Hopes for talks over MS group acrimony
MEMBERS of the Otago Multiple Sclerosis Society hope a meeting with key figures in its undersiege executive committee will help resolve an acrimonious split in the organisation.
About 60 people gathered outside the society’s Baker St base, in Caversham, on Saturday to protest about alleged bullying, conflicts of interest, and dysfunction involving committee members.
Society president Beverly Glenn and her husband David Glenn, the society’s treasurer, did not attend Saturday’s protest to hear the complaints during an attimes angry gathering.
Instead, two former staff members, who are pursuing personal grievance claims, were joined by society members and their supporters outside the locked doors of the society’s Otago headquarters.
The gathering followed reports last week 82% of the society’s financial members had signed a resolution calling for a special general meeting to hold a vote of no confidence in the executive committee.
Mr Glenn, who denied claims of bullying, had responded by saying he and his wife would not seek reelection when their terms ended next March.
But he refused demands for a special general meeting, sought by members who want to oust the fivemember committee immediately.
On Saturday, MS sufferer Mr Michael Harrison urged the crowd to have patience, saying he needed about two weeks to try to ‘‘work this through’’.
He was hopeful a meeting being arranged with executive committee members, including Mr Glenn, would go ahead within weeks and might help resolve the situation.
Others in the crowd wanted more immediate action, and labelled Mr Glenn’s earlier comments — in which he suggested people with MS lacked a wider perspective — as ‘‘despicable’’.
‘‘That is rude and derogatory and everything else,’’ one woman said.
Nancye Coombes, of Mosgiel, attending her first protest, also criticised the committee, saying they were robbing her of support and a lifestyle she benefited from.
‘‘We have got to have our society back,’’ she said.
‘‘I can’t do anything and it’s ruining my life.’’
Mr Harrison reassured the crowd and said they needed to ‘‘stand strong’’.
‘‘We still are a supportive community, but we are standing here on one side of the doors and the committee is on the other side,’’ he said.