MOTORCYCLING NSW GENERAL MEETING, BLACKTOWN 22 June 2017

(Due to a computer problem, the agenda and minutes from the last meeting were not available before the meeting).

The meeting opened at 7.40pm, with MNSW President Tim Sanford in the Chair.

BOB LEVY :

Tim informed the meeting of the passing of another motorcycling legend, Bob Levy, aged 79. Bob was famous at the old Sydney Showground Speedway in the 60's on his Vincent sidecar. He later moved on to road racing on his "wedge style" Kawasaki Z1 kneeler in the 70's. More recently he became a scrutineer at major road racing events where his technical skills were highly respected.

May he rest in peace with the other champions.

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During the reading of the April and May Board minutes several items of interest were noted.

NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS:

During a discussion on last year's Night of Champions Dinner it was revealed that the event lost $55,000, which was about average for the last few years. It was agreed that continuing to lose this amount on so few participants cannot continue. It was decided that the event should be discontinued and alternatives be sought for the presentation of awards, possibly separate discipline events.

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SHORT COURSE RACING:

In early May MNSW called a meeting of groups connected with Short Course Road Racing on Kart tracks. Present were MA President Peter Goddard, North Coast Road Racers representative Garry Thomas, Former Junior Road Race Promotor Tony Hatton, together with MNSW CEO Dave Cooke and MNSW Directors. The aim of the meeting was to try to formulate rules to cover this form of racing, which at the moment is not covered in MOMS. One suggestion is to have different rules for juniors and seniors, with junior machine specifications much wider than seniors, to encourage transition from Motocross and Minikhana to Short Course Racing using the same bike.

Garry has been appointed to The Short Course Road Race Advisory Committee.

It is hoped that the proposed rules will be formulated in time for a review by interested parties and confirmed in time for the 2018 MOMS. *****************

MORE PROBLEMS WITH FORMER PRESIDENT:

CEO Dave Cooke reported that former MNSW President Dave Morgan had made abusive and threatening calls to MNSW staff. The Board discussed the matter, and considering Morgan's Level 4 Official status decided to refer the matter to Motorcycling Australia. He is no longer welcome to attend the MNSW office or have any contact with MNSW staff.

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STILL MORE PROBLEMS WITH FORMER PRESIDENT: At the May Board meeting, there was further discussion on correspondence from former President Dave Morgan, regarding the ban on him contacting MNSW staff. He is presently facing four charges from MA.

Recently his application to re-affiliate his club, The Historic Racing Register had been refused, with numerous "Life Members" being added to boost membership numbers to comply with the MNSW minimum requirements.

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GENERAL BUSINESS

President Tim Sanford discussed a recent meeting of the MA Council, which he and CEO Dave Cooke attended. (The MA Council consists of the Presidents of each of the State Controlling Bodies). He said that the relationship between MA and MNSW had improved immensely in the last months and they were now working together.

He discussed the MA Alliance, which he claims has 8 equal partners (the SCB's), with equal voting rights. He said that some LCB's are broke, and it may require more affluent states to "prop them up".

MA is working on a new Model Constitution, which they hope each SCB will adopt, and should be available around January 2018.

NCRR Delegate D. Elliott asked if there was any suggestion of "Proportional Representation" in this proposed Constitution, pointing out that it seemed a bit inequitable that a state representing 4 clubs has the same voting rights as another representing 104 clubs. There has been a long history of dubious MA decisions which favoured smaller SCB's and disadvantage NSW and Queensland, which between them supply well over 50% of all licence holders and MA income. Tim replied that the voting system is unlikely to change, and that is the price of democracy.

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ELECTIONS:

CEO Dave Cooke discussed the recent MNSW elections, noting that some clubs have still not re-affiliated, and therefore are not eligible to vote at General Meetings. After studying the statistics of the returns from Clubs and Life Members from past years, he claimed that it is entirely likely that in the past, elections had been rigged.

In his opinion, this could only have been possible by persons at the MNSW office.

Readers will be aware that the ballot papers are all stamped and numbered and the return envelopes are numbered, but someone intent on rigging the election could, by printing additional papers and envelopes, fill them out for their chosen candidates and post them back to the office, and no-one would know, as, with the present system, only the office checks the numbers and envelopes, after the election.

His comments certainly encouraged some lively discussion on alternative systems, including outsourcing the elections to an accounting firm.

NCRR delegate D. Elliott proposed that a two envelope system as used by many licenced clubs be introduced. The outer envelope identifies the sender from a database of clubs or life members, (which is checked to detect duplication), and an inner plain envelope holding the ballot papers, which will be opened by the scrutineers for counting. This system would still require the majority of clubs to vote, as an insider could still substitute envelopes if they knew that particular clubs normally did not return their envelopes. This emphasises how important it is for clubs to return the ballot papers, even if they do not vote for some candidates. The Board will consider this proposal.

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FORMER PRESIDENT FINED:

CEO Dave Cooke informed the meeting that former MNSW President Dave Morgan had been fined $2,000 by MA, and his Competition and Official's licence cancelled. He did not mention which charges were upheld.

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MNSW PROPERTIES LTD.

At the May Annual General Meeting of MNSW Properties Limited the Annual Report was not read. Members at the AGM were informed that due to the lack of co-operation from the former CEO and President a meeting to confirm the Report could not be held due to a lack of a quorum.

At the AGM a new Director was elected, a meeting has been held and the Report reviewed. Unfortunately it contained several errors which require correction.

Chairperson of MNSW Properties Zara Griffin assured members that the Report will be presented at the August meeting.

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OOPS FILE:

In the last issue I mentioned that several MNSW Sport Committees would not have a quorum, and would have Administrators appointed instead. This is incorrect. I overlooked the fact that most Sports Committees would have members carried over from the last election. Sorry! (I need an Editor. Any volunteers?)

Regards Dave E

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