Direct Members’ Representatives election

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
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John Reyes
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Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by John Reyes » Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:41 am

Following the close of nominations for direct members’ representatives the following candidates have come forward —

Life Members Category – Stewart Reuben and Gerry Walsh
Platinum Category – David Eustace and John Wickham
Gold Category – Lorin D’Costa, Abu Hasan, David Lewis*, Danny O’Byrne and Rob Willmoth
Silver Category – Satish Gaekwad, Keith Jones, John Reyes, Joseph Stringer, Tim Wall
Bronze Category – Paul Bignall, Arasu Ganesan, Charles Higgie, Aga Milewska and Chris Skulte

Stewart Reuben, Gerry Walsh, David Eustace, and John Wickham are elected immediately. An election will be held for the bronze, silver and gold categories. Candidates have been given until the beginning of next week to submit an election address after which all members in these categories will be emailed with instructions on voting and the text of the election addresses.

* Please note there are two members with this name. This David Lewis has membership number ME017084
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

John Reyes
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by John Reyes » Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:08 am

i will be putting my election speech up when it does get published, and i'm looking forward to carry on if i do get re-elected
I have been a silver members for over 6 years and i have just renew my subscription for the silver member
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:10 am

John Reyes wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:41 am
Candidates have been given until the beginning of next week to submit an election address after which all members in these categories will be emailed with instructions on voting and the text of the election addresses.
Is the election to be held before or after the end of August? The point being that if in September presumably only those renewing promptly would be eligible to vote.

Any speculation as to why the increased interest in holding these positions? In the past,it's been a case sometimes of co-opting people.

John Reyes
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by John Reyes » Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:16 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:10 am
John Reyes wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:41 am
Candidates have been given until the beginning of next week to submit an election address after which all members in these categories will be emailed with instructions on voting and the text of the election addresses.
Is the election to be held before or after the end of August? The point being that if in September presumably only those renewing promptly would be eligible to vote.
The election address needs to be submitted by the 9th august, to be published on the 10th august, and members will have until sunday 16th august to vote and the results will be published on the 17th august, which is also the date by which announcement of the AGM is due

[/quote]
Any speculation as to why the increased interest in holding these positions? In the past,it's been a case sometimes of co-opting people.
[/quote]

I don't know that answer, but I always believe that the reps should talk to the members, and i can only speak about myself but i know that Michael and me always email the members to asked for their views and you can see that you should be pro active. You see that I have on forums and vi email to members. i hope that the members here and everyone else vote for me, as i'm happy to be the voice of silver members
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

Angus French
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by Angus French » Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:05 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:10 am
Any speculation as to why the increased interest in holding these positions? In the past,it's been a case sometimes of co-opting people.
Good question! I wonder if people have been asked to stand and, if so, who did the asking. I think it would be helpful if candidate members' reps declared their chess interests, like the directors and senior officers do.

J T Melsom
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by J T Melsom » Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:30 pm

You mean is there a CSC slate of candidates? Who knows? Perhaps COVID has simply provided an opportunity for people to reflect in more detail on how they might contribute to the furtherance of chess in future. That seems to me a good thing. I'm really not sure these candidates should be singled out, when other delegates to council are not required to make declarations.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:35 pm

" I think it would be helpful if candidate members' reps declared their chess interests, like the directors and senior officers do."

Yes - sounds very sensible, after all, not all of them are known to me, and I would like to have some background, and I would imagine others would too. I may even not know much about those I do know.

J T Melsom
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by J T Melsom » Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:42 pm

The election already permits an election address in which candidates may make themselves known. A formal statement over and above that seems excessive. These individuals may be a special class of council member, but any requirements should be proportionate.

David Sedgwick
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:47 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:10 am
Any speculation as to why the increased interest in holding these positions? In the past,it's been a case sometimes of co-opting people.
Angus French wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:05 pm
Good question! I wonder if people have been asked to stand and, if so, who did the asking. I think it would be helpful if candidate members' reps declared their chess interests, like the directors and senior officers do.
Angus, thank you for all you did as a Direct Members' Representative.

I am ashamed to say that the names of about half of the 19 candidates mean nothing to me. However, one or two of the names that I recognise are interesting. One person in particular would be well suited to taking over from Angus the role of making things uncomfortable for the Board.

J T Melsom
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by J T Melsom » Thu Aug 06, 2020 2:19 pm

David

Nothing to be ashamed of. I suspect most people wouldn't even recognise half the names. ( Ask your average club member who the Life and Platinum reps are for example. I know, but we shouldn't assume everybody has had contact with these notable figures, or were even born when some were in their prime.) This is not in itself a bad thing, if it means people are coming forward from a more diverse demographic. Good luck to all the candidates.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:25 pm

" I'm really not sure these candidates should be singled out, when other delegates to council are not required to make declarations."

They are not being singled out. I thought anyone standing for election provided such information. BCF/ECF and other chess bodies have a long history of pressure groups, cronyism, mutual back-scratching, etc., so open disclosure is a good thing.

Angus French
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by Angus French » Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:39 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:25 pm
" I'm really not sure these candidates should be singled out, when other delegates to council are not required to make declarations."

They are not being singled out. I thought anyone standing for election provided such information. BCF/ECF and other chess bodies have a long history of pressure groups, cronyism, mutual back-scratching, etc., so open disclosure is a good thing.
Yes, as a member I'd like to know if a candidate, say, receives or has received income from an organisation run by a director or is a club mate of the chief executive. Potentially this could influence how the representative votes or behaves.

Also, it's easier for other types of representative, with smaller and more local constituencies, to be accountable to those they represent.

TimWall

Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by TimWall » Thu Aug 06, 2020 4:03 pm

Hi, everyone. This is the election address I've sent to Michael Farthing as the chair of the ECF Council:

Tim Wall – Election address, ECF Silver Members Rep

Who am I?
Member, Forest Hall Chess Club, Newcastle upon Tyne
Coach, Forest Hall Juniors & the ECF Academy
A 54-year-old chess dad (and chess son)
Organiser, Northumbria Masters
Passionate advocate for popularising chess
ECF Gold member, FIDE Trainer and FIDE Master
After 20 years working as a journalist abroad, mostly in Russia and Azerbaijan, I came back to my native North East four years ago, and have since jumped into teaching, playing, organising (and writing about) chess.
My idea of the perfect Friday evening used to be a night out on the town with friends in Moscow – now it’s teaching kids at Forest Hall and running senior and junior teams in the Northumberland League. Since lockdown, my dream has changed once more: It’s just to play a match or tournament over the board again.
Chess has given me a lot – great friends all over the UK and around the world, the pleasure from studying a beautiful Grandmaster game, and the kick I get out of seeing kids I’ve taught grow as young people by thinking for themselves. I am lucky in that my father, John, now 87, and son (also called John, aged 17) share my enthusiasm for the game.
Why am I standing for Silver Member rep? As well as wanting to give something back, I’d like to see the club member’s view well represented at all levels of English chess. I have (I think) a decent track record in putting forward constructive proposals to the ECF, and I would like to continue doing that – representing the views of club and congress players on the ECF Council.
If elected, I would work together with all the other Direct Member reps, consulting with members before ECF meetings, reporting back afterwards – and putting the feedback you give me directly to the ECF Council and Board of Directors.
It’s great that we are having contested elections for these posts, as it means that people want to volunteer and get involved. We’re going to need bags of enthusiasm to revive our game as we ease out of lockdown and come back to competitive chess, hopefully safely and (over time) in greater numbers as we recruit more of the casual/online players who have taken up chess recently into over-the-board chess clubs.
All that remains is to encourage you to vote for me and for John Reyes, my good friend from Manchester who has been a dedicated and hard-working Silver members rep since 2016.
Together, let’s hope we can get chess back on its feet again very soon 😊
Please feel free to contact me with any questions/comments at:
[email protected]
https://twitter.com/timpeterwall
Attachments
ECF Silver Reps Election Address Tim Wall.pdf
(124.77 KiB) Downloaded 47 times

John Reyes
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by John Reyes » Thu Aug 06, 2020 4:13 pm

Angus French wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:39 pm
Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:25 pm
" I'm really not sure these candidates should be singled out, when other delegates to council are not required to make declarations."

They are not being singled out. I thought anyone standing for election provided such information. BCF/ECF and other chess bodies have a long history of pressure groups, cronyism, mutual back-scratching, etc., so open disclosure is a good thing.
Yes, as a member I'd like to know if a candidate, say, receives or has received income from an organisation run by a director or is a club mate of the chief executive. Potentially this could influence how the representative votes or behaves.

Also, it's easier for other types of representative, with smaller and more local constituencies, to be accountable to those they represent.
I can confirm that I don’t get a income from chess or have a club mate that is the chess executive

I always wanted to say to Angus, you have done a lot towards the bronze rep and hope you will still turn up to meeting in the future


From
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

Ian Thompson
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Re: Direct Members’ Representatives election

Post by Ian Thompson » Thu Aug 06, 2020 4:22 pm

John Reyes wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 10:41 am
Following the close of nominations for direct members’ representatives the following candidates have come forward —

Silver Category – ..., Tim Wall
TimWall wrote:
Thu Aug 06, 2020 4:03 pm
ECF Gold member, ...
Whilst there's nothing preventing it in the rules, I'm curious to know why you've chosen to stand for election in a different membership category from the one you hold. I assume that is unusual.

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