Important information for AROCA Vic members regarding the AGM

[Stuart Thomson]

Hi All,

As the committee don't seem to want to do this, and as this is an open forum, and as I happen to in possession of information which is important to members, I feel it is my duty as a) a past President and b) a life member to inform the club membership of what is going to happen at the club AGM on Wednesday night.

We will have an election for the position of President.  There are two nominations, the incumbent President, Ross Flood and a challenger, Greg Briggs.

As many (hopefully all, but I'm not confident of this) of you will also be aware there was an error in the proxy voting form for the AGM that was published in C&S, an incorrect timeframe was given for the submission of the form.  The original form stated that the form must be with the secretary 14 days before the meeting, when in fact the timeframe should have been 24 hours.  The correct form is available for download.

As I had been previously asked to chair the part of the meeting where the elections are held, and knowing that there is to be a contest for the Presidential position, I reread the process, which led me to find the error.  Initially, I drew this to the attention of the President and Secretary and asked advice from a long standing member.  After some discussion the committee decided to notify all members by email, and failing that by snail mail.  I questioned the effectiveness of this method of delivery as a) many members (myself included) do not have current email addresses registered with the membership secretary and b) the snail mail may not arrive in time.  My suggestion was to postpone the meeting to allow all members to be fully informed of the correct timeframe for submission of proxies and to let them know that we actually had a contest for the position of President, which is quite a rare occurrence. 

So it is my belief that many members would still be unaware of the change in timeframe of the proxy submission.  I also believe that most members would be unaware of the fact that there is to be a contest for the position of President.  It is also my belief that any election of President at the AGM may be invalid due to the error in the originally published proxy form and the subsequent failure to communicate this fact to ALL members in writing, thereby possibly denying a member the right to a vote at the AGM.

Regards
Stuart Thomson, Past President, Ex Membership Secretary and Life Member

[bix]

Hi all,
The committee apologises for any inconvenience caused to members from the proxy form error. We were alerted to this issue late last week and the committee agreed during the committee meeting last Tuesday that the most direct method to alert members was via email (where an email existed on the member record) or a physical mail-out (where there was no email specified on the member record).

Thanks must go out to Ross, Tim and Evan for moving quickly and getting these out to members. I have already received reports that the physical mail-out has been received by some members, which is good news. We are also moving to place a notice on our website asap.

I will accept your proxy voting forms via email (secretary@alfaclubvic.org.au) or physical mail up until 8pm on Tuesday 10th March. The form can be downloaded here: http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/download/2015-agm-proxy-voting-form/

Regards,
Paul Bichsel (AROCA Vic Secretary)

[massiveluvbuddy67]

Good job Paul, and thank you for your volunteer efforts over the last three years in often trying circumstances. Thank you to Ross as well. I wish the new volunteer committee every success.

I do not support the comments in the original post.

Best Regards
Phil

[Stuart Thomson]

Good job Paul, and thank you for your volunteer efforts over the last three years in often trying circumstances. Thank you to Ross as well. I wish the new volunteer committee every success.

I do not support the comments in the original post.

Best Regards
Phil

Hi Phil,

Actually there are no comments in the original email.  There are several statements of fact and some of my own opinion.  None of these are comments.  So I'm not sure what parts of the original post you disagree with. 

I was, and to an extent still am, a bit dismayed at the way this was handled.  I have some suggestions for the new committee, which I will send to them.  As per Greg's acceptance speech, it looks like I'll be redrafting sections of the rules.

As things turned out, all this palaver (and behind the scenes, there were many emails and phone calls about this) was moot, as Ross decided not to contest the position.  What it has served to highlight are some problems with the way we do business at the AGM.  Mostly this is due to the fact that in my time at the club, I can only recall two elections, one of which was essentially not contested as well.  Because of the rarity of the election process, we have never really tested out the rules regarding the allocation of proxies, an area that, IMHO, requires some work.  It has also highlighted the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of electronic methods of communications.

There are lessons to be learned in this, as long as we learn them and don't repeat them then it has been worthwhile.

Cheers
Stu

[aggie57]

OK Folks, 

Kill the suspense; who 'de new group of leaders be??? 

With no idea what all this latest round of navel gazing is about I can only say well done to everyone who spends their own time bringing events and enjoyment to so many faithful Alfisti.  Thankless, tiresome, fulfilling, friendship, and many many more adjectives can be equally used to describe the experience.