Date set for PHS trial

Gerladine O'Connor was pleased with being granted a formal hearing.

"It's going to be decided on the law and not on a whim - because this board changes the bylaws to suit their purposes," O'Connor said.

Nickolas Jellins, the attorney for the board, would only say, "PHS prefers to litigate cases before the court and not the public."

The board is claiming that they are following the decision of members who passed overwhelmingly in July the new bylaw that requires new board candidates six months of service on the Resource Council before they are eligible for the board. DeCelles and O'Connor are not eligible, they say, because they have not served on the Resource Council.

But the two candidates submitted their petitions with the required membership signatures a day before the formal vote tally for the new bylaw, and they say that the bylaw cannot be applied retroactively.

Susan Jenkins, an organizer for this suit and the current EEOC suit against the organization, said she does not deny the fact that DeCelles and O'Connor strategically submitted their petitions right before the bylaw came into affect.

"We absolutely admit that these petitions were delivered before the voting date because these people would not be eligible. These bylaws should be prospective and not retroactive," Jenkins said.

Paul Zola, a board member who has come out in support of DeCelles and O'Connor, said the fight behind their candidacy is symbolic of something very important.

"That's the moral issue - who's going to lead PHS. And I firmly believe that in a free and fair election, our side will win. The Resource Council requirement was very carefully timed to prevent the possibility of any petition candidate from getting on the ballot." That's because the bylaw was passed five months before the election, which would prevent new candidates from being able to serve the six month term on the Resource Council before gaining their eligibility as candidates for the board.

Board Chair Carmen Jordan-Cox said at the beginning of the year, board members had the opportunity to submit proposed changes to the bylaws, and it was coincidental that this bylaw change came in July.

"You have to do the bylaws at some point," Jordan-Cox said.

The issue of DeCelles and O'Connor's candidacy is the public a fractured view of PHS's board. Two factions are vying for control - and if DeCelles and O'Connor were to gain candidacy and win the election, they could very well tip the scales in favor of one side. Six of the fifteen board members, just short of a majority vote, are backing the two women. They are becoming vocal about disagreements happening within the board. Some board members no longer want to be publicly grouped with the rest of the board - and they have expressed their disapproval of a gag order - which disallows them from making public statements.

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