Absolutely loved everything Benn Dunn had to say
Acutely aware of issues us members experience:
The blokes in touch with the common supporter. Announce!
Iām listening to him on the lunchtime podcast currently.
Agree that he hits a lot of good points - however Iām not yet sure what heās offering as a point of difference. Looking at the points youāve mentioned the first three are all mentioned in this one paragraph from Dave Barhamās memberās update about the outcome of the external review:
Furthermore, as we know, COVID stymied and restricted our ability to deliver exceptional experiences for members and supporters over the past three years. We are first and foremost a family Club. In 2023 we will have a whole-of-club commitment to increase the Clubās connection with members and to ensure the Club and our players are accessible to all levels of membership. This will include a return of the Essendon Family Day, improved access to players and coaches during our weekly open training sessions, improved member amenities at the NEC Hangar, the return of our football member forums and enhanced access to the Club through exclusive, members-only, behind-the-scenes experiences.
Andrew Welsh so confident he didnāt even bother to write up his own statement. Just written up in 3rd person by someone at the club. Not sure this says much for how much time heāll be able to allocate for the role.
I think Board terms should be shortened and genuine elections should be held more often not preferred candidates rammed down our throat.
Iāll be listening to all the above podcasts and voting for the two best challengers out of principle.
Where are the candidate statements? Link anyone?
For me my preferred candidates at least initially are Welsh, Dunn and Muirā¦ some of the other candidates have interesting statements but unless I hear from them in an interview or something like that to get a better vibe/indication of them, I am unlikely to vote for them.
Have listened to Paul White on the LCP and The Sash pod and didnāt really Connect/vibe with what he was putting out there.
Three year terms are the correct length. It is up to the chairman to weed out duds and force them to work harder or resign.
What do you mean āgenuine electionsā ? All the Club elections are genuine and all Members are given the chance to vote. When has a candidate been rammed down our throats ? Most members do not bother to vote, so blame them, not the Club.
Barham - voted in
Welsh - appointed
Melissa green - appointed
Rioli - appointed
Dorothy Hisgrove - appointed
Andrew Muir - appointed, I think voted back in.
Kate OāSullivan - appointed to a ācasual vacancyā, subsequently voted back in (?)
Sheedy - appointed, then voted back in
Tim Roberts - appointed
David Wills - appointed
North Korea could learn a bit from our particular form of free and fair democracy.
The chicanery with moving people from ācasual vacanciesā or āappointedā seats to āelected seatsā is absolute, utter bullshit, that only a politician could appreciate.
I understand itās allowed by the constitution - it shouldnāt be.
Why do we have 4 directors who are appointed? They should all be elected, with the board able to make casual appointments for vacancies that must be confirmed at the next annual election.
So much this. Heās been there a decade during a time of sub standard performance as a club but Iāve got no idea what Andrew does. Iāve not heard from him and I havenāt heard stories from others about him. I also have no idea on his role, where lots of other directors I know what they are looking after.
Mr Invisible.
Totally agree about the abuse of casual vacancies, etc. I understand the need for some appointed positions but it really does get abused.
Iāve got this broken down in the original post but Barham was voted in but later moved to an appointed seat. Muir has been āvotedā back in twice - both times uncontested elections (not that that is his fault).
Of the current board only Sheedy and Barham have won a contested election - Barham the only one to do so without incumbency (although there was only 1 incumbent and 2 vacant seats that year). Muir (x2) & Green have been re-elected unopposed.
Blitz: our #1 objective has to be winning premierships!
Bitz: hooray, a candidate didnāt mention a thing about how he could help winning premierships, just how heāll make us feel good. Yay!
How the fark is board members being appointed as per the Club Constitution in any way being rammed down our throat ?
Majority of the Board is elected by Members, except the members mostly do not vote, so there has not been much of a diversity of candidate. When Katie Lio and Paul Cousins got elected, still less than 10% of membership voted. Ex-footballers run and get elected, is that Chicanery ???
Why donāt you run; I am sure all of BBlitz would vote for you.
the Chicanery comes from āappointingā individuals to fill vacant āelectedā seats and then running them as incumbents at elections.
Every sports club board does that. Nothing new about it. Boards are complex and they need to have people with certain skills to execute the duties of the Board, which is why Boards fill casual vacancies first. If members arenāt happy with the appointment, they get the opportunity to elect someone else. The simple fact is that most members could hardly care less as to who sits on the board, which is why so few bother to vote.
Agree listened to his podcast, gee he spoke well and said the right things. Plus he has built his profile a fair bit since his time at EFC, getting on the board at 26 and be there for the 2000 flag must have been epic for him.
is this the same Ben Dunn - said he was a ASX Director.
Benjamin Dunn holds both a Law degree and an MBA (Melbourne University) and has over 25 years of international business experience in Legal, Equities and Capital Raising fields, primarily focused on the Resources sector. Ben practised law before going on to join several blue chip investment firms, initially Australia and then Asia, working across multiple jurisdictions. More recently Ben established his own private investment company focused on investment in the battery & base metals, as well as joining the Board of an ASX listed junior explorer. Ben also works closely with several international Family Offices on resources and logistics investments. Ben was previously a Board member of the Essendon Football Club from 1998-2006, including the 2000 Premiership. But he is proudest that both his daughters strongly barrack for the Bombers, continuing the family tradition.
Lol market cap of 3.6m
I would like to vote in the upcomming election but still inclear on who i would choose.
I have listened to the iviews that have been done on The Sash and Lunchtime podcasts (thanks to both for organising space for them) but there is a sameness about all candidates. The only one who seemed a bit different was Paul White who was more governance than finance. All venture capitalists or plain old Capitalists!
Really, do we need more Money Men from the Top End of Town on the board? Id rather cut the Board x2 positions.
I know a little bit more about is Andrew Welsh, as an ex playerā¦ and his Tweetsā¦ which really put me off himā¦
I dont think any of them are making outlandish promises of premierships etcā¦ in fact they are all saying much the same thing about development, stability and long-term success.