BASC Council Elections ?

[sodylt1]

I must apologise for this but you have elected to enter the bear pit of BASC politics and I do hope that you will not consider this to be a personal attack.

 

Thank you for taking the trouble to give an amazingly comprehensive response to my question about the Chief Exec.It is an impressive tour de force of "inhuman resources-speak" and you have correctly identified that I was referring to the future need to employ a new one.

 

However, the problem with it is that it omits what,for me,is the single most important point which is that the Chief Executive should do what council instructs him to do.

 

You appear to have missed the point that it is you, collectively with other council members,who will be directing BASC. Not to have mentioned this is, in my opinion, a glaring omission and a clear indicator of your failure to understand, quite literally, how BASC works.

 

And now, on a personal note, I`m not going to be so charitable.

 

The comments you make about wildfowling are breathtaking in their ignorance and illustrate a mind boggling lack of understanding of the workings of one of shootings most threatened branches. Frankly, I`m speechless that you should be so detached from `fowling that you can make such ludicrous comments as "Clubs have not sought to lease foreshore areas or purchase coastal marshes." What!!

 

Every single English and Welsh fowling club, without exception,has a lease of some sort from someone or other. You are utterly unaware of this, the most fundamental of principles. You seem never to have heard of the BASC`s Wildlife Habitat Trust or of the sterling efforts of every club in the land to buy some marsh.

 

Your knowledge of wildfowling is dangerously ill informed and you would have done better, in my opinion to have said openly " I know nothing about wildfowling" rather that attempt to hoodwink less well informed readers into thinking that you do know something about it.

 

And finally, and again because you`ve avoided answering it. You are representing yourself as the champion of gundogs. What will be your first action in that respect should you get elected?

 

You have obviously planned a strategy for your gundog championship. Please tell us what it is and dispel the rumour that it is so much meaningless self serving smoke and mirrors.

 

Once again, with my apologies, but democracy is a hard task mistress.

 

You say …. “Existing wildfowling clubs tend to be fairly small. With some exceptions, those clubs have not sought to lease foreshore areas or purchase coastal marshes”

 

I have to say you have absolutely no idea how much time and effort goes in to securing wildfowling for the good of wildfowling and the size of the club is of no importance to the passion that surrounds our sport and I find your comment it is very naive and dare I say ignorant.

 

I agree with mudpatten that it would have been better to have admitted your ignorance of wildfowling than to have alienated yourself so openly.

 

I wish you best sir but I for one will be voting for John and Alan.

[Mymwood]

Pinkfooty

 

Thanks for the opportunity to read those manifestos. Should I be fortunate enough to be successful it would be an honour to serve with and learn from such experienced and capable individuals. I look forward to one day being able to call them friends.

 

Mart.

[Pinkfooty]

 

 

I do not believe that the role of the CE is just to 'do what he is told' by council. I believe that the role of council is to act as a 'critical friend' to the CE to enable the CE and his/her staff to do the very best job they can. In selecting a CE I do favour sourcing a person who is charismatic and of high leadership quality more than favouring a person who 'knows how BASC works' and has an intimate knowledge/understanding of every single facet of the role. I would expect the appointee to develop that knowledge, but would not see it is essential to appointment.

 

Knowledge can be acquired, qualities such as leadership, vision and charisma are either there or they are not.

 

Mart.

 

Personally, Martyn, I agree with elements of that. Although the role of Council has to be much more directive than merely a "critical friend".

 

Having served two separate terms on BASC Council, my view is that it is the ultimate role of Council to determine BASC policy in what is a very broad and complex field.

 

It is the role of the Chief Executive to implement that policy with, of course, the assistance of the 100+ staff whom he manages.

 

That role is not always appreciated by staff.

 

In 2007 Lee Freeston and I successfully steered a policy in relation to wildfowling through Council:

 

"BASC will do everything within its power to promote and protect the sport of wildfowling. It will encourage and facilitate entry to the sport at all levels. BASC will furthermore oppose at all levels any restriction being placed upon wildfowling that is not, in the opinion of both the Council and its Wildfowling Liaison Committee, capable of being shown by clear evidence to be necessary for the future of wildfowling in the UK and the wildfowl and wildlife habitat on which wildfowling depends."

 

Unfortunately that policy has not always been observed by some staff. It is the role of the Chief Executive to manage his team in a way that does facilitate them to act within Council policies like that.

[mudpatten]

Such a pity that, having been brave enough to stick your head above the parapet, something that requires no small amount of courage and for which I thoroughly commend you,you should seek to extracate yourself from an awkward situation of your own making by "closing" the discussion of your own volition.

 

Floating voters will undoubtedly draw their own conclusion as to how this rather undemocratic and high handed action might translate to other topics. Difficult subject? Throw hands in the air,turn around and walk away from it.

 

I note incidentally that yet again you have avoided answering my question about what would your first gundog related action be were you elected to Council? Forgive me for concluding that you don`t actually have a planned strategy. Unfortunately we`ll never know because you`ve unilaterally "closed" the discussion and will not be re visiting it.

 

Thank you for having taken the time to have come onto this forum to present your views. On a personal note, I have never been prejudiced against your candidacy per se and were you a credible candidate you would have had my full support.

 

However,democracy being the precious commodity that it is, the only way I have of testing your resolve and knowledge is to ask difficult and penetrating questions. Had you answered them to my satisfaction we would be having a very different conversation. Having given your tree a good shake, instead of knowledge and statesmanship falling from it, in my opinion, all that has been dislodged is ignorance and duplicity.

 

I shall not be voting for you.

[woodcock11]

Woodcock11

 

I was contacted, as I presume were all candidates, and invited to contribute.

 

In reply to this and also to Pinkfooty, I have no problem with an amplified manifesto at all and quite agree that it can be hard to get your point across in just 500 words.

 

However, a manifesto is one thing - actively canvassing on one or more websites is quite another and I stand by my previous post.

 

In addition, the reasoned arguments of Mudpatten, which I have read with care, really ought to make any canvassing candidate think again! I am afraid you will not have my vote either......

[Salopian]

I have just been reading the profiles of some of the already elected members of council.

Given the time of year it is, should we not be doing a bit of pruning?

How on Earth did some of them get elected? I certainly didn't vote for them.

Cocktails anyone? See you in the Officers Mess or down at the Students Union Bar, chin, chin. Chinless wonders. Bah! Humbug!

[ayano3]

(Existing wildfowling clubs tend to be fairly small. With some exceptions, those clubs have not sought to lease foreshore areas or purchase coastal marshes - quite simply because, under the existing legal framework, there was little to be gained by doing so. But even under the existing laws unrestricted access to some of the best wild-fowling has already been lost and, of course, the threat of future changes is very real. To put it simply, we need larger clubs with the resources, resolve and commitment to meet the challenges of the future and I think those clubs need the financial muscle of a pro-active parent body to help them................)

 

And what about when many of the Wash Group of clubs went to purchase land that was up for sale on the Wash last year ?? look into this if you like but I dont think BASC took a really active part in this as as far as I am aware, all parties was shafted at the last minute..where was your legal department then ?? Hence I know where my vote wont be going as my previous post.

[mudpatten]

Voted online today. Surprised at how quick and easy it was. Whichever way you decide to vote, I do hope that you`ve actually done it! The future of shooting is in your hands.

[chrispti]

Voted on-line for John Graham and Alan Jarrett only

[sodylt1]

And the results taken from the BASC web site, were ............

 

There were five candidates standing for three seats on BASC Council. The results of the Council election are as follows, candidates are in the order in which they appeared on the voting paper:

 

Candidate

Votes

 

Michael Hardy

1382

 

John Graham

1100

 

Martyn Parfitt

1084

 

John Thornley

1600

 

Alan Jarrett

1377

 

 

 

John Thornley was elected to Council for a second term.

 

Michael Hardy and Alan Jarrett were elected to Council.