Search found 39 matches

by Clarion
7 Dec 2011, 6:35pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Kevin Mayne has a new job.
Replies: 22
Views: 5563

Re: Kevin Mayne has a new job.

I do hope that Kevin makes a success of his new job.

And that the CTC can get ourselves out of the dead end street we seem to be getting stuck down.

This is a great opportunity to step back and make a proper objective assessment of the position of the organisation, and remember what is important to members.
by Clarion
15 Apr 2011, 3:33pm
Forum: Helmets & helmet discussion
Topic: AA to distribute free bicycle helmets in London
Replies: 20
Views: 3123

Re: AA to distribute free bicycle helmets in London

You might wish to tell the AA how they are affecting their image.

I pointed out the new research published this week, and the public health issue.

I also pointed out that cyclists were more likely to be car owners than the majority of the population.

I covered the issue that the danger is not cyclists with bare heads but motorists knocking them down, and the biggest thing they could do for cycle safety would be to educate motorists (as suggested above).

I also pointed out that I am an AA member, and will not be renewing.

Here are some useful number:

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/ne ... ffice.html

Just in case it gets taken down (the normal call centre sounds overloaded) these numbers might be helpful:

Edmund King, President of the AA
Office (Basingstoke): 01256 492380
Twitter: @AAPresident

Sue Dodds, PA to Edmund King
Office (direct dial): 01256 491538

Here's the number I used:

Sue Beeson, Head of AA PR
AA brand and all AA products/services
Office: 01256 495969

Didn't get Sue Beeson, but one of her team.
by Clarion
6 Apr 2011, 11:58am
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: AGM Date: Saturday 14th May 2011
Replies: 7
Views: 13104

Re: AGM Date: Saturday 14th May 2011

Thanks, admin, that's helpful.

Please can we have an explanation of how the same mistake was made on not one, but two formal documents. Proofreading is not complicated, but it should be done for anything this important, or it makes the CTC look amateurish. Who is responsible for producing and authorising them? And what systems are to be put in place for preventing it ever happening again?
by Clarion
5 Apr 2011, 10:25pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Vote at discretion of proxy
Replies: 18
Views: 151003

Re: Vote at discretion of proxy

Thanks, Kevin, but, since the first motion at the AGM, and the dominant debate for the past year and more, is the potential move to an overall charity status, it is important to understand how the charity currently performs within the organisation, and whether it is a net benefit to members or not. The elision of the subvention information doesn't fit with the declaration that the Council supports transparency.
by Clarion
5 Apr 2011, 10:21pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: AGM Motions
Replies: 3
Views: 143224

Re: AGM Motions

1. I'm voting against. The case has not been made, but a lot of people would like to win the prize draw.

2. Minutes are adequate.

3. I'm voting against the acceptance of the accounts. They do not reflect the position.

4. For the same reason, I am happy with a change of auditors. It's healthy to do it every few years anyway, and, given that the 'subvention' has been presented three different ways in three years, the current auditors have not been giving a good service.

5. I'm not convinced that the increase in membership fees will be reflected in benefits to the members.

6. I will be supporting Kevin Hickman's motion on disabilities wholeheartedly. It's one of the things we should be about.

7. I don't know what this motion is about, and don't see why it is a motion at the AGM.

8. I fully support this motion

9. I fully support this motion. The 'bureaucracy' argument is specious, since the information will be recorded anyway. it is important for club democracy that members know what is being done in their name. i wonder why they want to hide any of this information.
by Clarion
4 Apr 2011, 10:01am
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Vote at discretion of proxy
Replies: 18
Views: 151003

Re: Vote at discretion of proxy

Oh how embarrassing :roll:
by Clarion
2 Apr 2011, 9:54pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Vote at discretion of proxy
Replies: 18
Views: 151003

Re: Vote at discretion of proxy

I think you have it in one.

I wonder whether having a prize draw for posted votes and not for votes in person is reasonable.
by Clarion
2 Apr 2011, 10:53am
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Ding, ding! Seconds away, round three!
Replies: 8
Views: 144473

Re: Ding, ding! Seconds away, round three!

gaz wrote:Received my 2011 AGM and voting papers with cycle today.

It's Charity Voting time again, this time it's for a Garmin! :roll:


Are you sure it's for the 2011 AGM? The Formal Notice says 2010 :roll:

Great proofreading, guys! That is invalid, and means the AGM is not properly constituted. Can somebody who knows what they are doing get involved in the management of our Club?
by Clarion
13 Jan 2011, 10:23pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Incorrect Ballot Papers
Replies: 86
Views: 174634

Re: Incorrect Ballot Papers

meic wrote:So of the membership of 64,000 we have had 34 genuine errors.

This forum seems to have been very disproportionately affected.


Wrong. Did you not see where Kevin said they had sent out 2104 replacement family forms. They were for 4/5 member groups, so we are talking in the region of nine thousand members affected out of the 64000 eligible to vote. That makes (ICBA with too much accuracy) more than one in eight, or over 12.5%.

Bit more than 34.

And no, the Charity Commissioners would almost certainly not look kindly on that sort of mix up.
by Clarion
14 Dec 2010, 4:05pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Impartiality
Replies: 0
Views: 142574

Impartiality

Given the concerns expressed over unequal access to mailing databases before the AGM, depending on viewpoint, can we have an unequivocal assurance from Executive and Chair of Council that Councillors will have equal access this time to communication with their constituents?

If not, we need a clear explanation of why not, and then we can assess what effect this might have on the resulting vote.
by Clarion
13 Dec 2010, 7:08pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Incorrect Ballot Papers
Replies: 86
Views: 174634

Re: Incorrect Ballot Papers

Kevin Mayne wrote:As promised I said I would report on the progress with any ballot errors.

Other than the printer error with family members described above the total number of other errors notified to us to date is 15.

All have received replacement forms.

Kevin Mayne


You haven't given us a figure on the 'printer error'. I think it is important that you are open with members about how far wrong this ballot has gone. And, if you are suggesting that all who have suffered from errors have received replacement forms, I can confirm we have not, even though I did request one directly. So that part is not accurate.

Neither you nor the Returning Officer have answered my questions about the use of incorrect ballot papers, and the protocol for their inclusion/exclusion. I would have hoped that you had had sufficient time to have decided how to handle this.
by Clarion
9 Dec 2010, 6:28pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Incorrect Ballot Papers
Replies: 86
Views: 174634

Re: Incorrect Ballot Papers

I feel I must agree that the possbilities for error are too large now, and the vote should be abandoned and re-held.
by Clarion
7 Dec 2010, 9:26pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Voting forms not enclosed with Dec issue of CTC mag
Replies: 6
Views: 143866

Re: Voting forms not enclosed with Dec issue of CTC mag

That's very serious.

I hope this will be the proof that people have needed that there are major problems with the membership database and processes. We've known that for a long while, but it's a message that doesn't seem to have been heard. If something good is to come out of this, I hope that it is that we get our house in order.
by Clarion
6 Dec 2010, 4:08pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Incorrect Ballot Papers
Replies: 86
Views: 174634

Re: Incorrect Ballot Papers

I have received an email from Peter Jackson, which answers some of my concerns. Peter recognises that there is an issue, and believes (as I do) that it is mostly related to families of three or four members getting extra votes allocated.

He cannot comment fully on a solution, as he quite rightly says it needs to be discussed at the top level, but he does say that ballot papers will now be individually checked & verified to ensure no extra votes have been made, either deliberately or inadvertently.

I welcome this recognition of the problem, and regret that so much extra work will have to be put in.

However, he does not go so far as to discuss a protocol for dealing with ballot papers which do not pass the verification, as I asked originally. I expect that Kevin will want to make this protocol transparent as soon as it is agreed. Until these conditions are satisfied, it is hard to have any confidence in the vote.
by Clarion
4 Dec 2010, 8:55pm
Forum: CTC Charity Debate
Topic: Incorrect Ballot Papers
Replies: 86
Views: 174634

Re: Incorrect Ballot Papers

Gaz, I conducted a survey online.

Clarion wrote:We received a ballot paper for the four members in our house with five spaces on it, and one name repeated.

I am the person who started the quick'n'dirty survey in a place where a large number of CTC members visit, as I had picked up on the comments of others about their papers being wrong.

So far, we have ten members reporting incorrect ballot papers, three not yet received, and one received by a former member. This represents over 23% of the respondents. While there is no scientific methodology to that survey, it casts significant doubts on the preparations made for this ballot. I am certain, from my involvement in, inter alia, the National Trust, that the Charity Commissioners would not accept this degree of error, which raises questions in itself.

The Returning Officer should make the announcement much wider than just this forum, as we have an important and probably widespread issue here, and votes should be properly verified.

In addition, we should have a published protocol for acceptance/rejection of ballot papers. Will papers be rejected if there is a blank vote? Or will all votes be disregarded if there is an unverifiable vote on a paper? Or will votes simply be counted, and any errors accepted? Can we have an assurance that the same standard will apply to both 'yes' and 'no' votes.


The current figures are:

Respondents: 74
Ballot OK: 56
Ballot NOT OK: 13
Ballot not received: 4
Ballot received by ex-member: 1

So that makes 75.7% correct, 17.6% wrong, 5.4% not received, 1.4% sent in error.

Remember that many of these are multiple ballot papers, so we have a sample of well over 100 members, and 24.3% are incorrect. So my estimate was actually a bit low, Gaz.