FOLEY — Two women claim that they were unknowingly removed from the Foley Centennial Celebration Planning Committee, citing their minority status as the cause.

During Monday’s Foley City Council meeting, Foley residents Ann Smith and Mable Rorie told the Council that they both had been removed from the committee, which was established last year to plan for the Forward City’s 100-year anniversary in 2015.

“I was asked to be on the Centennial Committee,” Smith said at the meeting. “I was informed that I resigned. But I did not resign.”

Rorie echoed that statement. Following the meeting, the two women also showed The Onlooker a copy of a resignation letter dated Aug. 27, which they were asked to sign.

“I didn’t sign mine,” Rorie said.

According to Foley City Administrator Mike Thompson, two committees were formed last summer. One of them consisted of 11 members who made decisions that would be brought to the City Council for consideration, doing so by meeting monthly. However, they were required to attend 55 percent of the meetings to ensure the project progressed.

“We needed to make sure the committee moved forward,” he said in a phone interview, adding that those interested can still attend the committee meetings. “They just don’t have voting power.”

Thompson said the committee has met monthly since last September. But it wasn’t until last month that an audit of the committee’s attendance was conducted, with both Smith and Rorie falling under the requirement.

During Monday’s meeting, both women cited various issues preventing them from attending all of the meetings.

“I have a life,” Smith said, adding that when asked to be on the committee she had said she would have occasional conflicting engagements.

According to Thompson, both Rorie and Smith were asked if they would rather serve on a second committee involved with the city’s centennial celebration.

“It’s an honorary committee,” he said, explaining that the committee, which currently has 10 members, enables participants to provide input but doesn’t require them to make final decisions or additional work on the project.

“I don’t want to serve on a committee when I can’t vote,” Smith told the council.

However, Thompson said neither she nor Rorie expressed opposition to the transfer when presented with the idea.

“They were fine with that,” he said.

Smith and Rorie also charged that while they did serve, the dates of committee meetings were changed without their knowledge.

“I would wait out in the rain, and nobody would show up,” Smith told the City Council.

But Foley Centennial Celebration Planning Committee Recording Secretary Suzanne Kellams said meetings were only changed when not enough voting members showed up at the regularly scheduled time.

“When they didn’t have enough members to meet a quorum,” she said.

Kellams added that sometimes conflicting schedules enabled the committee to re-schedule in advance, however, all members were notified by phone or email.

“Whichever form of communication they use,” she said.

In their address to the Foley City Council Monday, Smith and Rorie cited an ulterior motive behind their removal from the committee.

“Why are we the only two and the only two minorities?” they asked.

However, Thompson said they were not the only ones to be removed.

“We have one other member who has a poor attendance record,” he said, “David Boslow.”

But Thompson said Boslow informed the city that he would be away from the summer and would not be able to serve.

“However, he took on a subcommittee role of design work,” he said, explaining that Boslow chaired a subcommittee that oversaw the design of the Centennial Plaza and Clock Tower set to be constructed in Heritage Park in honor of the anniversary. “They presented that to the City Council before he (Boslow) left for the summer and the Council has approved it.”

Thompson added that both Rorie and Smith were asked to chair subcommittees.

“One of them said she didn’t want to,” he said.

Thompson also gave a reason for the resignation letter.

“We just wanted to get something in writing to say they were OK with moving (to the honorary committee),” he said.

Both Thompson and Kellams expressed surprise at Smith and Rorie’s complaints and expressed a desire for them to take part in planning for the city’s anniversary.

“We want that participation,” Thompson said.

“They are invited to come back,” Kellams added.