ECF AGM 17/10/20

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
John Reyes
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by John Reyes » Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:31 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:17 pm
The Bronze reps also have:
The resolutions likely to prompt some debate are:

1) Term Limits for Directors

It’s proposed that ECF directors should retire after serving two terms in office (unless the AGM doesn’t elect a replacement). If the post is unfilled at the AGM, the Board of Directors would be able to reappoint the outgoing director.

Our view: This seems sensible, as it helps to encourage new and talented people to stand for the Board.

2) Direct Member Representatives

The resolution states that Direct Member representatives should only be members of the category they are representing.

Our view: These posts have been difficult to fill in past years, so it is not clear that this is a helpful restriction.

3) Working Group to assess Covid-safety of chess events

There is a proposal that a Working Group be formed to offer advice to organisers of clubs, congresses and other events on preparing Risk Assessment documents and getting safely restarted.

Our view: This is a very helpful idea in the current crisis and should be supported.
And just in case you weren't clear what's going on:
The Director of Home Chess election is between Tim Wall, a well-known coach for the ECF Academy and organiser of the Northumbria Masters, and Nigel Towers, who is secretary to the Board of Directors and has been ECF Manager of Online Chess over the last few months.

Our view: While both are excellent candidates, we think that Tim Wall’s initiative and vision for reviving chess mean that he is the best person to lead the Home Chess directorate, and to grow the game at a national and local level going forward. We would very much like to see Tim and Nigel working together, with Nigel continuing to play a key role organising the ECF Online Events.
Thanks

As direct members rep, we have a role to look at the members view, but also asked the members how to vote.
Angus as Bronze rep, used to canvas the membership, and will put his comments on here soon but we can't say that person x is better then person Y, because we have a right to mention what each person bring to the role and leave it to the members to say how to vote.

also i like to comment on this

2) Direct Member Representatives

The resolution states that Direct Member representatives should only be members of the category they are representing.

Our view: These posts have been difficult to fill in past years, so it is not clear that this is a helpful restriction.
(Does the Reps know that, as Angus will comment that that is not true and also that the Directs members role has been filled

if you look at this year Election, for the 1st time the Chairman and ex Silver Rep Michael Farthing email the whole of the ecf memberships and we managed to get at least 5 members in each section (Bronze, Silver and Gold) and if you look at Previous years, those roles was fill quite easier.

this is mention in the silver report
We support this resolution as there are plenty of good candidates now coming forward in each membership category to be Direct Member reps, so the situation a few years ago (where it was feared no one would stand for these posts) no longer seems to be an issue.

Also we are hear to listen to the members but also to give an non biased views as that is what our role is!
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

John Reyes
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by John Reyes » Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:34 pm

Angus French wrote:
Wed Sep 30, 2020 5:19 pm
Mick Norris wrote:
Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:17 pm
The Bronze reps also have:
The resolutions likely to prompt some debate are:

1) Term Limits for Directors

It’s proposed that ECF directors should retire after serving two terms in office (unless the AGM doesn’t elect a replacement). If the post is unfilled at the AGM, the Board of Directors would be able to reappoint the outgoing director.

Our view: This seems sensible, as it helps to encourage new and talented people to stand for the Board.

2) Direct Member Representatives

The resolution states that Direct Member representatives should only be members of the category they are representing.

Our view: These posts have been difficult to fill in past years, so it is not clear that this is a helpful restriction.

3) Working Group to assess Covid-safety of chess events

There is a proposal that a Working Group be formed to offer advice to organisers of clubs, congresses and other events on preparing Risk Assessment documents and getting safely restarted.

Our view: This is a very helpful idea in the current crisis and should be supported.
And just in case you weren't clear what's going on:
The Director of Home Chess election is between Tim Wall, a well-known coach for the ECF Academy and organiser of the Northumbria Masters, and Nigel Towers, who is secretary to the Board of Directors and has been ECF Manager of Online Chess over the last few months.

Our view: While both are excellent candidates, we think that Tim Wall’s initiative and vision for reviving chess mean that he is the best person to lead the Home Chess directorate, and to grow the game at a national and local level going forward. We would very much like to see Tim and Nigel working together, with Nigel continuing to play a key role organising the ECF Online Events.
That all looks not dissimilar to the Gold reps' statement. Did the Bronze reps refer to the Governance Committee's comments? Did they link to the Council papers webpage where the documents for the meeting can be found - or to this forum?
Does anyone have a copy of the Gold members Statement to put on here to look at it as it would be interested to see that?
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

Ian Thompson
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Ian Thompson » Thu Oct 01, 2020 11:11 pm

John Reyes wrote:
Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:34 pm
Does anyone have a copy of the Gold members Statement to put on here to look at it as it would be interested to see that?
To all ECF Gold Members

The English Chess Federation AGM is on 17th Oct and at 130 and is online again.

There are a few interesting motions and elections for your attention

Elections
1) Director of Finance - Adam Ashton
2) Director of membership Rob Willmoth
3) Non - Exec Director Natasha Regan
4) Chairman Of Council - Mike Farthing
5) Fide Delegate Malcolm Pein
6) Members of finance and governance committees. - Ray Clark, Dave Eustace, Mike Farthing and Steven Greep

All of the above are non-contested elections. So, the only issue we have here is if we truly object to any of the above standing

The election of interest is below

7) Director of home chess. A contested election between Tim Wall and Nigel Towers. What we have here, is an election with two very good candidates who i would both like to see on the board. On one hand we have Tim Wall who has many ideas and is willing to put in the leg work to make them happen. On the other hand we have Nigel Towers who did a good job with online chess and is the current secretary to the board. Interested to hear your views on this one.

Our view would be, the perfect scenario that both candidates would be represented in the monthly board meetings and help move the ECF forwards. A very difficult election and thus we are keen to hear your views.

1) Amendment of the Articles concerning the re-election of Directors
Council resolves: That the Articles of Association be amended as follows: Instead of: ‘59. At each Annual General Meeting held in or after 2017 Directors shall retire in accordance with the Board Rota. 60. Any Director who retires at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article 59 shall be eligible for re-election at such Annual General Meeting.’ They should be changed to read: ‘59. In the interests of Board renewal, all Directors are eligible to serve a maximum of two consecutive terms in the same board position. At each Annual General Meeting, Directors shall retire in accordance with the Board Rota. 60. Any Director who retires at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article 59 shall not be eligible for re-election at such Annual General Meeting, but if the post is not filled at that Annual General Meeting then that retiring Director may consequently be appointed by the Board to fill the vacancy in accordance with Article 57.’ That the amended Articles of


Our view on this, is that the motion seems reasonable and slightly more precise. We would be inclined to vote in favour of this motion. Please let me know your comments

2) Amendment to Bye Law No. 1: The Direct Members’ Bye Laws
Council resolves that Bye Law No 1 (The Direct Members Bye Laws) be amended by replacing the first sentence of paragraph 5.2 from: ‘Each of the five categories in 5.1 shall be entitled each year to elect two representatives (who shall be Direct Members but not necessarily of the relevant category).’ to read: ‘Each of the five categories in 5.1 shall be entitled each year to elect two representatives (who shall be Direct Members of the category they seek to represent).’

Our view on this:- We personally have no issue with a different category member representing another category member , as long as they do it well. In normal times there are not many volunteers for these roles. So by restricting this I see a possibility that a post may remain vacant. Also what happens if a member then upgrades his membership? I would therefore vote against this motion.

3) Formation of Working Group on Safe Restarting of Chess
This for me should be a given. It has been proposed as a motion, so I would support this.

Regards Rob and Lorin Gold Member Reps

John Reyes
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by John Reyes » Fri Oct 02, 2020 12:20 am

Ian Thompson wrote:
Thu Oct 01, 2020 11:11 pm
John Reyes wrote:
Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:34 pm
Does anyone have a copy of the Gold members Statement to put on here to look at it as it would be interested to see that?
To all ECF Gold Members

The English Chess Federation AGM is on 17th Oct and at 130 and is online again.

There are a few interesting motions and elections for your attention

Elections
1) Director of Finance - Adam Ashton
2) Director of membership Rob Willmoth
3) Non - Exec Director Natasha Regan
4) Chairman Of Council - Mike Farthing
5) Fide Delegate Malcolm Pein
6) Members of finance and governance committees. - Ray Clark, Dave Eustace, Mike Farthing and Steven Greep

All of the above are non-contested elections. So, the only issue we have here is if we truly object to any of the above standing

The election of interest is below

7) Director of home chess. A contested election between Tim Wall and Nigel Towers. What we have here, is an election with two very good candidates who i would both like to see on the board. On one hand we have Tim Wall who has many ideas and is willing to put in the leg work to make them happen. On the other hand we have Nigel Towers who did a good job with online chess and is the current secretary to the board. Interested to hear your views on this one.

Our view would be, the perfect scenario that both candidates would be represented in the monthly board meetings and help move the ECF forwards. A very difficult election and thus we are keen to hear your views.

1) Amendment of the Articles concerning the re-election of Directors
Council resolves: That the Articles of Association be amended as follows: Instead of: ‘59. At each Annual General Meeting held in or after 2017 Directors shall retire in accordance with the Board Rota. 60. Any Director who retires at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article 59 shall be eligible for re-election at such Annual General Meeting.’ They should be changed to read: ‘59. In the interests of Board renewal, all Directors are eligible to serve a maximum of two consecutive terms in the same board position. At each Annual General Meeting, Directors shall retire in accordance with the Board Rota. 60. Any Director who retires at an Annual General Meeting pursuant to Article 59 shall not be eligible for re-election at such Annual General Meeting, but if the post is not filled at that Annual General Meeting then that retiring Director may consequently be appointed by the Board to fill the vacancy in accordance with Article 57.’ That the amended Articles of


Our view on this, is that the motion seems reasonable and slightly more precise. We would be inclined to vote in favour of this motion. Please let me know your comments

2) Amendment to Bye Law No. 1: The Direct Members’ Bye Laws
Council resolves that Bye Law No 1 (The Direct Members Bye Laws) be amended by replacing the first sentence of paragraph 5.2 from: ‘Each of the five categories in 5.1 shall be entitled each year to elect two representatives (who shall be Direct Members but not necessarily of the relevant category).’ to read: ‘Each of the five categories in 5.1 shall be entitled each year to elect two representatives (who shall be Direct Members of the category they seek to represent).’

Our view on this:- We personally have no issue with a different category member representing another category member , as long as they do it well. In normal times there are not many volunteers for these roles. So by restricting this I see a possibility that a post may remain vacant. Also what happens if a member then upgrades his membership? I would therefore vote against this motion.

3) Formation of Working Group on Safe Restarting of Chess
This for me should be a given. It has been proposed as a motion, so I would support this.

Regards Rob and Lorin Gold Member Reps
thanks you Ian
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

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Michael Farthing
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Michael Farthing » Fri Oct 02, 2020 9:36 am

TimWall wrote:
Thu Oct 01, 2020 5:01 pm

In contrast, any Director who takes over mid-term from someone else (for example, when Adrian Elwin took over mid-term from Alex Holowczak as Home Chess Director in 2018) is not serving a "shorter term" of less than 3 years. According to the Board Rota, they are serving a part-term – filling the vacancy until the post becomes eligible for re-election. Thus their two terms would begin after the end of their part-term.

For the avoidance of any doubt this interpretation of the motion is simply inaccurate, as has been set out in the document from the Governance Committee that is an accompanying paper to the AGM Agenda. A "term" is the period of office prescribed at the time of election. For it to have the meaning suggested above the wording would have to be explicitly either "three year term" or, possibly, "full term".

Roger de Coverly
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Roger de Coverly » Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:03 am

Michael Farthing wrote:
Fri Oct 02, 2020 9:36 am
For the avoidance of any doubt this interpretation of the motion is simply inaccurate, as has been set out in the document from the Governance Committee that is an accompanying paper to the AGM Agenda.
It seems a two part problem.

Would Council accept the intent of the motion as described by Tim? This would be that a director in office by appointment could still stand for election twice more, but otherwise there's a two term limit unless overridden.

Assuming they accept the intent, does the wording as drafted deliver?

Angus French
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Angus French » Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:14 am

TimWall wrote:
Thu Oct 01, 2020 5:01 pm
... If you read the proposed new Article 60, it's clear that - if Council decides not to fill the vacancy with a new person - then the Board is free at its next meeting to appoint the existing director to fill the vacancy for the remainder of that term.
This gives the Council the chance to decide if they want a new director or not, and it gives the Board the chance to keep the existing director if Council decides not to fill the vacancy from new candidates...
So, with the proposed changes, a Director forced into retiring after two terms (however defined) can in fact be reappointed if (a) Council rejects any new applicants - by voting in greater number for ‘None of the above’ - and (b) the Board re-appoints the 'retired' Director. Is that what’s intended? If yes, it seems to me that the proposal is for something that’s potentially self-defeating.

There's lots else I would take issue with in the proposal and Tim’s explanation – such as Tim’s defining of 'full term' to include terms of less than three years – and I think these are very well covered in the Governance Committee’s comments.

Nick Grey
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Nick Grey » Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:44 pm

Some of you will be in different Tiers on 17/10. I hope all of those meeting make good decisions.

Paul Cooksey
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Paul Cooksey » Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:55 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:03 am
It seems a two part problem.
Would Council accept the intent of the motion as described by Tim?
Assuming they accept the intent, does the wording as drafted deliver?
Maybe three, also whether council believes this is more appropriately dealt with by the governance committee.

Nick Grey
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Nick Grey » Thu Oct 15, 2020 10:09 pm

Maybe four and move to Pedants thread. Good luck at the AGM. I hope there is live coverage on this site. No watching sport in my local on 17/10.

John Reyes
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by John Reyes » Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:59 pm

over 67 participants at the agm
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

Paul Cooksey
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Paul Cooksey » Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:47 pm

some interesting discussion, but nothing very surprising so far. we are now moving onto elections

John Reyes
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by John Reyes » Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:56 pm

interested election chat from our Fide delegate, highlight Alex H and that is good for english chess
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

David Sedgwick
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by David Sedgwick » Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:10 pm

John Reyes wrote:
Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:56 pm
interested election chat from our Fide delegate, highlight Alex H and that is good for english chess
I look forward to hearing more about those remarks.

I intend no disrespect to the distinguished arbiters of the intervening period, but Alex Holowczak is probably the highest regarded English arbiter internationally since Harry Golombek 50 to 60 years ago.

Mick Norris
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Re: ECF AGM 17/10/20

Post by Mick Norris » Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:41 pm

Paul Cooksey wrote:
Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:47 pm
some interesting discussion, but nothing very surprising so far. we are now moving onto elections
Have the candidates for DoHC addressed the meeting?
Any postings on here represent my personal views

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