Ire Grows Over Uncounted Wilmont Ballots

Ballots cast have yet to be counted, further vexing members already frustrated with the organization's current leadership.

Some of the nine candidates planned to storm a meeting of the Wilshire-Montana Neighborhood Coalition Monday night to demand the votes be counted, but the meeting was canceled last-minute because the current Board of Directors couldn't get a quorum, said Chair Valerie Griffin.

"There's probably a level of discomfort... we don't want to be yelled at and have our meetings disrupted," Griffin wrote in an email. 

In an email Sunday to Wilmont's membership, candidate and past chairwoman Jeanne Dodson called on neighbors to attend the meeting anyway, saying their votes "are in jeopardy."

"Current board members are using every excuse imaginable and are refusing to count your votes," she wrote.

Now, several candidates are calling for Griffin's resignation. She faced opposition June 9 when Wilmont membership voted to hold an election even though she had . At that meeting, she was ousted as chair and the board's vice chairman, Albin Gielicz, ran the elections.

Griffin contends the elections are not official.

RELATED:

"The candidates to the Board remain firm in their demand that the sealed ballot taken at the annual meeting on June 9th is opened and counted, by an independent and impartial body, at the earliest reasonable opportunity," they wrote in a press release Monday. "After the results are known, the newly elected board members must be seated immediately."

If the elections are ultimately certified and the incumbents lose their seats, the board will consist predominately of members who oppose the —the biggest development project the neighborhood will have seen in decades. The revitalization was endorsed months ago by the board, reportedly without much input from the membership.

Some said they were galvanized by the endorsement of the Miramar, others have said they were frustrated with a perceived lack of transparency and leadership who didn't consult members before making big decisions.

Griffin and other board members have called the candidates inexperienced. She believes a takeover would harm Wilmont.

"Wilmont is far more important than... a takeover by a corporate interest," Griffin has said, claiming the newcomers are backed by the , which is also opposed to the Miramar redo.

A candidate who works for the Huntley Hotel withdrew from the elections before votes were cast June 9.