CAF awaits judge's ruling

The Commemorative Air Force and its American Airpower Heritage Museum are awaiting the next hearing in a case that could affect the future makeup of the museum’s board.

The CAF filed a petition against the museum last month in Midland County’s 358th District Court asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent the museum’s board from meeting for a purpose other than appointing new members and also asking that a receiver be appointed to oversee the process.

Judge Rodney Satterwhite has issued a temporary restraining order in the case.

The CAF claims that the museum is acting against its bylaws by meeting when only four of its 11 board members are also part of the CAF board of directors, commonly referred to as the General Staff. In the petition, the CAF said plaintiffs asked Gordon Stevenson, chairman of the museum’s board, to call a meeting for the purpose of electing "a proper board and new officers."

"Mr. Stevenson expressly refused to call such a meeting," said the plaintiffs, which include General Staff members Mark Novak, Keith Wood and Charles Wood.

The petition also included records of e-mails exchanged by parties on both sides related to setting up a meeting. It shows a response from Stevenson, in which he said there are no vacancies to fill because former CAF General Staff members Graham Robertson and Floyd Houdashell remain on the museum board, even though they were removed from the CAF board Jan. 16.

"While I understand your eagerness to proceed, we simply must make sure that we proceed in a manner that serves the best interest of the museum," he wrote.

In a defense response filed in Midland, attorneys Dwight Francis, Joanne Early and Aimee Oleson said the museum board currently meets the museum’s bylaws, which were amended in 2007 to require that a majority of the members be current or former CAF General Staff members.

The defense said a museum director cannot be removed unless he or she is "unable to attend meetings, fails to discharge his responsibilities, fails to maintain his membership in the museum or CAF or other just cause."

"There is no evidence of any circumstance justifying removal of Messrs. Houdashell and Robertson pursuant to grounds under the bylaws," they wrote.

While the defense objected to the appointment of a receiver in the case, it submitted a list of potential receivers if the judge did decide to appoint one. The list included attorneys Fred "Mickey" Jones, Steve Barron and William Fowler of Odessa, William F. Judd of Midland and Roland K. Johnson of Fort Worth.

CAF attorney Chris Ayecock suggested in a letter to Satterwhite that he appoint Wes Strain or Mike Canon, both Midland attorneys, as receiver.

The future of the museum’s board has been in question since the Jan. 16 vote. At the time, Stephan Brown, CAF chief executive officer, said Houdashell and Robertson were voted out for repeatedly working to change the museum board’s bylaws to allow a non General Staff majority.

Brown’s office said he was out of town attending to family matters this week.

Ayecock declined comment, saying ethical rules prevented him from speaking about an ongoing litigation matter.

Efforts to reach Stevenson and defense attorneys were unsuccessful.