The revolving door at the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan continued to turn last week with the resignation of vice-president Kerry Holderness.
Holderness of Quill Lake had just been re-elected at the December annual meeting and resigned Jan. 7.
He said a series of events and decisions at the APAS board table over the last three to four months led to his decision, but he declined to give an example.
“I don’t agree with some of the directions being taken by the board,” he said.
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Holderness had been involved with APAS for six years and was particularly involved in environmental policy and issues such as alternative land use and biofuel.
He said the organization is needed and fresh input will help it along.
Being on the board is time consuming. Although there is some compensation to board members, much of the work is volunteer.
“It’s time to take care of myself and my family and my farm,” Holderness said.
His departure is the latest of many in the organization’s seven-year history. In the last year alone the organization saw the resignation of a president, the dismissal of its entire policy staff and the resignation of two other employees.
President Glenn Blakley said he was surprised that Holderness tendered his resignation and said it wasn’t “as healthy a sign as I would like” for the organization’s future.
“He didn’t really divulge a lot of his reasons,” said Blakley, calling Holderness one of the most dedicated people he has ever known when it comes to working on agricultural issues.
However, Blakley also referred to workload.
APAS ran most of last year with just Holderness as vice-president after Ken McBride resigned his presidency and Blakley stepped up.
This year, the same thing will happen as newcomer Don Connick of Gull Lake shoulders the vice-presidency by himself. APAS bylaws don’t allow for the second position to be filled on an interim basis; the executive is elected only at annual meetings.
“We do have the ability to delegate authority and move some jobs to the board and even to the reps,” Blakley said. “We’ve had good practice at that.”
Holderness, meanwhile, said he might dust off his agri-environmental consulting business, something he hasn’t had time for in the past several years.
