John Tarley is Restored

John Tarley is restored, OLM Board Chairman

Augustus Toomey

Members of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota have voted to restore Mr. John Tarley to office as Chairman of the OLM Board of Directors.

The decision was reached over the weekend at a meeting convened by the Community Intervention Committee (CIC) held at the Brookdale Covenant Church in Brooklyn Center. The meeting brought together a cross session of the community.

Recently, the OLM Board Chairman, Mr. John Tarley was allegedly removed unconstitutionally and replaced in early January with the Mr. Clarence Yaskey, the man whom he (Tarley) defeated during the Board leadership election. Mr. Tarley immediately rejected that action and termed it as illegal and unconstitutional.

For removal, Mr. Tarley pointed out that article 8. Section 8.014 of the OLM Constitution states that, "Any member of the Board of Directors with two consecutive unexcused absences from functions of the Board or Organization shall be served a warning letter. And any member who is absent in four consecutive meetings shall be removed from the Board. Such removal shall be channeled through the Chairman in consultation of other members of the Board."

Mr. John Tarley was present but all other members of the board failed to show up, although both parties were invited. Many members of the community who addressed the meeting expressed disappointment that the members of the Board ignored their invitation to meeting with them to resolve the crisis on the Board. They considered the action on the part of the Board as gross disrespect to the community as a whole. The Board theysaid is subjected to them who elected all members of the Board and should be always willing and ready to meet with the community as any. The community promised to into a "vote of no confidence" in the entire board if they ever failed to their call. Other members suggested the immediate removal of the board for violating the constitution which they took oath to defent and protect.

In its findings the CIC determined that Mr. Tarley was illegal, unconstitutional and made out of "a staged plan," that the constitution was very ambiguous and a total recipe for future chaos. They therefore recommended that the community act in what is best in the interest of the community and that the OLM be revisited and or amended.

Members of the Community Intervention Committee include Kelvin Gray who is also president of the United Bassa County Association Minnesota Chapter as Chairman. Others are Hamilton Kayee, president of the Sinoe Association Minnesota, Co-chairman, Ms. Caroline Galimah, Secretary; Mr. Harris Meh, Solomon Slippah, Wynfred Russell, Rev. J. Willie Page, and C. Tarpeh as members. The Community Intervention Committee or the CIC was constituted in February during a meeting to intervene in a leadership crisis on the OLM Board.

THE REPORT OF THE CIC READ BY MS CAROLINE GALIMAH

The committee in its report indicated that they met earlier with members of the Board to inquire as to whether the removal followed any due process. The report says during the meeting, members of the Board present insisted that they had the constitutional right to remove Mr. Tarley and replace him without any reference to the Community. 　They informed the Committee that they took the action to remove Mr. Tarley as Chairman predicated upon his unexplained absence from the Board. According to them, they made several attempts to contact their chairman but to no avail, hence, they were left with no alternative but to take the necessary action.

However according to the CIC report , Mr. Tarley refuted the claim made by his colleagues and referred to it as a "concocted lie" hatched by Mr. Yaskey who was miserably defeated by him (Tarley) during the Board’s election. The Committee’s report stated that Mr. Tarley informed them that upon his election as Chairman of the Board, he fell ill and was hospitalized. He said that the Board was duly informed about his illness, and in keeping with the constitution of OLM, the Vice Chairman of the Board, Mr. Richard Parker, was acting as Chairman pending his recovery.　

The CIC report pointed out that despite Mr. Tarley’s illness, he was in constant communication with the Co-chairman of the Board, Mr. Parker and other members, including, Mr. Clarence Yaskey…the mastermind behind his illegal and unconstitutional removal who had earlier visited him to beg him for some money to pay his mortgage. 　He then averred: "how can these men be so heartless to make such frivolous claim against me, when they were fully and duly aware of the circumstances that precipitated my absence from the board?"　　　　

　
Mr. Kelvin Gray making a statement

The report quoted Tarley as saying that why he believes that his so-called, "removal" is illegal, because there was not due process; the meeting at which he was removed was not a regular or a special session of the Board.

It is however not clear how Mr. Tarley was resume his duties as Chairman of the Board of Directors, but the CIC has the mandate to ensure that the process is smooth.