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Show A12 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Hospital (Continued from A1) by Mayor Darwin Jensen and members of the council to serve another term on the board. Kim Pickett’s term as a member of the governing board representing Gunnison City is soon to expire, and according to a report in the Gunnison Gazette, the city council has announced that it is planning to place notice of that opening in local newspapers. Pickett has indicated that he will be submitting his name again for another term. Gene Yardley, who has served on the governing board as the “at large” representative, has announced that he will resign for personal reasons, effective Jan. 1, 2008. Public notices will be posted listing this open- ing in October, and the board will evaluate applicants for this position to determine the at large replacement. The annual Gunnison Valley Hospital and Home Care Community Health Fair has been announced and is scheduled for Oct. 27 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Gunnison Valley High School. Everyone in the community is invited to attend. KAREN PRISBREY / MESSENGER PHOTO Concrete walls are up on the west side of the hospital expansion project. KAREN PRISBREY / MESSENGER PHOTO The bulk oxygen tank and hospital chiller have been relocated to a new plant behind the home of Harold Jensen. KAREN PRISBREY / MESSENGER PHOTO Metal sheeting is in place for the east side of the hospital expansion project. Snow employee asked for resignation By Sara Hansen Staff writer EPHRAIM—Gary Arnoldson, who until a couple of weeks ago was interim vice president of finance at Snow College, says he will tender his resignation to President Scott Wyatt this week. But Arnoldson’s agreement to submit the resignation letter, which Wyatt said would take the form of a legal contract, came only after the former vice president hired an attorney, who pressed his case with both Wyatt and Snow Board of Trustees. According to Arnoldson, a 24-year college employee, Wyatt asked him to step into his office Sept. 27 following a meeting of several college officials. When he did, Arnoldson said, Wyatt asked him to resign and told him if he didn’t resign, he would be terminated. And according to Arnoldson, Wyatt gave him reasons. The president told him, Arnoldson said, that his colleagues no longer had confidence in him, that he was not a team player with the Richfield campus and that his departure was needed for Snow to re-establish credibility with the Utah Board of Regents. According to Arnoldson, when the meeting ended, Wyatt informed him that the password on his computer had been changed and suggested he leave campus without returning to his Noyes Building office. Arnoldson did go back to his office to retrieve an expensive guitar and his day planner. Then he left. “I slithered out. It was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had,” Arnoldson said. A day or two later he was permitted to return, escorted by a fellow employee, to remove the rest of his personal belongings from the office. Arnoldson said Vicky Murray, who was recently sentenced to one year in jail for embezzling as much as $300,000 from the college, was treated with more “compassion” when she was fired than he was when asked to resign. In an interview last week, Wyatt said that during the course of the Sept. 27 meeting Arnoldson had agreed to resign. On Oct. 2, Wyatt told the Messenger that Arnoldson had resigned and that a formal letter of resignation was forthcoming. But apparently Arnoldson had a different understanding of the meeting. Multiple staff members who talked to him and then to the newspaper said Arnoldson had told them he had not resigned. Arnoldson also told his friends he would not write the resignation letter. Arnoldson said Wyatt’s request for his resignation came as a surprise. He said he expected to return to his long-time letter of resignation, Peterson said. Other parts of the negotiations were not disclosed because they had not been final- “ ” I slithered out. It was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had. —Gary Arnoldson position as college controller when the president selected his own vice president. But Wyatt said the action should not have been a surprise, especially since, while interim vice president, Arnoldson had appointed another employee, John Ruell, to the controllership. Subsequently, Arnoldson said he had made the appointment to prevent Ruell from taking another job offer and expected Ruell to step down to a lower-level post if he returned to the controller job. Wyatt also defended the immediate password change. “It is standard procedure… in the public and private sector…when a person resigns or is terminated or is separated for any reason at all… when [that] person is in a role that gives them a high level of access to computers, sensitive data and everything else, that they are immediately separated from access to those things.” Wyatt said. Such actions protect not only the organization but the employee, Wyatt said, because no one can blame the employee for anything that occurs after his departure. All along, Wyatt has said Arnoldson’s departure did not stem from any financial integrity issues. “I hold him [Arnoldson] in high regard, and think that his integrity is beyond reproach,” Wyatt said. After removing his belongings from campus, Arnoldson said he was not worried about the president’s perception of him as much as the fact that he was only five months away from qualifying for early retirement. He was also concerned that he was the only person on campus with knowledge of some of the college’s financial software. That’s when he retained Scott Peterson of the Salt Lake law firm Fabian and Clendenin. Peterson opened negotiations with the college. By last Thursday, Oct. 4, Peterson said he was close to concluding an agreement. Under the proposed agreement, Arnoldson will remain on salary and remain available for consulting through the end of 2007. He will receive the health insurance benefits (but not cash income) from the early retirement package and will turn in a ized. Looking back on his 24 years of service Arnoldson said he only has feelings of love and devotion for the college and his colleagues, including Wyatt. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Scott Wyatt is the perfect man for the job. He is exactly what Snow College needs right now... I hold no malice towards him. I just think he could have handled this better.” Arnoldson said. In the past 24 years working for Snow College, Arnoldson has been instrumental in coordinating the funding, architects and contractors for the building of the new Eccles Building and Greenwood Student Center, as well as the renovation of the Noyes Building. He was also involved in working through financial crises, including the case of Kimble Blackburn, a former vice president who was sentenced to prison for stealing money from the Richfield campus, and the Murray case. Casino Star Theatre Becoming Jane Rated PG 78 S. 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