Why does the website provide contact details for national officers but not for other members of the Board of Directors/Executive Council?
Why, in most cases, are the contact details of your local authority area representative not available on the website?
Why do most members have to go through an application procedure on the website to discover who their local area representative is?
The quorum of one quarter of the current membership of the Board/Executive Council means that if only, say 12 of the 16 are in post, a quorum would be 3 members. Is this right?
What is the attendance record of members of the Executive/Board of Directors?
How common is proxy voting by absentees on the Board/Executive?
Do absent members of Board/Executive meetings concentrate their proxy votes in one person or spread them around to avoid the concentration of influence?
This is the fifth year of operation of the current constitution. Isn't it time to revise the constitution and make it more effective and responsive to membership influence?
To register your concern about these and related matters Vote NO for the single candidate for national president.
Sunday 31 October 2010
Thursday 21 October 2010
Fire a warning shot - vote NO for the single candidate for national president
The ASCC Executive Council/Board has now issued a statement backing up its decision to nominate one candidate alone for the post of national president – in addition to the candidate’s statement issued with the annual ballot pack.
In evaluating whether to vote for or against this candidate member community councils should bear in mind that the Executive Council/Board has not had the full complement of 16 members when authorising these actions and statements.
The vacancy on the Executive Council/Board for Edinburgh and the Lothians is evident on the ASCC website (22 October 2010 at 9.24 am). This vacancy, and the replacement or re-election of CCllr Sam Campbell of Midlothian who has now been in post for 7 months longer than the intended two year tenure, could have been filled under the constitution by the Executive Council/Board calling a special meeting of the three in post local authority area representatives (who were elected in April 2010) from 15 August 2010 onwards. It has not done so.
In addition two other of the members of the Board of Directors listed on the ASCC website on 22 October 2010 at 9.24am (and this is still the case on 31 October at 4.34pm) actually demitted office several weeks previously.
If these latter two vacancies have been filled and are not notified on the website then it demonstrates that the Executive Council/Board can act to implement the required procedures to fill vacancies when it wishes and has been failing in its responsibility to secure full representation on the Executive Council/Board with respect to Edinburgh and the Lothians.
If these other vacancies have not been filled then there is considerably more under-representation on the Executive Council/Board than might be apparent from examining the website listing.
These arguments add to the case for voting NO for the single candidate for national president in the ASCC annual postal ballot. Such action is a warning shot across the bows - it will not disable the organisation but it will express the serious concerns of member community councils about the way that ASCC operates - a concern that was expressed to me when I was elected as Edinburgh area representative of ASCC by the city's community councils in April this year. And these concerns have not been allayed in the several months since.
In evaluating whether to vote for or against this candidate member community councils should bear in mind that the Executive Council/Board has not had the full complement of 16 members when authorising these actions and statements.
The vacancy on the Executive Council/Board for Edinburgh and the Lothians is evident on the ASCC website (22 October 2010 at 9.24 am). This vacancy, and the replacement or re-election of CCllr Sam Campbell of Midlothian who has now been in post for 7 months longer than the intended two year tenure, could have been filled under the constitution by the Executive Council/Board calling a special meeting of the three in post local authority area representatives (who were elected in April 2010) from 15 August 2010 onwards. It has not done so.
In addition two other of the members of the Board of Directors listed on the ASCC website on 22 October 2010 at 9.24am (and this is still the case on 31 October at 4.34pm) actually demitted office several weeks previously.
If these latter two vacancies have been filled and are not notified on the website then it demonstrates that the Executive Council/Board can act to implement the required procedures to fill vacancies when it wishes and has been failing in its responsibility to secure full representation on the Executive Council/Board with respect to Edinburgh and the Lothians.
If these other vacancies have not been filled then there is considerably more under-representation on the Executive Council/Board than might be apparent from examining the website listing.
These arguments add to the case for voting NO for the single candidate for national president in the ASCC annual postal ballot. Such action is a warning shot across the bows - it will not disable the organisation but it will express the serious concerns of member community councils about the way that ASCC operates - a concern that was expressed to me when I was elected as Edinburgh area representative of ASCC by the city's community councils in April this year. And these concerns have not been allayed in the several months since.
Sunday 17 October 2010
The Annual Ballot 2010 - Association of Scottish Community Councils
ASSOCIATION OF SCOTTISH COMMUNITY COUNCILS (ASCC)
ANNUAL BALLOT
VOTE NO FOR THE CANDIDATE FOR NATIONAL PRESIDENT
This year’s ballot papers are currently being distributed to member community councils. Yet again, for the fifth year in a row, member community councils of ASCC have been denied any choice in the annual ballot as to who will be elected to the posts of national officer.
The ASCC national executive, which should have a full complement of 16 members, has decided again to put only one candidate forward for election to each post.
If most community councils make no return to the ballot, as is usually the case, unhappiness with this situation will not be registered. Casting a ballot, however, suggests acquiescence in these arrangements.
The most effective way to respond would be to vote NO for the candidate for national president.
This line of action would make an important point and allow the ASCC to continue functioning if the single candidate for president is not endorsed.
These considerations again underline the need for a change to the ASCC constitution as proposed this year by a number of community councils to ensure that in future member community councils have a direct choice as to who their national officers in ASCC will be.
EDINBURGH AND LOTHIAN COMMUNITY COUNCILS EXCLUDED FROM NATIONAL OFFICER NOMINATIONS PROCEDURE
Edinburgh and Lothians local authority area representatives on ASCC were elected in April 2010. Six months later ASCC has not yet convened the meeting to elect two of them to be the members of the national executive council on behalf of community councils in the Edinburgh and Lothian regional area. This is the case despite opportunities at meetings of Executive members and area representatives in April, July and September and a Lothian regional meeting in August.
Edinburgh and Lothian community councils were thus not properly represented this year on the Executive Council/Board in the process to nominate candidates for ASCC national offices.
YET ANOTHER REASON TO VOTE NO FOR THE CANDIDATE FOR NATIONAL PRESIDENT
Norman Bonney, ASCC area representative, City of Edinburgh
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