Two TDL board members resign while two others face injunction

Two members of the Terre Du Lac Board of Directors have resigned and a restraining order has been filed against two other board members.

Board President Dave Ruble and board member Bob Brown resigned their positions this past week. Brown reportedly resigned citing medical reasons and Ruble has resigned for undisclosed reasons.

A special election was held last month to determine if the residents of the private lake community wanted to remove three members from their positions. Ruble and Brown, along with Gary Keithly, were the three board members on the special ballot and all three retained their seats after the March vote.

Many residents were reportedly not satisfied with the manner in which these board members were conducting themselves. More than 160 residents had signed a petition to start the recall ballot process of the three board members after Association Office General Manager Lori Pope was terminated during a closed session meeting. A total of 2,800 ballots were mailed out on Feb. 21 and were due back to the association office on March 16. The votes were counted the following Monday and the count showed all three would remain on the board.

Former board member Helen Scott raised questions about the count during the meeting of the board following the recall election.

Scott said that Ruble had chosen the six volunteers to count the ballots in the recall election in which Ruble was one of the board members on the list to be ousted. She said since they weren’t chosen by an independent individual, and five of the six members allegedly wanted to keep Ruble in position, this represented a conflict of interest.

Ruble replied to this inquiry saying, “That’s a re-election. The president picks the counters.”

The restraining order was filed Monday by Terre Du Lac resident Herman Reiser against Keithly and Cary Combs, who are both currently serving as members of the board of directors. The order was signed by Associate Circuit Judge Joseph Goff.

Among the restrictions placed on the two board members by the order is that neither Combs nor Keithly are permitted to enter the premises of the Terre Du Lac Association business office.

Both men are barred from further acting as officers or members of the Board of Directors for Terre Du Lac.

The respondents must also relinquish passwords to the association’s financial account program and financial records to the Terre Du Lac Police Department.

The order will be effective until May 9, at which time the two respondents will have a chance to show cause as to whether or not this restraining order should remain in full force and effect until a final hearing and order is entered in this proceeding.

An executive session was scheduled for Tuesday in apparent response to the resignations.

Two Terre Du Lac Board members resign and two others had temporary restraining orders filed against them. Pictured from left are Adam Hector, Cary Combs, Board President David Ruble, Gary Keithly, Mike Miller and Mike Tilley.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3628, or at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com.