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Great News for the CFC !
On June 24, the " gang of 7 " governors ( Michael Barron, Barry Thorvardson, Chris Mallon, Gary Gladstone, Mark Dutton, Cesary Posylek and Nava Starr ) submitted the following 7 CFC restructuring motions to the CFC Executive, on behalf of the grassroots campaign :
Motion # 1 – Moved – Barry Thorvardson; Seconded – Cesary Posylek: Item 1 set out below is acceptable.
“ 1. Core Roles: CFC will continue its role re FIDE, international and national events, a national rating system, and a website with membership info, ratings, membership sales, tournament announcements, chess club lists, and news submitted by members (highlights of recent tournament, etc.). Maintenance of these functions will be the responsibility of the Executive Director.”
Motion # 2 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Barry Thorvardson: Item 2 set out below is acceptable.
“ 2. CFC Revenue: CFC revenues to come from memberships, rating fees, investments and donations. With the reduced scope of operation, costs for the organization should be less, and it may be possible to reduce annual membership fees and/or rating fees. “
Motion # 3 – Moved – Barry Thorvardson; Seconded – Chris Mallon: Item 3 set out below is acceptable.
“ 3. CFC Membership: CFC to eliminate tournament memberships – if you want to play in a CFC tournament, you must purchase an annual membership. To encourage individuals to become members, first time CFC members will be given a 40% fee reduction for their first year. “
Motion # 4 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Mark Dutton: Item 4 set out below is acceptable.
“ 4. Chess Canada: CFC will terminate the magazine contract with TKS immediately (with the May 2008 issue being the last issue of the magazine). “
Motion # 5 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Gary Gladstone: Item 5 set out below is acceptable.
“ 5. Retail Business: Sell off the inventory of the retail business; it will be closed entirely. An alternative but small source of revenue could be established through a commission arrangement with other retailers, such as CMA or Amazon. “
Motion # 6 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Barry Thorvardson: Item 6 set out below is acceptable.
“ 6. CFC Condominium Office: The current CFC office would be placed for sale. The office would then be run out of either a small rental space or a home office. “
Motion # 7 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Nava Starr: Item 7 set out below is acceptable.
“ 7. CFC Staffing: In light of the reduced business activities of the CFC office (no retail sales and no print magazine), the Executive Committee would undertake a review of the Executive Director and Assistant positions and would recommend appropriate staffing changes if required. This could be from going to part-time, up to complete eliminating of the paid staff, and performing all CFC activities by volunteers. “
To the credit of the CFC Executive, they have now, as they should have, included the 7 motions for " straw vote " in Governors' Letter # 9, which has just been sent to the Governors. AND they have put the 7 motions on the CFC July AGM agenda for the outgoing governors !!
This means that for the first time in the mandate of the current governors, they will get a chance to express their opinions on restructuring issues one at a time, where they can accept some and reject others, if they see fit ( though we hope all 7 get passed ! ).
This vote will only be a " straw vote ", which means the decisions are not binding on the CFC. Some feel that this falls short of what is required - immediate binding restructuring decisions. But we felt that this late in their mandate, it would be sufficient if the outgoing governors merely expressed their OPINION on restructuring. And we felt that with the very short time frame avaiable to the grassroots campaign, this voting option gave the greatest chance of success in getting the motions to a vote before the current governors left office. As well, there will be a new Executive, and new governors, elected at the AGM, and it was felt that they should have a free hand to decide where to take the CFC on restructuring, and not be bound by the outgoing governors decisions.
But this does not mean the decisions made at this AGM can be ignored. They may not be binding, but they will be greatly influential. The governors have wrestled with restructuring for the last 6 months, are experienced, and their opinion is to be highly respected by the new CFC team. A strong passing of the 7 motions could only be ignored by the new governors/executive at their peril.
If, as we expect, all 7 motions are strongly passed, we urge the incoming governors to then move these same motions as binding ones, and to vote on them as soon as possible. Restructuring implementation must occur right from the beginning of their mandate for 2008-9. The CFC is in a perilous financial state, and it must be brought out of the red ASAP.
Congratulations to all the 20 grassroots campaign endorsers who believed in the restructuring platform as a whole right at the very start - you have succeeded in your impossible dream - a vote on the platform ! And thanks to all who have been supportive of the campaign, in full or in part. Special thanks are due to the " gang of 7 " , without whom this vote would never have come about.
Bob
On June 24, the " gang of 7 " governors ( Michael Barron, Barry Thorvardson, Chris Mallon, Gary Gladstone, Mark Dutton, Cesary Posylek and Nava Starr ) submitted the following 7 CFC restructuring motions to the CFC Executive, on behalf of the grassroots campaign :
Motion # 1 – Moved – Barry Thorvardson; Seconded – Cesary Posylek: Item 1 set out below is acceptable.
“ 1. Core Roles: CFC will continue its role re FIDE, international and national events, a national rating system, and a website with membership info, ratings, membership sales, tournament announcements, chess club lists, and news submitted by members (highlights of recent tournament, etc.). Maintenance of these functions will be the responsibility of the Executive Director.”
Motion # 2 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Barry Thorvardson: Item 2 set out below is acceptable.
“ 2. CFC Revenue: CFC revenues to come from memberships, rating fees, investments and donations. With the reduced scope of operation, costs for the organization should be less, and it may be possible to reduce annual membership fees and/or rating fees. “
Motion # 3 – Moved – Barry Thorvardson; Seconded – Chris Mallon: Item 3 set out below is acceptable.
“ 3. CFC Membership: CFC to eliminate tournament memberships – if you want to play in a CFC tournament, you must purchase an annual membership. To encourage individuals to become members, first time CFC members will be given a 40% fee reduction for their first year. “
Motion # 4 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Mark Dutton: Item 4 set out below is acceptable.
“ 4. Chess Canada: CFC will terminate the magazine contract with TKS immediately (with the May 2008 issue being the last issue of the magazine). “
Motion # 5 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Gary Gladstone: Item 5 set out below is acceptable.
“ 5. Retail Business: Sell off the inventory of the retail business; it will be closed entirely. An alternative but small source of revenue could be established through a commission arrangement with other retailers, such as CMA or Amazon. “
Motion # 6 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Barry Thorvardson: Item 6 set out below is acceptable.
“ 6. CFC Condominium Office: The current CFC office would be placed for sale. The office would then be run out of either a small rental space or a home office. “
Motion # 7 – Moved – Michael Barron; Seconded – Nava Starr: Item 7 set out below is acceptable.
“ 7. CFC Staffing: In light of the reduced business activities of the CFC office (no retail sales and no print magazine), the Executive Committee would undertake a review of the Executive Director and Assistant positions and would recommend appropriate staffing changes if required. This could be from going to part-time, up to complete eliminating of the paid staff, and performing all CFC activities by volunteers. “
To the credit of the CFC Executive, they have now, as they should have, included the 7 motions for " straw vote " in Governors' Letter # 9, which has just been sent to the Governors. AND they have put the 7 motions on the CFC July AGM agenda for the outgoing governors !!
This means that for the first time in the mandate of the current governors, they will get a chance to express their opinions on restructuring issues one at a time, where they can accept some and reject others, if they see fit ( though we hope all 7 get passed ! ).
This vote will only be a " straw vote ", which means the decisions are not binding on the CFC. Some feel that this falls short of what is required - immediate binding restructuring decisions. But we felt that this late in their mandate, it would be sufficient if the outgoing governors merely expressed their OPINION on restructuring. And we felt that with the very short time frame avaiable to the grassroots campaign, this voting option gave the greatest chance of success in getting the motions to a vote before the current governors left office. As well, there will be a new Executive, and new governors, elected at the AGM, and it was felt that they should have a free hand to decide where to take the CFC on restructuring, and not be bound by the outgoing governors decisions.
But this does not mean the decisions made at this AGM can be ignored. They may not be binding, but they will be greatly influential. The governors have wrestled with restructuring for the last 6 months, are experienced, and their opinion is to be highly respected by the new CFC team. A strong passing of the 7 motions could only be ignored by the new governors/executive at their peril.
If, as we expect, all 7 motions are strongly passed, we urge the incoming governors to then move these same motions as binding ones, and to vote on them as soon as possible. Restructuring implementation must occur right from the beginning of their mandate for 2008-9. The CFC is in a perilous financial state, and it must be brought out of the red ASAP.
Congratulations to all the 20 grassroots campaign endorsers who believed in the restructuring platform as a whole right at the very start - you have succeeded in your impossible dream - a vote on the platform ! And thanks to all who have been supportive of the campaign, in full or in part. Special thanks are due to the " gang of 7 " , without whom this vote would never have come about.
Bob
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