CTC Vote - December 2010

[User]

 

[theclaud]

OK, this will probably only be of interest to CTC members but please indulge me.

Following the shameful behaviour of the Chair at the AGM in May, there is to be a poll of the whole Club about whether or not to ratify the passing of Motion 8, which was the motion to convert the Club to a charity.

CTC members should be receiving their December/January issue of 'Cycle' right now and this will be accompanied by a yellow voting paper. Member will be asked to vote 'for' or 'against' Motion 8. There is also an article in 'Cycle' about the vote.

Unfortunately, Council has gone back on its promise to provide unbiased and balanced information on the vote. The article in 'Cycle' unfairly criticises the petition organiser, Jeff Tollerman, and doesn't provide an accurate picture of what the vote is about and why members have concerns over the proposal to convert the Club into a charity.

The weekly CTC email 'Cycle Clips' also has some information on the vote, with links to a page on the CTC web-site. This page contains an exhortation to vote for Motion 8 but no information about the very real risks and downsides of the proposals.

Anyone who is interested in the issues can find an explanation of the concerns expressed by members on the Save the CTC web-site.

The yellow voting slip will need to be completed an returned to National Office by mid-January. Your copy of Cycle should also contain a reply-paid evelope for your use.

Please check your voting paper. We're already receiving reports of members receiving incorrect papers, with people who are eligible to vote being omitted and unknown people appearing on the slips. If your voting slip is wrong, you'll need to contact National Office to get a new slip.

Whatever you do, and whatever you decide, please make the effort to vote. There are no proxy votes this time round - so this matter will be decided purely on the personal votes of the members.

I see there's even a bribe! With the way they've played it so far, I'm tempted to seek the Chair's assurances that one isn't obliged to vote Yes to get into the prize draw...

 

[garrilla]

I just opened my paper. It has one of my son twice!

Having one is bad enough!

 

[Klaus]

Thanks for the reminder - my form arrived, correctly filled and is waiting to be posted.
Bribe? If I win and the vote goes as it should, I won't complain .....

 

[jonesy]

The latest Cycle is urging members to vote again at the next AGM, arguing that a majority has already said they support conversion so everyone should support the formality of the enabling motion. I'd welcome a view from dellzeqq and regulator...

 

[summerdays]

The latest Cycle is urging members to vote again at the next AGM, arguing that a majority has already said they support conversion so everyone should support the formality of the enabling motion. I'd welcome a view from dellzeqq and regulator...

Hmm... guess why I was logging on too.......

I think the thing about these voting papers is that they are very off putting and you're not sure what exactly you are voting for (well that's how I feel). So I would welcome advice on how to vote to take a stand against charity status.

 

[dellzeqq]

The latest Cycle is urging members to vote again at the next AGM, arguing that a majority has already said they support conversion so everyone should support the formality of the enabling motion. I'd welcome a view from dellzeqq and regulator...

the answer is that

- it's not my problem anymore
- I think that the transfer of cash from the members is so vast that it doesn't really matter what happens to the structure. Nothing that the members can do can avoid meltdown
- affiliation is the clever move. http://www.wheel-eas...ticle.asp?ID=64 . Why pay £37 for full membership when you can get the bits that matter for £12?

here's a bit of light reading

Attn: David Cox, Chairman, CTC National Council

Dear David

Tuesday 29th March 2011

I have become increasingly concerned at not only the the reluctance of CTC management to provide directors with robust financial information on CTC’s activities, but also the quality of that information and associated interpretations when and if supplied.

Following the last National Council meeting it was clear to me that, despite a clear and unambiguous request, CTC Management had, not for the first time, withheld information essential to support full and informed discussion of the CTC activities and reports. My interpretation of the CTC’s financial and delivery performance does not accord with the view CTC management and the board seeks to project in the annual report shortly to be presented to members, hence my reluctance to sign off on both accounts and report at that meeting.

In addition, the continuing lack of will to resolve issues of service delivery, volunteer support and financial transparency suggests little respect for the CTC’s obligations to paying members and, perhaps more importantly, members that volunteer in the name of CTC. To continue to support CTC management without a credible commitment to real improvement means undermining my personal ethics and values in respect of paying customers, whatever the organization is.

This has caused me to take stock and question whether, under the present arrangements and relationships in council and with management, I can discharge both my statutory obligations as a company director and my obligations to act in the best interests of CTC members. The answer has to be no.

Whilst I continue to support the aims and objectives of the Cyclist Touring Club in its current form I must reluctantly conclude I cannot, on the current basis, continue as a director of the CTC.

I am therefore informing you I am resigning from the board of CTC with immediate effect.

Yours sincerely

John Meudell C.Eng, MIMechE

 

[summerdays]

Not used to voting in these matters do you generally adopt the minutes and accounts etc?


I'm getting myself very confused by the proxy bit ... do I have to appoint one ... can't I just send in my own postal vote? (Did I mention I'm form blind ) I don't want to leave it open for the chair to decide how I want to vote.

 

[Bollo]

As an aside to all the high politics, has anyone else had a phone call asking if they'd forgotten to renew their membership? The polite gentlemen also asked if there was a reason why I hadn't renewed...........

 

[dellzeqq]

I think, to be fair, that's been standard practice for some time. A lot of people simply forget to renew, and, if it turns out that somebody is leaving for a reason, it's best to know about it.

 

[Bollo]

Fairy Nuff. I couldn't quite decide from the tone of the call whether it was procedure or an active campaign.

My involvement with the CTC was limited to the £36 I put in its coffers every year, so I doubt my departure registered more than a flicker in a spreadsheet cell. With that sense of proportion, I wasn't intending to give reasons for leaving but, once asked, kept the explanation short and factual - conversion to charity, unhappiness with the conversion process and lack of support for local reps. You know the story.

Top marks to the gentleman on the phone though - he was excellent.

 

[dellzeqq]

I've just received this

Note on Financial relationship between the CTC membership organisation (The Club) and the CTC Charitable Trust

The scale of donations over the last six years, along with payments made by The Club to The Trust for membership and administration services, are as detailed in the table below, the latest derived from the 2011 Annual Report. The corresponding subscriptions income is provided as a comparator. The donations are not provided for specific projects or activities, but as a transfer of funds from The Club to make up any deficit in the Trust accounts at the end of the financial year. It has proved extremely difficult to determine for what exact purposes these donations have been used.

Members Subscriptions
£1,181,790 2004/5
£1,289,693 2005/6
£1,281,536 2006/7
£1,495,628 2007/8
£1,519,734 2008/9
£1,631, 643 2009/10

Donation from Club to Trust
£1,434,301 2004/5
£374,943 2005/6
£605,799 2006/7
£757,794 2007/8
£453,052 2008/9
£667,143 2009/10

Payment to Trust for services to Club (not included in donations)
£50,448 2004/5
£140,000 2005/6
£140,168 2006/7
£140,000 2008/9
£407,380 2008/9
£420,096 2009/10


The data has been re-constructed from published accounts covering all Club and Trust businesses, and are as accurate as can be determined from these accounts. It should be noted that there is some uncertainty for the 2004/5 year partly due to the lack of completeness of the published record and the need to work on the basis of differences, plus the fact of the mid-year change in status (transfers to the Charitable Trust occurred at some unspecified point in the CTC financial year).

Excerpt from Annual Report on 2009/10 activities:

Financial relationship between the CTC membership organisation and the CTC Charitable Trust

“Council …………… did not explain the background as clearly as they might. As a result, Council has commissioned a project to review how the accounts are structured.” (See page 7 of Annual Report)

Unfortunately, you won’t see that until after you have voted.

 

[srw]

So what's the story behind the decision not to re-appoint the auditors? That's not something you do in a hurry.

 

[dellzeqq]

I made it an objective when I went to my first Council meeting in March 2006. The resistance to what most people would see as good practice was a sad sight to behold. Hints of a change were held out and then withdrawn, but, as Greg says, Chantrey Vellacourt have now been in post for a quarter of a century or more. And, as the figures above indicate, the nominal owners of the CTC have been fleeced.

Donations now run to £4million, and I have no idea what benefit the members derive from the payment for services rendered.