The Artists Alliance of Lake Chapala (AALC) has been left in limbo following the resignation of President Bethany Anne Putnam announced on February 5.
As detailed in the missive she posted on the group’s Facebook page, her decision came on the heels of the cancellation of a rental contract for a house on Ajijic’s Calle Independencia that had been leased as headquarters for AALC activities.
Putnam initially paid 8,800 pesos toward the bill of 16,000 pesos due on January 1, but was still delinquent on the remainder at the end of the month. She was not present on January 29 when lease co-signer Chris Small met with the property owner Antonio Cárdenas and the real estate agent who drew up the contract to settle accounts for the amount still owed, plus 11,440 pesos in accrued late payment fines. They mutually agreed to immediately rescind the lease, relieving Small from legal responsibility for paying off January’s rent and the rest of the one-year contract.
In the fallout from that situation, several AALC associates raised questions about the decision to rent the building without putting the matter up to a vote of the full membership beforehand and Putnam’s failure to foresee the financial burden it implied for the organization.
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