In response to the letter from Lesley Hogan it seems that Ms. Hogan isn’t going to let the facts of the issue interfere with her writing false and malicious statements. Firstly, I was acting as a paralegal for a group of six members of the St. Albert Seniors club including two directors, one of which was being denied the right to run for office after being duly nominated for the position of vice-president. I served this group without fee.
The seniors group I represented attempted mediation with no success and the dispute ended up in litigation.
The cost incurred was mainly over the action of the Hogan group who violated the constitution of the club by setting up their own nominating committee to screen all nominations. They did this to attempt to get rid of this long-term member and director who was asking tough questions about excessive expense claims of the executive director and other board members. Indeed, one had drained a reserve account through the improper use of the club credit card.
This group refused to meet or mediate the issue, which resulted in a statement of claim being filed and their running up a huge legal bill. Since they chose to fight this by hiring a lawyer, it follows that the seniors society was obliged to pay the legal fees incurred by them. This group led by Hogan also nominated two friends who were not members to the board in direct violation of the Articles of Association of the Club which again, led to more cost
It is interesting to note that in her letter to the Gazette, Hogan admits she never read the article she referred to which further corroborates her propensity to ignore facts and fabricate her version of events.
Bob Russell, St. Albert
