The salary issue remains unresolved. So does a legal wrangle with the plaza developers, who want Big Wash to pay a greater share of the plaza's water bill. And money for a new paint job must be set aside. When Gibson dreamed up Big Wash on the porch, he never foresaw the hassles. In darker moments, he grumbles that the communal-capitalistic structure, though nice on paper, has left no one truly in charge.
Petty jealousies erupt.
And yet Big Wash has weathered worse storms. In the first year, Michael Bright was president of the board, and he put off calling the first April annual meeting, according to some shareholders. The shareholders got fed up and voted him out. Also in the early days, a few thousand dollars could not be accounted for. Nobody ever figured out what happened to it.