Cloverdale council rescinds final CVB appointments

Thursday, April 30, 2015

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Town Council withdrew its three appointments to the Putnam County Convention Visitors Bureau during a special session Thursday night.

The town joined the City of Greencastle and Putnam County Commissioners in rescinding the appointments on the CVB Board of Directors in an effort to combat a series of issues that have recently been brought to light. The council approved the vacating of the three positions with a 3-1 vote. Councilman Gary Bennington cast the dissenting vote.

All 11 appointed positions CVB have now been vacated. Representing Cloverdale on the board were Dick Wells, Don Gedert and Rick Patel.

The Town of Cloverdale's attorney, Allen Yackey, said the discussion for the special meeting started after being contact with Greencastle and the county's attorneys. He explained to the council that the two entities were curious how the town might react following a series of accusations.

Yackey said in short, some of the issues include there being no record of the submission of the CVB's budget to the county, which is required by state law; there is no record of expenditures going through the county; there is only record of one member's oath of office, so the board meetings may not have been legally conducted; and there is no documentation regarding the length of terms for each appointed member.

The documents provided to the council included a public notice issued by the CVB's executive director Karla Lawless in which she referred to the Open Door Law request as a "distraction."

The documents also included CVB board minutes in which board members argued with former board member Diana LaViolette, a retired judge, when she asked for documentation regarding financial information.

Yackey also referred to a "dust up" he was informed of in which the president of the board was allegedly telling other members not to speak with the auditors.

The town will be accepting letters from those interested to fill the vacant positions of two one-year terms and one two-year term. The appointees do not have to live within Cloverdale, but do have to reside in the county.

Don Gedert informed the council he would again be applying for the position on the CVB, on which he has been serving for nine years. He said his position in real estate, Dick Wells' position at Hilltop Orchids and Rick Patel's position as owner of the Super 8 make them prime candidates for the board as they are all related to the tourism.

"Sure, there are some ruffled feathers at the present time, but I'm sure this is nothing we can't iron out," Gedert said.

Jim Hardwick, former member of the CVB board, was in attendance at the special session and requested the council not reappoint Wells and Gedert to the board. He referred to several times in which questions were raised about the board's finances.

"There were numerous times that Mr. Wells would look at me and say, 'It's none of your business what we are doing,'" Hardwick recalled. "When I came back for the next meeting they pulled me in the back room and chastised me like a little kid and said, 'We are not going to change for you. We are not going to change for Diana LaViolette. We are not going to change for Eric Wolfe.' All three of us were the ones asking about finances -- our fiduciary duty is to ask where the money is going and they were extremely defensive ... These two gentlemen made it a hostile environment."

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  • Sounds like it was time for a house cleaning. Gedert and Wells should not be allowed on any C,dale or county board with the attitude to law and rules as they have displayed. Gedert has always wanted to rule C,dale, and that's the last thing Cloverdale needs.

    -- Posted by becker on Fri, May 1, 2015, at 10:55 AM
  • More Cloverdale scandals? Does Hillary Clinton have anything to do with the CVB?

    -- Posted by Ben Dover on Fri, May 1, 2015, at 6:52 PM
  • So sorry to hear this! Love Mr. Wells, but I did warn these gentlemen years back that there are rules and accountability when it comes to tax dollars, and that's what we are talking about!

    Everyone who rents a hotel room in Indiana pays an extra tax that goes to the county CVB. It's quite a slush fund which this board has to spend as it wishes. It's the right of not only every board member but every citizen to know how the money is being spent.

    -- Posted by letspulltogether on Sun, May 3, 2015, at 8:54 AM
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