"Things are not what they seem at a local veterans club," is the message some members are sending.
In a recent letter to the Richmond News, long-time Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans in Canada Unit 284 (ANAF 284) member Joanne Teraguchi questioned the club's claim to be open to everyone.
"I have been a 10-year member of ANAF and recently received an email that the 'full-service kitchen,' which was mentioned in the (Richmond News) article, will be closed as of July 20," Teraguchi wrote.
In a written statement to the News, vice-president of the ANAF's B.C. Provincial Command Michael MacDonald said a few members had been "quite vocal for several months" about the lack of variety coming from the kitchen and it had been on the radar of the club's management committee.
"In due time, we recognized a juncture where there was an immediate need to make a change," MacDonald said.
"With the well-known summer slowdown in business expected in late July to early September, keeping the kitchen open would have been financially irresponsible. "
Management denies lack of transparency
Teraguchi's daughter recently purchased a membership to use the facilities with her children, but the kitchen closure meant she couldn't visit the club as minors are no longer allowed.
"The main concern is they don't come to the membership with anything. I mean, we'll have a meeting. We ask questions and we don't get answers," Teraguchi told the News over the phone.
"They keep saying they're losing money, but we don't get decent financial statements. ... Nobody has any idea where the money's going. All we ever hear is 'We're broke. We don't have any money.'"
Long-time volunteer Jackie Newton echoed Teraguchi's concerns.
"It's just total mismanagement. It's being run by people that don't know, have no business experience and have no hospitality industry experience," she told the News.
MacDonald, on the other hand, said the management committee prefers "to present options for the membership to consider" despite having the authority to "make any change it feels necessary without consultation of the membership."
He added the management committee was unable to comment on plans for the kitchen but would like to gauge interest from the membership "before making a final decision."
MacDonald also denied there is a lack of transparency in club finances.
"Although this may have been an arguably true statement in the distant past, (before the current management committee), the unit’s financial transparency is currently being maintained to a high standard," he said.
He explained access to financial records "is granted in an inhibited manner for all initiated active & affiliate members of the unit" per a bylaw implemented several decades ago. The financial records are reported at general information meetings, said MacDonald.
On the occasion when a report is not provided in time, the information "is always reported at the earliest possible opportunity" and is available to active and affiliate members upon written request, he added.
"The opportunity for members to review the finances is mentioned at every general information meeting, and the procedure is recorded in the monthly meeting minutes," wrote MacDonald, adding that, like "many private clubs," ANAF 284's financial information can't be distributed for "outside consumption."
"To date, the only requests we’ve had to review the finances are from a few associate members who, once again by way of unit bylaws, are not permitted to review the historical financial records of the unit."
When asked about the club's ongoing property tax arrears, MacDonald declined to comment on the issue "without the permission of the unit membership."
According to the City of Richmond, ANAF 284 has made "some payment" of their outstanding property taxes, but they continue to be in arrears.
Lack of progression
Since Newton joined the club in 2010, she said she has seen "no progression" in its operations.
Newton started volunteering because she "believed in" the club and the money being raised to support the community. She added the members were trying to make ANAF 284 into a "one-of-a-kind destination" for live music and had a business plan.
"We knew what we were doing, but they shut us down at everything we tried to do," she said.
Like Teraguchi, she questioned the club's openness to the public.
"It's not a pleasant place, it's not a fun place anymore. ... It's closed Mondays, it's closed Tuesdays, it's closed Wednesday afternoon, it's closed Saturday afternoon," she said.
"We're a village that has visitors here, and they maybe would like to go in and have a cold drink on a Saturday afternoon ... It's never open."
Newton added the door is locked and can only be opened when people buzz in, which doesn't help make the club more welcoming to others.
MacDonald said ANAF is a private members and guests club and its "prime interest" is to "maintain a healthy membership, something that has become much more difficult over the past decade or so."
"The unit would certainly like to be the most welcoming entity in the vicinity, and that is entirely up to the membership. The management committee is merely the vessel which ensures the best chance at financial sustainability, and the membership is the face of the unit," said MacDonald.
He told the News there have been "very few" minors in attendance in recent years but the club "would certainly like to remain familiar territory to minors as they grow into the age of majority, as they are our future."
"When the kitchen eventually opens, we will ask the question again to the membership."
Club should be managed by elected individuals, says member
John Adams, a veteran and a member of ANAF 284 for almost a decade, thinks the club should be managed by an elected board rather than appointed individuals as it is now.
The B.C. Provincial Command of the ANAF appointed a management committee after the executives stepped down.
"Per their bylaws, we should have a president and all the officers to run that place. But we're stuck with (people) that have been appointed by the B.C. Command ... For me, as a veteran, it doesn't make me very happy," said Adams.
In his statement to the News, MacDonald explained the club doesn't prefer to implement management committees but "under very specific circumstances," such committees "protect the interest of the unit and the association."
"To make the situation more feasible, we have chosen to appoint members of Steveston Unit 284 due to their historical knowledge of the unit," wrote MacDonald.
Adams hopes that elected officers will help the club get back to "normal," with live music sessions and an open kitchen.
"And get more public coming in there or interest in the public joining our organization," he added.
In addition to the "strong benefits" at the club, such as charity, entertainment, food, comradeship, friendship and sports, Adams said the club also serves as an important gathering place for veterans.
"It's a place for us that served in the military over a long period of time to get together, to enjoy each other's company. And it's part of paying respect to our fallen comrades we lost during the wars over the years," he explained, adding he spent 26 years in the military.
"It's a very important organization and it benefits society."
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