Goodbye to Geary

I’ve recently been told that Karen Geary, the general manager of The Mall, has resigned. You may recall that Karen had the unfortunate experience with the poinsettia tree last Christmas. I wonder if that had anything to do with her decision.

Not many people also know that Karen was an active volunteer in the community too. She is currently serving on the Board of Trustees of the Columbia Foundation. I can attest that this is a very active board. I gracefully resigned as a trustee before my own term expired because I couldn’t handle the additional workload. The point is, Karen has earned some community cred that would indicate that she is not the monster that some, including this old dog, made her into.

In all probability the decision to remove the poinsettia tree this year was made during some budgetary meeting in Chicago. The company had also made a commitment to that Santastic thing so I’m guessing that it got priority when the budgeting got tight. Budeting always get tight in budgetary meetings. The poinsettia tree is beautiful but very expensive.

All of this of course came about before Greg Hamm came to town as the new general manager of Columbia for General Growth Properties. Greg got to look like the white knight riding in on his horse and restoring the poinsettia tree while Karen wore the black armor for banishing it to the Symphony of Lights in the parking lot at Merriweather. The corporate game can be a full contact sport sometimes.

So Karen Geary, this old dog wishes you health, happiness and wealth in your next endeavor. This rounds on me.