It’s May so it must be, eh, the parade

By Ray O’Hanlon
rohanlon@irishecho.com

The 2016 New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade is still in the rear view mirror.

But already the feuding parade groups - which have been in something of a standoff mode since the parade passed into the history books less than two months ago - appear to be gearing up for, well, more feuding.

The big three in this complex equation are the parade board, chaired by Dr. John Lahey, the parade and celebration committee chaired by John Tully, and the group, Concerned Members of Affiliated Organizations, headed by John Manning and Fr. John Sheehan.

Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter

Sign up today to get daily, up-to-date news and views from Irish America.

Looking on, though definitely with more than a little interest and concern, are the many affiliated organizations who comprise the backbone of the annual march up Fifth Avenue.

After the brief hiatus, a new pre-parade season is set to get underway this evening with a meeting of the Parade and Celebration Committee at Cathedral High School in Manhattan, to which representatives of affiliated organizations are being invited.

This follows a recent meeting of the board.

The board meeting was followed by a letter from the board to the affiliated groups.

Tonight’s meeting was signalled by a letter from the parade committee to same.

And in between these letters and tonight’s meeting there came a statement from the CMAO.

The current state of play in the parade saga can be clearly discerned in the lines, or indeed between the lines, of these three documents.

All three are presented in part below.

First the letter, dated April 13, addressed to “Dear Affiliated Organization” and signed by John Tully.

It states: “We hope you all enjoyed a grand St. Patrick’s Day. True to our word, your elected Committee did all we could to work on and support our Parade. We promised you we would address and resolve all issue concerning the governance of our Parade starting on March 18. To this end, it is time to report to you on our plans and progress.

“An informational meeting for all Delegates and alternates will be held on May 5, 2016 at 7.30 p.m. at Cathedral high School, 350 East 56th Street, New York, NY. We will discuss our views of the existing governance issue and ideas for resolution. More importantly, we need to have your thuoghts on the isues, as well as your feedbackon the 2016 Parade.

“The Affiliated Organizations are the heart and soul of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We hope that all Affiliated Organizations will be represented at this meeting.”

Secondly, the letter, dated April 25, from parade board chairman Dr. John Lahey to the same affiliated groups.

It states in part: “The Board of Directors of the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Inc. held a meeting last week and on behalf of the Board I want to report to you some of the important items we discussed and reviewed.

“The Board expressed its appreciation to all of the members of the affiliated organizations who marched in the 2016 Parade and especially those members who generously volunteered their time, expertise and resources in the months of preparation and of course, on March 17th, the day of the Parade. Several Board members commented that thanks to this collective effort we all enjoyed one of our best parades ever. Recognizing that no parade is perfect we also discussed a few areas that need improvement for 2017.

“The Board discussed at length how best to strengthen the role of the affiliated organizations in the governance structure of the Parade. No vote or action was taken with respect to this topic although I can report that the Board expressed overwhelming support for allowing the affiliated organizations to decide for themselves their preferred structure between the current one or an alternative, such as the one described below. To be more specific, if the affiliated organizations are satisfied with the current structure of electing a Parade Committee every two years to assist the Board in the planning and execution of the Parade, the Board will support this decision and will work again with the Committee chaired by John Tully for the 2017 Parade.

“However, the Board would like to offer an alternative model for consideration by the affiliated organizations. Namely, the four large umbrella groups that constitute a large majority of the affiliated organizations - the AOH, the Ladies AOH, the Grand Council of Emerald Societies and the United Irish Counties - would each have their President serve on the Board of Directors of the Parade as full voting members just like all other board members.

“When these groups periodically elect new officers the newly elected President would replace the former President on the Board, and in the case of the AOH and Ladies AOH it would be their call as to whether they prefer their representative to be the President of their national, State or local entity.

“I also discussed this alternative proposal with John Tully at our last meeting a few weeks ago and asked him to reach out to the current Presidents of those four groups to receive their thoughts on this alternative governance model. On behalf of the Board I would welcome hearing directly from these Presidents as well.

“The Board of Directors approved by a unanimous vote the awarding of the title "Vice Chairman Emeritus" to our beloved and recently departed Vice Chairman, John Fitzsimons, who gave so generously over several decades to our Parade and celebration of St. Patrick.

“The Board of Directors approved by a vote of 13 in favor, 1 opposed and 1 abstention, new titles for two of our long-standing directors who have shouldered the lion's share of the day-to-day operations of the Parade office, including administrative and financial activities for the Parade. Effective immediately the new titles will be Co-Chief Operating Officers, with Hilary Beirne serving as Co-Chief Operating Officer/Chief Administrative Officer, and Frank McGreal serving as Co-Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer.

“These new titles not only reflect the Board responsibilities they are already doing but will also clarify our administrative and financial structure in line with state and federal 501(c)(3) requirements and the recommendations of our outside accounting firm.

“Finally, we briefly discussed succession planning at the Board, a topic we will return to at our next meeting. It was pointed out that the Chairman of the Board is elected by and serves at the pleasure of the Board. With the completion of the 2016 Parade, I indicated that I am happy to step down as Chairman at any time a majority of the Board of Directors wants to elect a new Chairman.

“Also, I informed the Board that under no circumstances would I be willing to continue serving as Chairman beyond the 2018 Parade. The Board was asked to give consideration prior to our next meeting to possible candidates we might consider for the vacant position of Vice Chairman of the Board and along with it, possible candidates for our next Chairman.

“I hope this information is helpful and we'll make a practice of sending similar communications after future Board meetings. Thank you again for your many contributions and dedicated service to the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade.”

Thirdly, the statement in advance of tonight’s committee meeting issued by the group, Concerned Members of Affiliated Organizations, headed by John Manning and Fr. John Sheehan.

It states in part: “In preparation for the meeting this Thursday of the Affiliated Organizations, the Concerned Members of the Affiliated Organizations would like to offer some thoughts for consideration to our fellow delegates in light of the recent letter sent from Dr. John Lahey of Quinnipiac University. While the CMAO welcomes Dr. Lahey’s letter as a sign that he may finally realize that he can no longer govern the Parade without the consent of the governed, we view his statements with a certain amount of justified cynicism.

“In the past months, Dr. Lahey has stubbornly refused to abide by the Parade’s By-Laws when it is inconvenient to him. We feel that Dr. Lahey’s letter is another attempt for him to posture for an audience that he has long shunned and repeatedly marginalized by his actions over the past nine months.

“His praise for people ‘working together’ rings hollow since he has steadfastly refused to recognize the duly elected Parade Committee or work with them to any degree. Even assuming that Dr. Lahey is authorized to make such an offer while there is an ongoing litigation, we wonder if Dr. Lahey would abide by the will of the Affiliated Organizations.

“The current By-Laws explicitly state that the Affiliated Organizations shall elect the Parade Committee and that the Parade Committee is the entity charged with operating and managing the Parade. Dr. Lahey has refused to acknowledge that since the time the Affiliates met and elected the Parade Committee.

“The CMAO is also gravely concerned about the ‘expansive plans for the future’ envisioned by the St. Patrick’s Day Foundation to monetize the Parade and use it as a platform for ‘other causes.’

“Our Parade already has a very important mission to honor St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of the Archdiocese of New York and the Patron Saint of Ireland and to celebrate the contributions of Irish and Irish-Americans to New York. There are 364 other days in the year to promote other causes.

“While Dr. Lahey continues to deny any efforts to diminish the focus of the Parade in honoring St. Patrick and the Archdiocese of New York, these latest proposals from the Foundation appear to do the opposite. There are already questions in the lawsuit as to whether Dr. Lahey and Frank Comerford placed the interested of Quinnipiac University and NBC above the interests of the Parade.

“It appears that several members of the Board intend to once again sell St. Patrick as a slave to the highest bidder as they seek to capitalize for personal gain on the dedication of the volunteers of the Affiliated Organizations to their faith and their heritage.

“The CMAO vigorously opposes such a vision for the Parade and does not see the need for the creation of full time staff for the Parade especially since the Parade Committee and its numerous volunteers have done an excellent job in running the Parade in the past.

“Recently, Dr. Lahey announced new titles for Hilary Beirne as the Co-Chief Operator and Chief Administrative Officer and Frank McGreal as the Co-Chief Operator and Chief Financial Officer. There are several questions at this time. Why? Is there a need for new titles when according to the By-Laws the Parade Committee Chairman is the ‘Chief Executive Officer of the Parade and shall have general charge of the business affairs and property of the corporation?

“Why should Dr. Lahey promote the Comptroller of the Parade to serve as the Chief Financial Officer if Dr. Lahey believes that there was an alleged misappropriation of Parade assets?

“Does the new Chief Financial Officer have sufficient education and training to properly serve the Parade Board?

“Furthermore, Dr. Lahey has publicly expressed disapproval of his new Chief Administrative Officer for purportedly sending a letter to the New York Attorney General’s Office on his own initiative and without consultation. Why should such an individual merit a promotion for such a reckless action?

“Dr. Lahey’s tenure as the Chairman of the Board has cast a long shadow over the Parade. We believe that Dr. Lahey should concentrate his efforts on resolving the lawsuit and in the meantime allow the duly elected Parade Committee to fulfill their constitutional responsibility to plan for the 2017 Parade.

“In light of all of these issues, the CMAO strongly recommends that (i) Dr. Lahey should refrain from making any offers to the Affiliated Organizations until he has resolved the lawsuit; (ii) until the lawsuit has been resolved, the Parade Committee Chairman should serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Parade and that he assume control over the Parade finances and Parade office as per the current by-laws; (iii) until the lawsuit is resolved the duly elected Parade Committee should manage and operate the 2017 Parade as per the current by-laws; and (iv) upon resolution of the lawsuit the Affiliated Organizations should be allowed (a) to continue to elect the Parade Committee, (b) the Affiliated Organizations should elect at least one-half of all members of the Board of Directors, and (c) there should be a Committee consisting of members of the Board, Parade Committee and members of the Affiliated Organizations to revise the By-Laws to strengthen the Corporation and protect the rights and interests of the Affiliated Organizations and the corporate interests of the Corporation.

“We believe that these recommendations are essential for the Parade to move forward on a more solid footing for the future.”

And there the hare sits.

 

Donate