members update

[CosworthCabrioLee]

I, as Chairman, am concerned that we find ourselves in such a turmoil at present and am anxious to try and move forward with the new website which is clearly what members and the Committee want.

I would also like to announce that Sue Roedel has resigned from the Committee, I would like to thank Sue for her time as editor and wish her well for the future.
 

With that in mind, after Bob Cawtes resignation and after looking at the progress of the website to date I have decided that I shall be dealing first hand with this as from 28th July and will endeavour to move the project  on,and keep members and the Committee more fully informed. I will be working with M.O.C. members who are as keen to go forward as I am.


In order that all members are fully updated I will be issuing a detailed statement with the next Pitstop , due next week so please wait for that.

 

In the meantime I must correct an error in a posting above. The actual budget for this project, approved by members at the AGM, was £4,000, to be funded from Capital.

 

I post the above as a holding statement and will give you a more detailed update next week.

 

Lee Hunter (Chairman MOC) , on behalf of the Committee 

[Dane_Rescueman]

Re: members update

Seems to be a bit of a chain reaction going on here. I wonder where the critical mass was?

[stevejgreen]

Re: members update

The loss of both Bob and Sue from the Committee of the MOC is significant.
The remaining Committee must look to themselves for the reasons and solutions.

[KitCarGirl]

Re: members update

All

Please be advised that my decision to step away from the committee was forced following pressure to hand over the management of the new website that Bob Cawte and I found ourselves constantly being challenged on from certain members of the committee. It seems that losing an editor is preferable to spending money from the £13,000+ in the deposit account.

Please do not be fooled by the trite comment from Lee regarding my role. It is with an exceptionally heavy heart that I find myself unexpectedly no longer your editor and I am only sorry that it is the members who will ultimately suffer.

My aplogies that after 13 years of happy involvement I am no longer involved.

It is particularly telling that there was no resistance from the committee regarding my offered resignation or that of Bob Cawte. We have struggled against bigoted, narrow minded, technologically ignorant committee members who have successfully managed to prevent an excellent new website from being produced. Whatever you end up with will hopefully be reflective of the preparation work that Bob and I strove to put in and the skills of those chosen by us to build the website.

[timmacx]

Re: members update

Having read all the above, I find it disgraceful that the Club is letting go of Sue without a fight. She has been more than responsible for getting many owners into the club with her enthusiasm, and the work she puts into Pitstop every month speaks for itself. Would someone, preferably on the committe, please beg her to stay a committee member and editor before the club implodes on itself.

[Dane_Rescueman]

Re: members update

Tim, I'm with you 1000 percent.
Sue has worked very hard for us all and to be dismissed by the chairman in the offhand, half a grudging sentence, beggars belief. The committee should look inwards and decide whether they want to be the only members of the MOC.
Only time will tell but Sue will be greatly missed and, as we may find out, irreplaceable.
January 2012, subscription time, will show the strengths or weaknesses of the club. Less that six months. Hmmmmmmm.

[stevejgreen]

Re: members update

So the price of a new website/forum is £4000 plus two respected members of the Committee. For me that is a cost that the MOC cannot justify.
I have often doubted the way in which the MOC has been administered, it has been stuck behind the times. Now those who have resisted change are accountable for the lamentable way both Bob and Sue have been treated.
Like many I am now concerned for the future of the MOC. The committee have let the members down. It may well result in a drop in membership and the gradual decline of the MOC.
The remaining committee members should be ashamed of the
selves.

[terryreed1664]

Re: members update

Sue, I'm so sorry you are no longer the editor of our wonderful magazine.
I agree with Tim you will be sadly missed, and think the committee should think again before letting you go.( Or have your shoes already been filled ).
Dane, you make a very good point about the strengths and weaknesses of the club, with other members of the committee finishing next year is there going to be a MOC. Maybe we should all resign and start again. Or should that be the committee.
Terry

[stevejgreen]

Re: members update

The forum beat me again.

The remaining committee members should be ashamed of themselves for allowing circumstances to get this far. I dare say that the majority of the current membership are also ashamed of our remaining committee members for so clearly failing the general membership of the MOC.

Ultimately our Chairman holds that responsibility, those that are apprently bigoted, narrow minded and technologically ignorant have been holding back the development of the MOC. They know who they are and are the ones who untimately should shoulder the blame and resign immediately.

For those who remember previous incidents I have copied this thread for my own personal records.

A bit strong, maybe. Present your alternative arguments below.

[c5martin]

Re: members update

As a relatively new member of the club, I can only say that has been a disappointment.
I had suspected that the problem related to the reluctance of those living in the past to embrace modern technology and move forward.
I met Sue at Detling earlier this year and she went out of her way to welcome me to the club.
Without her lively enthusiasm and hard work is it worth continuing?

[chris]

Re: members update

I have been following this little spat on here and Facebook and I am very concious that we are only hearing one side of the story, I note Lee's comment about pitstop.

However, given this seems to be about the new website and obviously people feel very strongly about what has been going on, we as ordinary members do have do have the power under the club constitution to call an extraordinary general meeting if 10% of us request it in writing

"6. Extraordinary General Meeting

6.1 An EGM may be summoned when the Committee deem it necessary or when required in writing by at least 10% of the Members at which only the specified business may be transacted. One calendar month's notice of an EGM shall be given"

Such a meeting could be the correct forum for a full and frank exchange of views and vote for or against the current committee. That is of course if any of us can be bothered to take that path and attend.

I would be interested in other ordinary members views

Lee (or any other committee member) can you confirm the actual number of registered members?

regards

[stevejgreen]

Re: members update

The problem with the scatter gun aproach of calling an EGM is that few members are aware who the bad apples are in the Committee.
How would we choose, they may have done a good job in their appointed position but had been as Sue describes, resistant to change that the do not comprehend.
Only the remaining comittee members see this behaviour so only they can take the appropriate action. Even if I was sure who the offenders are, it would be wrong of me to name them on this forum.
The chairman must make the right moves and I hope that the offending committee members recognise themselves and take the appropriate action before they are named and shamed.
Unfortunately if they are technically challenged, they probably wont be using this forum so will not undearstand the mood of the membership in their support for Sue and Bob.

[robcawte]

Re: members update

All, I would like add some clarity to the situation within the club right now. The committee ,debated and voted on a proposal, based on three quotes obtained by Sue and myself, to go ahead with a new web site for the club. One committee member wanted to use Cameron Fernival to get a design for free ( the quote did include the design work ) this year I worked with Cameron, and we came up with a good home page. Sue and I felt it was sensible to get a second deign by a professional to compare the two so the club would get the very best. Two things have happened here, first, Brian and Lee have over turned, in a autocratic way, the decision of the committee for Sue and I to go with Ian Aubrey ( the son of two club members ) to build the web site. This has been done on a fantasy argument of club members, would not like the design being done out side of the club. The second is I was hounded to the point were I sent a mail with an unpalatable truth which (with hind sight ) I should have kept to myself. That lead for calls for me to resign, then they started on Sue, which has ended in Sue leaving the committee. The club was very lucky to secure the service of Cyberpham ( a top class software house ) to build the web site for the club. Lee has no experience in this field ( that is his own admission ) he has not done any research and yet has put himself in charge.

[cdow]

Re: members update

The new website is at least five years overdue, never mind the current excuses. What do the subs go to if not this, what are they going to do with £13000 for Christ’s sake? Nothing I’m interested in it would seem, hence I’m no longer a member, and hence the absence of members with new Marlins.

What most people want from club is shared knowledge and any resources to maintain their cars – and a decent website should be the heart of this. A proper forum, searchable Tek-Tips database; these are things I would gladly pay to use, so given that my previous subs have just been mounting up in the deposit account, why the hell haven’t we got this already?

Anyway, I’ve just read the current threads and I agree with Steve, Sue, and the other sane people who can see past the past. The committee should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Would now be a bad time to mention PayPal? :-o

[tim hawkesworth]

Re: members update

In response to the question from Chris at 23-24 hrs yesterday, I can tell you that there are some 635 voting members at present.