By Philip Haldiman, Independent Newsmedia

A power struggle over who has the authority to preserve Peoria’s history could end up in court.

After more than a year of in-fighting, the Peoria Arizona Historical Society splintered, with two groups emerging and voting in their own separate board of directors. Each is claiming to be the official historical society, and both groups are lawyering up, preparing for possible litigation.

The dispute has forced Peoria to step in and refuse the groups access to city-owned facilities operated by the historical society until the squabble is cleared up.

And the history isn’t just in the artifacts kept under lock and key at those facilitates. Members from each side form the lineages of some of the oldest families in the city — families that took root long before Peoria was incorporated.

With the mission of telling Peoria’s story, the historical society provides cultural and educational resources for residents and is considered a benefit to the legacy and history the city.

THE CLAIMS

Group A claims being locked out the buildings  has caused damages, including inability to access PAHS property, museums, funds, and the use of their registered trade name.

Furthermore, the group says Councilwoman Vicki Hunt and possibly other city officials formed the second Peoria Arizona Historical Society, or Group B.

In a letter sent to the city of Peoria on Aug. 31, Frank Mead, attorney for group A, said the actions of Group B forced Group A to close its bank account because of unauthorized attempts by others to access that account. Additionally, because PAHS has a valid trade name, use of that name by another group violates Arizona law, the claim stated.

“To be clear, representatives from or on behalf of the city are operating as a second Peoria Arizona Historical Society,” the letter stated. “This second historical society has collected funds from long-time donors of the only one and legitimate PAHS. Those donors have confirmed that they were not aware at the time of their donations that their funds were being donated to the second historical society. That deception of donors could potentially be construed as fraud.”

Mr. Mead stated in an email, as a result of the deadlock created by the dispute, he sent a draft of the lawsuit to the opposing attorney, Nov. 10. Mr. Mead said there was no response, so he followed-up, Nov. 21, and received no response.

Group B claims the closure and withdrawal of more than $21,000 from the aforementioned bank account was not authorized by official historical society officers or directors.

In a letter dated Sept. 11 sent to members of Group A, David Brnilovich, attorney for group B, demanded those funds be redeposited into the account from which they were withdrawn by Sept. 22. This has not happened.

PAHS SPLINTERS

PAHS was created a number of decades ago, but officially became a nonprofit corporation in 1994.

The historical society split this summer, forming two separate groups with their own elected board of directors.

On May 31, Group B elected President Kevin Kosier, Vice President Erik McMorrow, Secretary Geri Fair and Treasurer Karen Garbe. The vote also included the election of seven board members.

On June 22, Group A elected its own board of directors, President Bill Bercu, Vice President James Austin and Secretary Janet Gilsdorf, as well as eight board members, according to the meeting’s minutes.

The Arizona Corporation Commission lists this group as the entity of record.

Annual Meetings are to be held in May of each year for the purposes of electing new officers and directors, with the quorum requirements being 15 percent of the voting members, according to the constitution and bylaws of the historical society.

Mr. Brnilovich stated Group A gave no meeting notice of the Historical Society for the purposes of electing officers, but he stated in the letter his clients were properly elected to the society’s board of directors. He also stated Group A made untrue filings with the Arizona Corporation Commission, which holds nonprofit records.

“A meeting of the membership requires 10 days prior notice in accordance with the constitution and bylaws. The members who were duly elected at the May 31, 2017 annual meeting did not receive any notice of meeting called by the president and majority  of directors or upon petition of the members constituting 20 percent of the then membership vote,” Mr. Brnilovich stated in the letter. “The point being, there was no duly noticed meeting of the historical society for the purposes of electing officers and directors since the May 31, 2017 election.”

THE CITY

PAHS is tasked with controlling the day-to-day operations of the museum in Old Town Peoria, which includes five buildings — Peoria Central School Museum, Office Workshop, Business and Government Museum, Agricultural Museum, and the Peoria Jail House. The artifacts within the museum  are either  property owned by PAHS or have been loaned by residents and others.

The city, which leases the museum property to the historical society, intervened in May, securing and changing the locks to the five buildings, with access to be given when the two groups work out their differences.

Group A’s claim is against the city, alleging the lack of access harmed the historical society. But Peoria denied the claim, stating in a Sept. 19 letter from Assistant City Attorney Michael Wawro, the city has had no part in the leadership disputes between the two groups and that Peoria places a high priority on protecting its public property and safeguarding the legacy of its citizens and its history.

Mr. Wawro stated the lease with Peoria allows the city to enter and change the locks to the buildings.

“In this case, the actions taken by the city were considered necessary to secure its premises and their contents, and notice to that effect was provided. In the interests of our community, the city will continue to secure its property until those security risks are resolved,” the letter continued. “We sincerely hope that the PAHS resolves its internal disputes and quickly returns to its important mission. We value our partnership with PAHS to provide our citizens with a valuable cultural and educational resource. However, threatening legal action against the city is not a useful means to a solution in this situation and we will aggressively defend any action taken against Peoria.”

Although the city denied the notice of claim, the connection between city officials and the historical society still remains unclear, Mr. Mead stated in an email.

This includes the alleged role Councilwoman Hunt has with Group B.

Ms. Hunt said her only involvement with the group is as the council member in whose district the historic society is situated.

“I would really like to get the museum up and running, as it has been shuttered for nearly two years,” she said. “The public has a right to visit the exhibits that are the history of Peoria.”