Members' Representation

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
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John Reyes
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by John Reyes » Sun Sep 26, 2021 2:37 pm

Matthew Turner wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 11:22 am
Chris Skulte wrote:
Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:26 am
Hi, thought I would reply to this as someone mentioned to me that there was some strong views on this forum.
I'm currently one of the bronze member reps.

1) I was voted in to represent the interests of Bronze members. As mentioned in my address at the time, I will be taking views in the interests of the bronze member category. (Not passing every decision onto them to vote on)

2) We (myself and Aga) have been open with everyone about how we will vote on all occasions - and feedback is always welcome from members. Yes some people have individual views, which we take on and consider in actions, as we are always looking to learn and grow and consider viewpoints which may have not been thought of. On the flip side of this, individuals often have strong opinions, but you are also one of many bronze members.

3) I nominated Malcolm for two reasons:
i) It is always good to to have some competition for key roles, and will only benefit members having an option on two alternative ways we can vote for.
ii) We put a position forward at the last council meeting regarding maximum length of service for positions. - Which we communicated to the member base on how we will vote (with minimal differing opinions returned), supporting that a change in leadership is useful over a longer period of time.

4) For the upcoming vote, I have spoken to Malcolm, and will speak to Mike this Sunday, and then we will be drafting a message to Bronze members, which will then be taken for consideration prior to the vote, as we have always done.

I don't see how anything poor has been done here, sure everyone is entitled to their opinions, but some of the comments I have seen on this forum are a little extreme....


On the flip side, all of our roles are open to votes, so if bronze members are no longer happy with the way in which I am using their vote (which I think on a side note is very very small number of votes), then there is governance in place where someone else can apply, and they can vote for a new representative.
That being said, not a single person decided to contest representing bronze members, and I put forward my nomination again on the 13th June. (mainly because no one else put their hand up), and as it was uncontested, I was voted in another year.


Hope that helps clarify my views on this.
Chris,
I have some questions - they are not directed at you or even this election they are just general musing on the whole members' reps topic.

Lets say there was an election between A and B and you felt strongly that A was by far the best candidate

20 members get in touch, 4 expressing a strong preference for A and 16 expressing a strong preference for B

How should a members' rep use their votes? Should you split your votes between candidates?

(similar points could of course be made about the 4NCL's 20 votes)
I would always said you vote what the members tell you and support B as you are standing up for the members in your role

(The card votes will always show how you vote)
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JustinHorton
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:55 pm

As a Gold member I have replied to my reps urging them to vote for Mike Truran and Robert Stern. I would advise similarly-minded members to do so likewise.
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by John Upham » Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:03 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:55 pm
I would advise similarly-minded members to do so likewise.
What advice do you have for non-similarly minded members?
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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:37 pm

They can do what they like, presumably?
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Thomas Rendle
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by Thomas Rendle » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:38 pm

I assume anyone with strong views either way should reply to their members rep. I don't think there's anything wrong with encouraging people to do so.

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Chris Goodall
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by Chris Goodall » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:42 pm

John Upham wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:03 pm
JustinHorton wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:55 pm
I would advise similarly-minded members to do so likewise.
What advice do you have for non-similarly minded members?
I think you were the one who suggested the Violet Elizabeth Bott approach, John.
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by John Reyes » Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:35 pm

Silver members report will be out tomorrow
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by John Upham » Thu Sep 30, 2021 10:34 am

John Reyes wrote:
Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:35 pm
Silver members report will be out tomorrow



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Re: Members' Representation

Post by Angus French » Thu Sep 30, 2021 11:54 am

Good things are worth waiting for ;)

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Re: Members' Representation

Post by John Reyes » Thu Sep 30, 2021 1:55 pm

ECF AGM 2021: Report from Silver Members representative John Reyes

I have had the honour to be your ECF silver members’ rep for 5 years now. The role of direct members’ reps in my view is to represent their members (that means you!) in Council and hold the Board to account, not to nominate or campaign for their own friends. Clearly, some other recently elected direct members' reps have a different view. In these circumstances, I feel it's necessary for me to send my own message to you.

As your representative, I want to hear your views as to how to cast your votes, so please let me know your thoughts. You'll see that Tim and I have very different views, which is why (unusually) we're writing separately to you, but please reply to both of us together, we don't need separate replies, we both want to hear your views.

At the AGM on 16 October there will be two contested elections for Chief Executive and Chair of Governance, between the incumbents (Mike Truran and Robert Stern) and challengers (Malcolm Pein and Chris Fegan). Malcolm Pein has also tabled three motions about use of money which is now in the BCF Permanent Invested Fund (“PIF”) and in a BCF subsidiary, the Chess Centre Ltd. As your representative, I want to hear your views as to how to cast your votes, so please let me know your thoughts.

I think the ECF led by Mike Truran have done a great job over the last few years to improve things for English chess, and have successfully got us through the Covid crisis under impossible circumstances. I am happy to further support those who steered us through this time and so I would suggest the incumbent CEO and Governance Chairman should be re-elected. But it is down to you on how you tell me to vote.

I am surprised that Robert Stern, with his governance experience, is even facing a challenge. Reading the report of the NEDs and Governance Committee alongside Chris Fegan's election address, I get the impression that the NEDs have criticised Chris Fegan's behaviour, and he has responded by attacking all six of the NEDs and Governance Committee. Everything I have seen reinforces my support for Robert Stern.

Malcolm Pein's address says that the ECF needs a change of direction from the strategy currently agreed by Council. If I understand right, he wants the ECF to do more itself, using funds which are now in the PIF and Chess Centre. He wants to stop any of this money going across to the Chess Trust.

Malcolm's only firm proposal is for regional development officers, paid by the ECF to somehow assist clubs and leagues. Myself I don't see that is needed. It's the people who run the clubs and leagues who do the work, and they can talk to each other for free to share ideas (that’s what we do in Manchester anyway).

On where the money is held, I like the Chess Trust. It's an independent charity, not controlled by anyone on the ECF, with the CEO and Finance Director of the ECF (whoever they are) just two of many trustees. As a charity it gets tax advantages. As an independent body, it only pays out money if it's given good reasons. So, there are safeguards against unwise spending.

Council has been told before about problems in tax and trust law from moving funds from the PIF and Chess Centre directly to the ECF. I don't believe that these problems have magically disappeared, but it seems we may have to wait until the AGM to really get the facts. As things stand, I'm all for tidying up the PIF and Chess Centre, but only if it doesn't involve a big tax bill and if the money goes across to the Chess Trust, as the BCF Council has already agreed.
Please let me know your views on all these issues. You can be sure I will listen to them. You can read the AGM papers at https://www.englishchess.org.uk/about/e ... and-board/

John Reyes, Silver Members’ Rep, 29 September 2021
[email protected]

Tim wall email is [email protected]

----------------------------------------------------------

ECF AGM 2021: Report from Silver Members representative Tim Wall
29 September, 2021

Dear ECF Silver Members,

There is still a lot of work to do to get English chess back on its feet after a year and a half dominated by the Coronavirus pandemic. It is good to see most clubs and leagues restarting over-the-board chess, and now some congresses, but sad to see the full-scale British Championships in Torquay postponed for a second successive year.

At the October 16 AGM, the Council will decide the future direction of the ECF, as a contested election will take place for the post of Chief Executive between Mike Truran, the incumbent, and Malcolm Pein, the current International Director.

In addition, there is a contested election for the post of Chair of the Governance Committee between the incumbent, Robert Stern, and Chris Fegan, the outgoing Director of Women’s Chess.

On a very positive note, it is excellent to see two highly qualified new female candidates standing in the elections – Aga Milewska for Director of Women’s Chess, and Shohreh Bayat, as Director of Events. Both are unopposed, as is Director of Junior Chess and Education Alex Holowczak.

The election addresses for all the candidates have been published, along with various reports to Council. They can be read here: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/about/e ... and-board/

Policy debate on the way forward

I believe it is very positive for ECF democracy that there are contested elections, particularly when the debate focuses on the way forward for English chess and sticks to policies, rather than personalities.

Essentially, the main difference between Mike Truran’s and Malcolm Pein’s visions is that Mike believes in a more hands-off, ‘enabling’ approach for the ECF, while Malcolm wishes to see a more pro-active approach, including much more focus on fundraising from sponsors and recognition for chess from government.

My personal view is that the last 18 months have shown the clear need for a more pro-active approach from the ECF. We need to:
1) Reach out to bring more new players, particularly young people and women and girls, into chess;
2) Rebuild grassroots chess clubs and organisations after the pandemic;
3) Raise more funding for chess from sponsors and government; and
4) Restore England’s position as one of the leading chess nations by providing more opportunities for our young players to excel, through new initiatives such as the Northumbria Masters and other international tournaments and congresses.

For these reasons, I am recommending support for Malcolm, as his manifesto (https://developingenglishchess.com/) spells out how these objectives can be sensibly achieved.

Meanwhile, Mike Truran’s record in office in his key responsibility as CEO of fundraising – zero sponsorship raised, and no progress in getting chess officially recognised by government – unfortunately speaks volumes.

Malcolm has underlined his campaign’s priorities by putting forward three motions to council, making it clear that he favours tidying up the ECF’s finances in a way that gives Council and the Board control of how its funds are spent, and also that getting government recognition would be a top priority. Tellingly, Mike Truran has said he cannot support these motions.

It also seems as though other AGM business will be dominated by the contested elections.

In a normal year, you would expect reports from the Governance Committee and Non-Executive Directors to the AGM to be non-partisan and independent, but this does not seem to have been the case this year. Instead, unfortunately, both reports have been extremely partisan, launching an apparently coordinated series of personal attacks on Chris Fegan, the outgoing Director for Women’s Chess.

I can only conclude that it is not a coincidence that these attacks are occurring at a time when Chris has questioned the effectiveness of ECF governance systems and is standing for Chair of the Governance Committee. To my mind, this partisan use of AGM reports to denigrate the good work of a director over the last three years is wholly inappropriate and should be repudiated by Council.

An opportunity for positive change

Overall, I believe that this AGM represents an opportunity for the ECF to change for the future in a positive direction, while building on the work of its many hard-working volunteers. Electing a new CEO does not mean a rejection of past work and past progress (including the sterling work by Mike Truran in building up the 4NCL and its congresses), but it does signal a more pro-active vision that will benefit English chess as a whole.

Please do write to me and my fellow Silver members rep, John Reyes, expressing your views on the AGM and the future direction of the ECF. While John and I may have different opinions on some issues, we both take our responsibility very seriously to listen to your views and to properly represent the thousands of ECF Silver members.

Tim Wall [email protected]

John Reyes email [email protected]
Any postings on here represent my personal views only and also Dyslexia as well

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JustinHorton
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by JustinHorton » Thu Sep 30, 2021 2:14 pm

Tim Wall wrote: Instead, unfortunately, both reports have been extremely partisan, launching an apparently coordinated series of personal attacks
Imagine launching an apparently coordinated series of personal attacks
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Mick Norris
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by Mick Norris » Thu Sep 30, 2021 2:25 pm

I can only conclude that it is not a coincidence that these attacks are occurring at a time when Chris has questioned the effectiveness of ECF governance systems and is standing for Chair of the Governance Committee.
When did Chris announce he was standing for this? Was it before or after he was censured by the NEDs, and before or after the complaints?
Any postings on here represent my personal views

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Re: Members' Representation

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:04 pm

Those on the 4NCL mailing list will also have received election material from Mike Truran. Much of it is material sent to Council members which has probably already been published.

I will however quote the opening paragraph
As you may know, eight ECF Board and other positions (two of them contested) are up for election at the ECF’s AGM on 16 October. As 4NCL players you have as much a right as anybody to have your views heard at the AGM, and the way for you to do that is to make representations to your Direct Members’ Representatives, who wield significant numbers of votes in their own right at ECF meetings. See below on how to do this.
Six of the representatives have 6 votes each, whilst the other four have one each. So that's 40 in total compared with the 4NCL's 30. The ECF's membership rules on the other hand mean that very few 4NCL players will be Bronze or Silver, therefore have no particular influence on those representatives.

What it doesn't say is how the 4NCL's votes will be cast, although there may be no need to ask.

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Re: Members' Representation

Post by NickFaulks » Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:28 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 2:25 pm
When did Chris announce he was standing for this? Was it before or after he was censured by the NEDs, and before or after the complaints?
The announcement that he was standing came after his controversial posts in this place, referencing confidential Board material. He knew with certainty that this would bring the NEDs down on him like a ton of bricks.

I am not sure that the accusations ( via Wall ) against Clissold, Regan and Woodhouse will bring Malcolm's campaign any net benefit, but perhaps his political instincts are better than mine.
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Re: Members' Representation

Post by Chris Fegan » Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:45 pm

NickFaulks wrote:
Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:28 pm
[
I am not sure that the accusations ( via Wall ) against Clissold, Regan and Woodhouse will bring Malcolm's campaign any net benefit, but perhaps his political instincts are better than mine.
Nick

Please do not put words into my mouth or misquote me.

I have made it very clear on this Forum and elsewhere that I do not level any criticism at Natasha Regan.

I do not expect to receive a fair hearing from John Reyes and a number of other people on this Forum who have made their positions very clear and it is impossible to debate with those of a closed mind, but I do expect better from you.

Chris

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