"We don't have to tell you why we fired Joe Pais! It's none of your business!"
That's what Key West Art & Historical Society (KWAHS) board member Campbell Cawood told Key West The Newspaper Tuesday.
Cawood's angry comments came on the eve of the KWAHS annual meeting, set for this coming Tuesday, April 18, 5:30 p.m., at East Martello Tower, near the airport.
New officers and directors will be elected. But KWTN has learned that the top choice for board president has declined, citing the controversy surrounding the firing of Assistant Director Joe Pais last December.
KWTN has also learned that protesters— some who are members of the Society— will be on hand at the meeting to question the handling of the "Pais incident."
The Key West Art & Historical Society has been in the news since Director Kevin O'Brien abruptly fired Pais last Dec. 3. What made that action so bizarre was that Pais had already resigned to accept a prestigious position in Tallahassee with the State Division of Historical Resources. (See his "Letter From Tallahassee," page 9.)
Pais, a former Key West City Commissioner, mayoral candidate and Planning Board chairman, had been with the KWAHS for 13 years. He had played a major role in the restoration of the Key West Lighthouse and the old Customs House. He had just returned from Valley Forge, where he had accepted the George Washington Medal of Honor for the U.S. Battleship Maine Centennial Commission, which he spearheaded.
Why was Pais fired? KWAHS officials have refused to say. Although board member Vera Schiff told KWTN last month that Pais was fired because, in his regular column in Key West The Newspaper, he may have offended a major contributor to the Society.
"I wasn't there," she said, "but I heard he was fired because he publicly insulted Donn Vecchie-Campbell," Schiff said.
Vecchie-Campbell's family reportedly owns the local Pepsi-Cola franchise. Ms. Vecchie-Campbell is a former board member.
In Pais' column, which appeared on Dec. 3, he had recommended that brightly-lighted soft drink vending machines be banned in the Historic District.
"O'Brien told me that I was being fired because he had gotten pressure from Vecchie-Campbell," Pais said.
But Vecchie-Campbell has told friends she didn't do that. And KWAHS board president Susan Cardenas has also publicly denied that either Vecchie-Campbell or Pepsi were involved.
Okay. Then why was Pais fired? She won't say. The official position of the KWAHS has been "no comment." And, apparently, based on Cawood's comments this week, that policy remains in place.
Several KWAHS directors have confirmed, however, that O'Brien acted without board approval.
Stay tuned.