Legalities at the museum

Representatives from the CAF Airpower Museum board met with attorneys Tuesday to see if they have any recourse for a decision by the Commemorative Air Force board to remove two men who served on the boards of both the museum and the CAF.

Attorneys from the Gardere law firm of Dallas were provided with legal documents and information about Saturday’s board meeting, at which Floyd Houdashell Jr. of Mesa, Ariz., and Graham Robertson of Oklahoma City were voted off the 11-member General Staff, said Gordon Stevenson, the chairman of the museum’s board.

“We’re just taking a look and seeing what the appropriate response will be to the actions of the CAF board,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson hoped attorneys would be able to find cause to pursue action that could overturn the General Staff’s decision.

“We’re really looking at them to say that they feel that the removal of Floyd and Graham off the General Staff was unjustified,” he said.

But Stephan Brown, CAF chief executive officer, said the removal was in line with the CAF’s bylaws, which requires eight of 11 General Staff members to remove a board member.

“The bottom line is they passed the motion with the required number of votes,” Brown said. “Beyond that, I have no idea what could be done (legally).”

Museum bylaws require that a majority of museum board members also be members of the General Staff, and that in order for the board to reach a voting quorum, a majority of the members who are present must also be CAF board members.

Brown, who said Houdashell and Robertson were looking to change that rule, said the museum board can’t overrule CAF board decisions.

“According to the constitution, it has nothing to do with his board,” he said. “It has to do with the CAF.”

Tami O’Bannion, museum director, didn’t attend the meeting in Dallas. She said she was letting museum board members do their job.

“I have total faith in the judgment of good men,” she said. “The museum is in good hands with this board.”

If the removal of Houdashell and Robertson stands, it could create a shift in the voting of the 11-member museum board, Stevenson said. Six of the members are required to also be members of the General Staff.

“If it does go through, I can’t speak of what a new board with a different makeup would mean for the museum,” Stevenson said.

In an open letter to CAF board members, Odessa businessman Charles Perry said the old adage “follow the money” could apply in this situation.

“So I suspect one of your objectives is to be able to use museum funds to fund the “flying museum” operations; after all, the cost of keeping 60-year-old airplanes flying is going up every year,” he wrote.

Efforts to reach Perry were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Brown said those charges are “patently false,” that it’s the CAF that’s supported the museum with $100,000.

“In reality, the opposite situation is the case, and that is not going to change,” he said.

Despite the recent controversy, O’Bannion said the atmosphere remains positive at the CAF’s complex at Midland International Airport. The site houses both the museum and the headquarters for the organization, which has around 9,000 members and 160 airplanes in units in 26 states and four foreign countries.

“As uncomfortable as all this attention is to the leadership of the CAF, I hope people understand that we are still best buds,” she said. “The best of friends have squabbles.”