Five Seasons Facilities Commission chairman quits in dispute with Cedar Rapids mayor and council

CEDAR RAPIDS - The City Hall-appointed chairman of the city's Five Seasons Facilities Commission has resigned.

Patrick DePalma's letter of resignation to the City Council on Wednesday was not unexpected.

DePalma, a vice president at AEGON USA, has voiced his displeasure in recent months with Mayor Ron Corbett and the City Council over what DePalma said has been City Hall's sidestepping of the commission on matters related to the Cedar Rapids Convention Complex and hotel project.

In turn, Corbett and City Council member Chuck Swore, a past chairman of the facilities commission, have made it clear that the city is depending on the city's consulting project manager, Frew Nations Group, to handle the hotel renovation and the work on the Convention Complex, which consists of a new convention center and the renovation of the U.S. Cellular Center arena.

Corbett also has said the commission - which has oversight over three existing, city-owned facilities, the U.S. Cellular Center arena, the Paramount Theatre and the Ice Arena - may have different duties in the future.

In his letter to the City Council on Wednesday, DePalma said he was resigning from the city commission because of the City Council's “continued involvement” in issues “specifically delegated” to the Five Seasons Facilities Commission by its charter and bylaws and because of the council's “refusal” to communicate with the commission despite two formal requests from the commission.

“ … I no longer feel I can effectively perform the responsibilities dictated under the Commission's bylaws,” said DePalma, who has served as commission chairman for more than four years.

Al Varney, the commission's vice chairman, handed out a copy of DePalma's resignation letter at the commission's meeting on Wednesday afternoon at the Ice Arena.

“ … (It) comes as no surprise,” Varney told his fellow commissioners.

Varney noted that the commission members had received word from Mayor Corbett recently that the commission “should hold tight,” pay bills and oversee finances and “wait for further instructions.”

After Wednesday's meeting, Varney said the commission would continue to meet.

In late March, five of six members of the commission called off their monthly meeting and submitted their second letter in seven weeks to Corbett and the council, saying they were ready to move aside if that was the wish of the mayor and council.

Signing the letter were DePalma, Varney and commission members Scott Byers, Nancy Kasparek and William Unger. The newest commission member, Sarah Henderson, did not sign the letter.

Before Corbett's taking office in 2010, DePalma was an active participant as commission chairman in helping to secure a $35-million federal grant for the new Convention Complex and in early discussions about the city taking over ownership of the long-struggling Five Seasons Hotel attached to the U.S. Cellular Center.

Corbett and DePalma were on different sides of a rib-fest war soon after Corbett took office in 2010. Corbett backed the non-profit Freedom Festival's move to sponsor its own RibFest in conflict with the city's own BBQ Roundup, overseen by the city's Facilities Commission. The full City Council backed the BBQ Roundup.