Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 27, 1990                   TAG: 9003272278
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THREE CO-OP MEMBERS RESIGN AFTER RECORDS

Peter Airey, Karen Lane and Eva Jo Wu charged that the board was trying to take power away from the general membership.

They also criticized the co-op because staffers refused to allow Airey, the treasurer, access to its books. A staffer called the police and forced Airey to leave when Airey attempted to examine co-op records last week.

The board's president, Fred Liady, denied that the board was moving to take power away from the general membership. And he said Airey had failed to go through proper channels to see the books.

The co-op, at Grandin and Westover avenues Southwest, has been tangled in controversy this year over its management and finances.

In its last full budget year, from July 1988 through June 1989, the co-op lost nearly $58,000. Store manager Linda Swift said she has made several changes and the co-op has shown a small profit of $996.12 in the first two months of this year.

The three board members who resigned have disagreed with the rest of the board over what steps to take to improve the co-op's finances. Last month, the majority of the board voted to ask the three-member faction to resign.

Airey said he went to the co-op a week ago to look over its financial records. Staffers at the store objected, and called the police.

Airey said he agreed to leave, but waited for the police officer to arrive so he could assure the officer that he was not a troublemaker.

"As treasurer, I felt obligated to have at least a passing acquaintance with the financial records," Airey said.

Liady said Airey was acting as a "renegade," because Airey had not asked the board to see the records. "It was another example of him acting outside the board of directors" and instead acting with a personal agenda, Liady said.

If Airey had asked, the board probably would have OK'd it, Liady said.

Airey and the two other board members who resigned also contend that the board is asking general members to sign proxies that would strip them of any say in the organization.

While the co-op has about 1,600 members, it has generally been run by about 200 members who are most active, Airey said. However, the proxies would put all power in the hands of board members, Airey said.

Liady said nothing sinister is in the works. Under its bylaws, the board needs the signed proxies in order to conduct business, he said.

The proxies that have been distributed among the membership are identical to ones used in the past, Liady said. Those were lost after a massive management turnover about two years ago, he said.

The co-op annual membership meeting will be at 6 p.m. May 6 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Roanoke.