Saturday, September 7, 2024
The Historic Granbury Merchants Association board of directors has officially appointed Cheshe Langford to serve as its president following the board’s recent decision to remove Ken Hackett from the position.
While an explanation regarding Hackett’s removal was not disclosed to the Hood County News, HGMA sent out an email to all members Tuesday, June 4, regarding these significant changes.
“After careful consideration and review, the Board of Directors has made the decision to remove Ken Hackett from the position of President of HGMA, the Board of HGMA, and all HGMA financials,” the email states. “In light of these developments, the Board of Directors has appointed Cheshe Langford to serve as the new President of HGMA. We believe that Cheshe possesses the qualities and vision necessary to lead our organization effectively and with integrity.”
The email continued by stating the changes may raise questions and concerns, but the organization is committed to addressing them “openly and promptly.”
An open discussion about the leadership changes also took place during the General Members Meeting Tuesday, June 11, at the Gordon House.
Serving as president, Langford addressed the members and explained that the last two weeks have been “a lot.”
“There's lots of rumors out there. We know it. We hear them,” she said. “We get texts all day, I get texts all night, I get phone calls and emails. Some of the things are true, and some of the things are just not true. I'll address what I can, and other things I cannot. I will — before we go into this — tell you under legal advisement, some things I just cannot talk about, and you're just going to have to — for right now — accept that and when we know more, we will share.”
Langford confirmed that Hackett is no longer on the board of directors. She stated, however, that Hackett can still be a member of HGMA, “just like anybody else.”
With Langford now president, Angie Courville will serve as vice president, Sylvia Hickey will continue to serve as secretary and Nathan Wright will continue as treasurer. Other board members include Diane Hedges, — who replaces Sarah Harvey-Toth who recently resigned — Kristen Gibson, Taylor Hatfield, Madison McVay and Scott Young.
One position is still open due to Hackett’s absence, with Langford explaining that an election for that position will not be held until HGMA’s election in November.
“We will have elections at that time and the person that is elected will move in in January,” she said. “There will also be some other people that will roll off as well, so it's not just that one position; it will be for whatever is open. At this time, I will appoint somebody, and we will make a decision about who to appoint within this next (election). We have some great people that would be good that have already shown interest, so that's what we're going to do, and then we'll hold the elections in November. We're trying to be as transparent and open as we can about everything that's going on.”
Langford also stressed that this is a new beginning for HGMA and that she is optimistic about going forward with the organization and all the positive and great things that they can do as a team.
Another big change to the organization, Langford said, is that future HGMA meetings will not be held at Farina’s Winery & Cafe, as the organization is trying to be more financially responsible with its funds.
"Frankly, we don't have the money to spend for y'all to eat dinner anymore, so that is why the board brought you food and drinks tonight,” she said. “Going forward, we're going to ask you all to bring food, too, and maybe have sponsors that come in and bring food that can talk to you all about different things that may be of interest to our group. But our number one goal is to be financially responsible with the job that you voted us into doing, so going forward, this (the Gordon House) will be the place we meet unless we grow out of it."
Members also did not receive financial information for the month, but Langford assured everyone that she will be “open with where we stand,” next month.
"Everybody says that we are flat broke. I know it. I hear it,” she said. “We are not broke, but we do need money. We need to have the festivals and work hard to make them great, so think about some ways to maybe have a fundraiser.”
The board also saw some changes in its members, as a few have resigned recently.
“We will sort it all out,” Langford said. “We're a strong team, and we can do this.”
As far as HGMA’s office at 201 E. Pearl St., C-201, the organization will continue to operate there, but Langford said there is currently a transition with the building.
“It's going to belong to somebody else next week, so we don't know exactly what that entails really, but we have a lease through the end of December 2025, so we're kind of stuck in that right now,” she said. “But we're going to try to maintain that office."
A member of the HGMA also asked Langford if the building is now owned by the city. She said, “Not yet, but soon.”
She added that the current plan is to have somebody from HGMA in the office during the week from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. to address needs and concerns.
In the next couple of weeks, Langford said she will also send out a membership satisfaction and suggestion survey for members to be “painfully honest” about any ideas or changes going forward.
“When you fill the forms out, remember that the things that went on prior to us, we are handling," Langford said. “We are doing a dive on what we need to do to make the organization healthy, to get everything straight that needs to be straightened out and to make sure that we are being fiscally responsible with the money that we receive."
After the surveys are returned, Langford said HGMA will have another meeting to address any concerns to make members “feel better about the organization.”
She concluded, “We are being vigilant in figuring this out and making this a healthy organization.”
