ECF AGM aftermath

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
Post Reply
User avatar
Christopher Kreuzer
Posts: 8806
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:34 am
Location: London

ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:34 am

Rather than continue the live coverage thread, or get too involved in the governance thread, I thought it might be an idea to have an 'aftermath' thread relating to the ECF AGM.

One point I noticed on the ECF website:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/platinum ... entatives/

"Following the ballot of Platinum members, David Fryer and David Smith have been elected to serve as representatives for the class for 2015/16. These appointments take effect from the conclusion of today’s ECF Annual General Meeting."

Congratulations to them. Were the other member reps up for election?

Platinum: Peter J. B. Wilson, <vacant>
Gold: William Armstrong, Robert Thompson
Silver: John Wickham, <vacant>
Bronze: Angus French, <vacant>

[I see that, sadly, the Peter Wilson who was the Platinum rep was the same Peter Wilson who passed away recently, RIP. :( ]

That is from a page describing the pre-AGM status, so not sure if the Gold and Silver and Bronze member reps were up for election and whether they have changed or not.

I was going to post the full votes here, but I can't find them anywhere official yet.

NickFaulks
Posts: 8453
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:28 pm

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:39 am

I find it strange that two positions are vacant. When was the last attempt to fill them?
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

Mick Norris
Posts: 10328
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Mick Norris » Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:42 am

Chris

it would be useful to have feedback from you, and others who were at the AGM, about the events and how it would appear things will go from here (e.g. was there post-meeting discussion about the vacant posts?)

You might not want it on this thread, that's up to you
Any postings on here represent my personal views

Ian Thompson
Posts: 3551
Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:31 pm
Location: Awbridge, Hampshire

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Ian Thompson » Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:43 am

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:That is from a page describing the pre-AGM status, so not sure if the Gold and Silver and Bronze member reps were up for election and whether they have changed or not.
They were up for election, but the number of candidates was less than or equal to the number of people to be appointed in all categories other than Platinum, so no election was required. (Slightly odd, I suppose, that you can vote for "None of the above" is some elections, but not for member representatives.)

User avatar
Christopher Kreuzer
Posts: 8806
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:34 am
Location: London

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sun Oct 18, 2015 11:50 am

From my notes and pulling together all the results posted elsewhere, the contested election results or where an uncontested election was lost to "none of the above", the numbers were:

Chief Executive Officer: Phil Ehr 119, Not this candidate 172 [total = 291]
Director of Home Chess: Alex Holowczak 250, John Foley 42 [total = 292]
Director of International Chess: David Openshaw 141, Malcolm Pein 139 [total = 280]
Commercial Director: Bob Kane 74, Not this candidate 226 [total = 300]
Non-Executive Directors: Julian Clissold 269; Julie Denning 281; Jack Rudd 22 [total = unknown?]

More here:

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 20#p166425

President: Dominic Lawson 295, none opposed
Director of Finance: David Eustace 286, Not this candidate 9 [total = 295]
Director of Junior Chess & Education: Traci Whitfield 295, none opposed
Director of Membership: Dave Thomas 295, none opposed
FIDE Delegate: Malcolm Pein 295, none opposed (TBC)
Chairman of Governance Committee: Chris Majer ???, Not this candidate 44 [total = unknown?]
Any other elections: "all for"

One query: the non-contested elections with no dissenting votes appear to be 295 for, but the totals add up to less than that in some of the elections, and to more than that in one (Commercial Director). Abstentions in the lower totals, but can anyone explain why the total is 300 for the Commercial Director post?

EDIT: OK, from the voting register: "Grand Total: 324 votes (4 of which are subject to the Board admitting organisations to membership)".

Addendum: As Ben Edgell noted elsewhere, the results were rushed, but thanks should be given to the tellers who had the task of adding everything up from the sheets of paper on which the votes were recorded. I suspect (hope) the delay was for a recount for the results from the International Director vote.
Last edited by Christopher Kreuzer on Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Christopher Kreuzer
Posts: 8806
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:34 am
Location: London

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:04 pm

Mick Norris wrote:Chris

it would be useful to have feedback from you, and others who were at the AGM, about the events and how it would appear things will go from here (e.g. was there post-meeting discussion about the vacant posts?)

You might not want it on this thread, that's up to you
Some people stayed and discussed things. Some left fairly quickly, incuding me, so someone else will have to say if there was any post-AGM discussion. It was certainly outside the meeting itself, which finished dead on 18:30 as John Philpott noted.

I don't have much to add to what I said here:

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 35#p166456

User avatar
Michael Farthing
Posts: 2069
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:28 pm
Location: Morecambe, Europe

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Michael Farthing » Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:58 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
One point I noticed on the ECF website:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/platinum ... entatives/

"Following the ballot of Platinum members, David Fryer and David Smith have been elected to serve as representatives for the class for 2015/16. These appointments take effect from the conclusion of today’s ECF Annual General Meeting."

Congratulations to them. Were the other member reps up for election?
The new direct member representatives in other classes are here:
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/direct-m ... more-34460
Only Bronze now has a vacancy.

David Pardoe
Posts: 1225
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:29 pm
Location: NORTH WEST

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by David Pardoe » Sun Oct 18, 2015 1:57 pm

Given that the shape of the new elected groups/board are now known, it might be useful for the ECF to immediately advertise the remaining vacant positions. These should be open to all members, including past incumbents (of various positions), to try to fill these posts..

There must be a fair few potential candidates for these posts, and it would certainly be good to see some new faces on board..
An injection of more `youth` to the team might not go amiss....

I still believe the board should be increased in number, maybe along lines suggested by MR, to create a stronger, more representative voice at our top tier, and maybe to help moderate some of the more draconian elements.

My one concern is about the character assassination that takes place on this forum and elsewhere.
Our representatives should be able to make mistakes without being shot to pieces by the numpties/muppits and other armchair experts out there.
And to give second chances to those who do fall down in some aspects is always worth baring in mind... to Ehr is human..... and DR is by no means divine!
There must be scope of alternative views, provided voting on key issues is held fairly and openly, and no-one should be able to ride rough shot and railroad through there `agendas`, without being subject to full scrutiny and board approval.
I have said that OMOV would be a useful option, if introduced in a phased manner. Hopefully this will be possible via online voting, and not thwarted by corporate restrictions. I favour a proportionate scheme, blending the delegate votes with `weighted` online votes...
BRING BACK THE BCF

User avatar
Christopher Kreuzer
Posts: 8806
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:34 am
Location: London

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:54 pm

Noting this here as well:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/internat ... -election/

Above I said "...the results were rushed, but thanks should be given to the tellers who had the task of adding everything up from the sheets of paper on which the votes were recorded. I suspect (hope) the delay was for a recount for the results from the International Director vote."

It turns out the delay wasn't for a recount, and the count was rushed and announced wrongly, so the tellers deserve less thanks than before (though still some thanks). There were two tellers. The un-named teller who suggested a recount does deserve praise.

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Roger de Coverly » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:16 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Above I said "...the results were rushed, but thanks should be given to the tellers who had the task of adding everything up from the sheets of paper on which the votes were recorded.
I know it goes against the philosophies of the governing nexus, but in retrospect setting up a spreadsheet to correlate the results might have made some sense. That at least would have made it easier to cross check that the voting totals added back to the expected electorate, that all voting papers were accounted for or even that they were added up correctly. But perhaps they did.

benedgell
Posts: 1260
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:43 pm
Location: Somerset
Contact:

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by benedgell » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:17 pm

I believe John Foley has Tweeted that Chris Fegan has stepped down:

https://twitter.com/ChessScholar

Mick Norris
Posts: 10328
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Mick Norris » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:21 pm

More departures to follow?
Any postings on here represent my personal views

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10364
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:28 pm

benedgell wrote:I believe John Foley has Tweeted that Chris Fegan has stepped down:

https://twitter.com/ChessScholar
Specifically

https://twitter.com/ChessScholar/status ... 5837615104
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Mick Norris
Posts: 10328
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Mick Norris » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:29 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:Noting this here as well:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/internat ... -election/

Above I said "...the results were rushed, but thanks should be given to the tellers who had the task of adding everything up from the sheets of paper on which the votes were recorded. I suspect (hope) the delay was for a recount for the results from the International Director vote."

It turns out the delay wasn't for a recount, and the count was rushed and announced wrongly, so the tellers deserve less thanks than before (though still some thanks). There were two tellers. The un-named teller who suggested a recount does deserve praise.
John Wickham & Andrew Leadbetter (who is on the Governance Committee)
Any postings on here represent my personal views

User avatar
Christopher Kreuzer
Posts: 8806
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:34 am
Location: London

Re: ECF AGM aftermath

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:37 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
benedgell wrote:I believe John Foley has Tweeted that Chris Fegan has stepped down:

https://twitter.com/ChessScholar
Specifically

https://twitter.com/ChessScholar/status ... 5837615104
The retirement of the legal advisor was not unexpected and a new one is in place. That is not one of the headline items.

Post Reply