Board members Crawford, Reid booted

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU: As the St James Football Association (StJFA) continues to intensify its bid to streamline its operation for greater efficiency and accountability, board members Lilli-Mae Crawford and Tracey Reid have become the first two casualties in the restructuring plan.

Crawford and Reid, who ran the day-to-day affairs at the FA's office and also functioned as league coordinators, were both fired on Wednesday following a marathon board meeting, where areas of concerns about the operation of the board were extensively discussed.

"We have taken a decision to replace the two persons (Crawford and Reid) at the office as a part of our overall drive to exercise greater control over the affairs of the board," said FA boss Texchus Nembhard. "Things have not been going well and we basically had to do something about it."

Prior to Wednesday's meeting, Nembhard had pulled the plug on operations at the FA's office on Tuesday, taking possession of the office keys from staffers and declaring that the office would stay closed until there was a board meeting to address various concerns, including an accountability probe carried out by vice president Bryan Miller at the request of affiliates.

In the investigation carried out by Miller, he stated that while he was not accusing anyone of financial impropriety, he had found discrepancies in regard to the use of the UDC playing field as a car park during the 2010 staging of Reggae Sumfest and additional issues in regard to the paying of the annual $46,000 lease to the UDC.

Crawford 'unimpressed'

Wednesday's meeting was originally slated for Tuesday, but when Nembhard, his vice-presidents David Watt and Miller, and fellow board member Gregory Daley turned up, they discovered that the meeting was postponed without their knowledge by a board member, who was not identified to the media.

Responding to the action taken against her, a sober-sounding Crawford, who is seen by many as a major power broker in the parish's football, said she was unimpressed by the action, but promised to maintain her 15-year association with the organisation as a regular board member.

"I don't feel that I was treated fairly, but I still remain a board member so I am not going to bad-mouth the board to the media," said Crawford. "I know a lot but I am not going to be saying a lot right now ... all will be revealed in due time."

As far as the future operations of the FA's office is concerned, Nembhard said steps have already been taken to put new personnel in place to ensure a smooth transition.

Meanwhile, The Gleaner has learnt that some board members who are unhappy with the action taken against Crawford and Reid are now working behind the scenes to rally affiliates to mount a vote of no-confidence against Nembhard.

"Time will tell," was how one of the persons identified with the alleged plot responded when contacted by The Gleaner yesterday.