered as a member before February 21 of this year would be allowed to vote, including the late registrants in November of 2021, and any existing member who renews their membership could vote. The board says it is in the midst of determining whether new members joining after that date will have the right to vote at the special general meeting.
The group behind the effort to remove the board, now informally calling itself #FreeCoastalJazz, released a statement today saying, “The commitment for the newly appointed caretaker board is to recruit a full board of directors that is more representative of our community and have the requisite skills to lead the organization to new beginnings. As well, we will present to the membership a revision of the current bylaws, in order to move towards a more democratic and open society governance.”
As covered previously in Stir, controversy at the organization stems from a heated AGM in November 2021, in which the society’s members attempted to vote out the board. A letter dated February 3, and now signed by more than 300 musicians, asked “that the board respect the decision of the voting membership by stepping down”. The board had responded that a legal assessment provided to the board by an independent counsel had deemed “the 2021 AGM was not conducted according to the Society’s Bylaws” and that there was no voting mechanism to vote out board members.
Plans are underway for the organization's 36th annual Vancouver International Jazz Festival to take place June 24 to July 3, with the organization last week announcing two interim artistic programmers to oversee the event.
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