Dr. Timothy McCartney has resigned as a director of Colina Holdings Bahamas Ltd., claiming that events that have arisen since the government approved the company’s acquisition of Imperial Life Financial have “evoked serious questions as to the credibility and stability of Colina.
The Bahama Journal has also confirmed that Pedro Gibson, another director, has also resigned from the group.
The resignations come several months after Colina fired James Campbell as its president following a serious dispute he had with Chairman Emmanuel Alexiou and Anthony Ferguson, another director.
In his letter of resignation, Dr. McCartney said that at a meeting on April 4, 2005, members of the Board met with the governor of the Central Bank and other government regulators who voiced their concerns with what they considered to be “a serious and deteriorating situation and an impasse between the partners”.
Dr. McCartney said, “They urged the board, in no ucertain terms, that the board must exercise control and try to neutralize the situation. They advised that losing the president at this time would have serious implications, especially in the community and for the organization as well.
“They suggested that whatever was to be done should be done strategically, and in a manner that the Bahamian public and especially the shareholders would deem to be fair, and in order.”
But Dr. McCartney claimed that the board of directors in a meeting the following afternoon did not follow the agenda and the intended focus.
“Instead,” he said, “it was forced into a marathon meeting to get rid of Jimmy, the very thing that the regulators advised us not to do. I saw a very dangerous trend developing that I believed to be unhealthy for the board and for Colina.
“I also saw the beginning of polarization which leads to subjective and emotional thinking, mistrust and suspicions.”
Dr. McCartney in his letter of resignation to Mr. Alexiou, said the chairman had sent e-mails to get board members to agree to hold an extraordinary general meeting specifically to achieve “your and Tony’s desire to fire the president.”
“I saw no legitimate reason to use this method, and didn’t respond,” he said.
Dr. McCartney also wrote that the board convened a special meeting upon the advice of Dr. Myles Munroe to try to develop a reasonable strategy to resolve the problem that had developed.
But he said neither Mr. Alexiou nor Mr. Ferguson showed up.
“We had a positive and objective meeting will all expressing their willingness to find, if possible, a win-win solution,” he wrote.
But he also stated, “To my horror, board members who attended that meeting received a hostile letter from you (Mr. Alexiou) indicating that we did not have a quorum and if we persisted with any more meetings there would be legal implications.
“I then began to realize that the situation was totally out of hand and those fears that I have already expressed with regard to mistrusts, game playing and the deterioration of friendships built up over many years, were rearing their ugly heads.”
Dr. McCartney said when he introduced the chairman and Mr. Campbell to each other, he saw a relationship “between two brilliant young Bahamians who shared a vision and who had the potential to actualize that vision.”
He also indicated that at the beginning of the year, Mr. Campbell had announced that he had planned to relinquish his position as president and use his time to try to expand Colina’s interest internationally.
“We did not want this to happen, especially in the near future and [Mr. Alexiou] and I decided that we would try and convince him to stay at the helm,” Dr. McCartney wrote.
“At a compensation committee meeting between Pedro Gibson, [Mr. Alexiou] and myself, we voiced these concerns and, as a committee, we agreed to give the president a generous bonus that would not only show our appreciation for his excellent work on behalf of the company, but also as an incentive to stay on for a longer period of time.”
But within months, Mr. Campbell had been fired from the company.
Dr. McCartney wrote, “I am not accustomed to having my honesty or integrity questioned, nor am I trying to exonerate myself for perhaps not being more assertive against what I perceived to be deteriorating friendships, an emerging negative organizational culture, job insecurities, low morale and fear.”
Speaking with The Bahama Journal from Florida, he confirmed that the letter was authentic and said the situation was a sad one.
In his letter of resignation, Dr. McCartney said he continues to pray for “positive resolutions of these tragic circumstances.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
