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CALUMET – A recent article in the Daily Mining Gazette said that Calumet Theater Company member Rebecca Glotfelty was physically excluded from the annual membership meeting on September 27 and cited for disturbing the peace. Glotfelty responded to this article in a telephone interview on Friday to clarify the events leading up to, and including, his expulsion from the meeting on the orders of then-board chair Shannon Richter. Glotrelty pointed out that she had not received any citation of any kind.
Rebecca Glotfelty, paying member of the Calumet Theater Company, was kicked out of the meeting by Richter and escorted from the Calumet Theater building by a uniformed, but unidentified Michigan State soldier from the Calumet Post, for responding to a question asked by Richter during the Encounter. She was not, however, expelled for asking a question on financial matters, as stated in the DMG; instead, she was expelled for answering a question posed by Richter.
“I was answering one of his questions” Glotfelty said, “It was on the agenda. The agenda was not presented to members for inclusion.
Glotfelty explained that at member meetings it is standard procedure for the board to present the agenda to the members for a vote, on whether to accept the agenda as is or add it to the agenda. this one. This was not done, Glotfelty said, adding that there was no proper protocol for the meeting from the start.
The first order of business was the approval of the minutes to be rescheduled, as some members had asked about the previous year’s annual meeting, she said.
There was also a referendum, Glotfelty said, to increase the number of the board from eight to nine.
“My question to Shannon was this: The bylaws say there can be up to 20 board members. said Glotfelty. “And so I said to him, why don’t we have up to 20 boards? “
In response, Richter asked if Glotfelty had ever served on a nonprofit board of directors. Glotfelty replied:
“Yes I have. I sat on the board of directors of the Calumet Theater and I resigned because the financial information was withheld from me when I was asked.
An audio recording of this time of the reunion, provided to the DMG by another member of the theater company, not only confirms Glotfelty’s statements, but also suggests that throughout the reunion, Glotfelty played down the events.
“Okay. So. Rebecca suggests we postpone the minutes, or is there someone else who wants to take them and move on? Or are we postponing? ‘a motion. The majority voted for the postponement.
At this point, Richter said the meeting would move to the first ballot, which raises the question of whether the number of board members should increase from eight to nine.
Theater member Penny Shute Menze can be heard making a motion to increase the board from eight to 11, to which Richter replied that it is on the agenda to increase the number only to eight. at nine.
“This is what the council voted on” Richter said.
That’s when Glotfelty asked about the statutes allowing up to 20 people to sit on the board. Richter replied that with so many people on a board it becomes difficult to control, then asked if Glotfelty has ever served on a board.
When Glotfelty replied that she had, but quit because she was denied access to financial information, Richter is heard getting aggressive and yelling: “I’m going to close the meeting, Rebecca!”
Glotfelty, at this point, can be heard over Richter’s lofty voice, bringing forward a motion to increase the board from eight to 20 members. The motion was seconded by Menze and Member Jerry Mitchell, the audio recording reveals. Although the motion was given two seconds, rather than opening the motion for discussion, several screams from several people, including Richter, ensued.
After the noise died down, Glotfelty then filed a motion to dissolve the entire board, which was followed by more indistinct screams from several people. Towards the end of the 12-minute recording, a member can be heard saying: “What? She can’t do that! and another asking why a policeman was kidnapping Glotfelty.
Glotfelty told the DMG on Friday that although she had not received any citation from the State Trooper, she believed her expulsion was in violation of the Calumet Theater statutes (which are posted on the theater’s website), because as a member paying in order, she had the right to present motions, which the council was obliged to open for discussion.
According to the statutes of the Calumet Theater Company, approved on June 1, 2020, as published at https://calumettheatre.com/theatre-bylaws/:
Article II – Membership, Sec. 2.1a states:
a. Regular members are people who fill out an annual membership form and pay the dues established by the board of directors. Regular members will have the right to participate in all activities of the Calumet Theater Company, including voting and office.
Section 2.2 VOTING / PARTICIPATION states: Each member has one vote. Glotfelty maintains that Richter ordered her withdrawal from the meeting prevented her from voting in other motions.
Article III – Board of Directors, section 3.2 states:
Glotfelty further stated that as a member in good standing, her proposal to increase the number of board members to 20 was well within her rights, which she referenced in section 3.2 of the bylaws. :
3.2 NUMBER AND SELECTION OF DIRECTORS. The board of directors is made up of at least three (3) and at most twenty (20) people. Directors will serve for terms of three (3) years, except that initially one-third (1/3) will be elected to serve for three (3) years, one-third (1/3) will be elected to serve for two (2) ) years, and one third (1/3) elected for one (1) year. In the event of an increase in the number of directors elected in office, the terms of office will be established so that the terms of approximately one third (1/3) of the directors expire each year. Directors are eligible for re-election and remain in office until their successors are elected.
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