Re: BN AGM feedback

On Thu, 27 Oct 2005 21:31 Colin wrote:
>
> Suzanne Piper wrote:
>>
>> Duncan Heenan wrote:
>>>
>>> Then there really is little point in anyone else going if
>>> Colin Gorham is there with his >200 Suntrecker
>>> Proxies.

Richard Collins is often spoken of as the de-facto focus point of
a CCBN awkward squad, and gets 40% or more of postal votes. Yet
he clearly carries only a handful of proxies if the Suntrecker
block can dominate?

>>> Perhaps that's the answer to BN's financial & management
>>> woes - a reverse takeover by Suntreckers? (might not be
>>> as daft as you think!).
>>
>> Perhaps that's already happened!

ISTMT Colin Gorham has been a dominant force in AGMs for years,
and that he achieves this dominance partly by being very well
informed (including being very well informed about the
Constitution and historical precedent), partly by being good at
operating effectively within the procedural niceties of an AGM,
partly by excellent contact with grass-roots membership. I have
no doubt at all that he is seen as a very safe pair of hands into
which to entrust one's proxy vote. And if he can dominate CCBN
without the fuss and bother of getting elected to the EC or
attending EC meetings, why do anything differently? Finally,
ISTMT Colin has far less desire for self-publicity and
ego-boosting than many other leading lights of British naturism.
He works hard for his vision of naturism, and gets all the
satisfaction he wants by his results rather than by the number of
times his name appears in _BN_ or elsewhere.

> It's still a better system than the old Club Block Voting,
> where there was no chance of individuals having a viewpoint.

Absolutely. Dissenters within Suntreckers can give their proxies
other than to Colin Gorham now, previously they could not.
Conversely, non-Suntrecker members _can_ boost his AGM voting
power. Which is as it should be, IMO. And, I repeat, where
Richard Collins has apparently failed to attract support.

> Even if you don't like the outcome, you've got to credit
> Colin Gorham for being able to get Suntreckers vote out.

Hear hear. It's clear that a far larger proportion of
Suntreckers are interested in the outcome of AGM motions than the
rest of the membership.

> Assuming that all those members decided on the issues
> themselves (rather than just handing Colin Carte
> Blanche) then it has to be good for democracy.

Even if they did just hand him Carte Blanche, I think it's good
for democracy. It indicates that Colin Gorham tops the members'
poll for trustworthiness or for voicing opinions most in tune
with grass-roots views. Democracy will deliver verdicts which
can be profoundly unpopular with some sections of the populace!

> If other clubs followed CG's example then we wouldn't
> have such low figures for voting turnout.

Not just clubs, activists have to follow his example if they are
to make a significant impact. No doubt some club leaders don't
see a need to get a popular vote turnout, since they are happy to
do their work through Regional bodies which can be more than a
little unsympathetic to the individual member. Which raises the
question: How many proxies did those assiduous Regional officers
Steve Doerr and Richard Burnham carry? Both have worked very
hard to inform up and down the line between members and the
EC/Head Office, both have tried various ways to put this before
the membership to encourage popular debate and voting.
--
Tim Forcer tmf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The University of Southampton, UK

The University is not responsible for my opinions

.

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