I’ve worn through my tongue a few thousand times. There are things more important than my feelings or reputation so you wear it, that part hasn’t been a lot of fun but the job is its own reward, as they say.
Sincerely appreciate the support, thanks.
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Thanks for the support. We all get emotional when we think about James and the last 5 years - trust me.
I’m in the same boat as Paul. Sometimes you have to grin and bear it for the greater good, but whatever some people think happened, they were certainly not there. No one can rewrite my own memory.
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Thank you for sharing. And thank you for standing by James.
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Paul - thank you for your candour, it should be applauded.
It’s unfortunate that any director needs to make such a statement, but hopefully you can appreciate that the animosity on this issue arises because some of your predecessor directors (and club employees) behaved in a less than admirable manner.
I deal with a lot of directors professionally and although there are obviously expected differences between the directors of an ASX listed entity and a Football Club, I have to say that the approach you and Katie have been taking to engagement with members (particularly posts like the one above) is one I’ve never seen carried out so deeply and diligently anywhere else.
It’s an impressive effort, and I think it would be a great outcome if it became precedent for directors at other clubs, and more broadly.
I confess I’m still furious with the way some at the club treated James, along with a number of other things that transpired during the saga, but it seems pretty clear to me that one of the better things to happen during that dreadful period was the two of you joining the Board.
Without wanting to disparage any of the other well-qualified candidates, I’m happy to say that you both have my vote for re-election.
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I haven’t received voting material. Is there a returning officer or the like that I contact?
You vote from the EFC website
just go to the EFC voting site and put in your member details
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Hi Paul
To clear any confusion about my comments remember as supporters and members we dont have the same access as board members, so of course you would know more of what happend. Where it was confusing we had two members voted on to the board saying they would do all in their power to ensure Hirdy survived as Coach.
Then we hear James Hirds “resignation” (avoid sacking) has been accepted unanimously.
At the time I felt duped as I had voted for both those members due to their proposed support of James .
I certainly am not ignoring your efforts in your position but based on what I had based my vote I felt let down.
I wish you well in the election this time round again but it will be interesting to see how many others feel similarly to me.
personally I think Wellman is a lock as one of the positions availble.
Lastly I am not potting you because in the end of the day we both love the Bombers and want them to do well.
Good luck.
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Thanks Bomb_Doe. Voted for status quo.
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Appreciate the support. I won’t speak for Katie directly here but when we made a commitment to increasing engagement from the board it wasn’t an empty promise, we meant it and I hope have fulfilled it.
Obviously I can’t and wouldn’t ever get into sharing private deliberation and the like, and in fact one of the things I’m proudest of from my tenure is that despite unbelievable pressure at times not a single leak has come out of our board in my 3 years and we have stood entirely united at all times, but I believe it’s important the board stays connected to its members.
Believe me I understand the animosity, I came back here and posted shortly after James left as I felt it was important to put my head up and it didn’t go terribly well, so I admit I mainly read for a long time afterwards rather than posting, but have always tried to engage our membership.
The club’s a different place to the one we walked into, whilst there are many people with greater responsibility for that than I I’ll forever be proud to have been however small a part of our turnaround.
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those Coles ads were effective
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Thanks for that. I didn’t get an email or mailed material either.
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Sorry if this has already been spelt out but… What is the process for the club elected board member?
Are a few names of candidates thrown into the ring - then a vote is taken by the board members - and the one who gets the most votes wins?
The board has a nominations committee which extensively researches potential candidates for appointed seats. The chair of that committee meets with the candidates and so on, the committee narrow their list and eventually present a short list to the board who will then make a final decision as a whole. The process takes place over a number of months and is extremely extensive, it’s certainly not something that happens quickly or on a whim.
The skills of the current board are all taken into consideration and desirable skills to either fill or add to the current mix are identified, candidates with those skills will then be sought.
The new appointed director to replace Chris will be presented at the AGM in a few weeks.
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Personally I think you’re probably right, can’t imagine too many players have ever lost one of our elections, Katie and I both live in reality.
We do both love the Bombers, thanks for the best wishes.
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Yep. Certainly feels like we are playing musical chairs for one seat sadly, but it hasn’t stopped either of us putting our case forward, considering the great things that have been accomplished - as well as great things we have already put so much work into that are in train.
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Thanks Paul…
So the Board gets presented with a short list decided on by the nominations committee. What happens if there is strong opposition to 1 or more people on the list? Is it just a matter of ‘if you don’t like them don’t vote for them’. If such a person is voted in can the Board member challenge the decision?
Can it happen that only 1 name is put forward? What happens then if 1 or more Board members are strongly opposed. Can they challenge the selection?
We have ongoing discussion and constant dialogue, there’s little if any chance of that sort of situation not being sorted out at an earlier stage than when a candidate is presented to the board, that said if there were strong opposition to a candidate on reasonable grounds the likelihood is simply that they would no longer be a candidate.
We have robust discussion as a board, all views are heard and positions are reached.
Katie, I hope you haven’t forgotten that I confessed my love for you during your initial campaign for election on to the Board. So given the musical chairs music is about to stop, would you like me to dig up some dirt on PC? Or given the nature of politics, if I can’t find any I can just make stuff up.
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I can probably add some clarity here as I sit on the committee currently.
There is a long list and a short list of all the people interested in coming on to the board, and anyone that is believed to have desirable skills. This includes people we knew may run. The chair and committee members spend a lot of time meeting with each potential and finding out about their motivations and skillset. We then create a shortlist of upcoming potentials that are presented to the board.
Once the short list is created, all board members are invited to reach out to potentials.
It is a complete democratic process at board level and is focused on bringing new skills or replacing existing skills. No stone goes unturned.
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