RAAus General Meeting Called

[Spriteah]

A mature organization should have little problem taking on new aircraft types. The procedures and systems should have been in place long ago. That is where a lot of the problem lies, lack of systems and procedures. In my humble opinion. But I do need to view a lot more to be sure.

 

Jim Tatlock.

 

 

[DWF]

..... The procedures and systems should have been in place long ago. ..... Jim Tatlock.

I think you have hit the nail on the head there Jim.

 

The Board should have a policy like "RAAus will establish procedures and systems to process aircraft registrations in accordance with the CASA Deed of Agreement."

 

The Technical Manager will (have) set up the procedures and systems (including checklists) to process aircraft registrations iaw CASA DoA.

 

The Board will monitor and review the procedures and systems to ensure they are effective, etc.

 

To assist the Board in this task there should be a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) [board sub-committee] made up of at least one Board member plus a number of other people with expertise in the area.

 

It would appear that, until recently at least, this has not been the case.

 

Why not?

 

Has such a process now been put in place to handle aircraft registration?

 

If not, why not?

 

DWF

 

 

[Tiger]

Spriteah and DWF,

 

I agree whole heartedly with what you have both said, however this is just one of the areas that is lacking from bad management by the board in the past.

 

When this has been applied across all area of RAA like we have seen in past years, we end up in the situation that we have now with RAA.

 

The Feb 9th meeting hopefully will give us some direction where to go and to set about a process so that we can set up these advisory groups and get a board who can manage and govern instead of applying crisis management techniques to each and every item. This will require a forward thinking board, not a board which lives on things that happened yesteryear.

 

Many members with legal, accounting, management, HR etc are available and would be willing to assist, but not on a board position. One member known, may well be a leading legal authority of workplace matters. Another heads up safety with his employer but would not want a position but may be more than happy to assist for a few days to get RAA back on track.

 

The board has no idea at the depth and breadth of knowledge, experience and qualifications hidden in the membership and when it has been offered to the board in the past has been knocked back.

 

The board has been / is still top heavy with CFI's was do not know the complete set of answers to good governance and are basically unwilling to listen to the members cries over the past years.

 

 

[cazza]

DWF, Your analysis of the problem and your suggestion for a solution is spot on. But the process was there and the relevant people just didn't do their job.

 

The Secretary or approved RA-Aus delegate shall cause to be kept a register of initial aircraft registrations in addition to renewals and transfers of aircraft registrations and subsequent inspections (RA-Aus Ops Manual)

 

the Technical Manager is responsible to the RA-Aus Executive for the overall control, supervision and discipline of the … technical requirements of the relevant CAR’s CASR’s CAO’s, legislation ( RA-Aus Ops Manual)

 

to manage and oversee staff to control the RA-Aus pilot certificate and aircraft registration systems, (CEO Duty Statement, 2010)

 

maintain official records and documents, as well as ensuring compliance with federal, state and local regulations; ( CEO Duty Statement 2010)

 

Carol Richards (Cazza)

 

 

[kaz3g]

DWF, Your analysis of the problem and your suggestion for a solution is spot on. But the process was there and the relevant people just didn't do their job.The Secretary or approved RA-Aus delegate shall cause to be kept a register of initial aircraft registrations in addition to renewals and transfers of aircraft registrations and subsequent inspections (RA-Aus Ops Manual)

 

the Technical Manager is responsible to the RA-Aus Executive for the overall control, supervision and discipline of the … technical requirements of the relevant CAR’s CASR’s CAO’s, legislation ( RA-Aus Ops Manual)

 

to manage and oversee staff to control the RA-Aus pilot certificate and aircraft registration systems, (CEO Duty Statement, 2010)

 

maintain official records and documents, as well as ensuring compliance with federal, state and local regulations; ( CEO Duty Statement 2010)

 

Carol Richards (Cazza)

And those statements in the manual and position descriptions are the overlaying framework.

 

On that framework need to be hung a raft of procedural guidelines setting out precisely how those statements will be followed through. They need checks and balances to evaluate the results anI bring about continuing improvement and compliance.

 

It was the responsibility of the CEO to produce these and put them to the Board for approval. It was the Board's responsibility to ensure they were done and that they were implemented and monitored.

 

That they failed is all too apparent.

 

kaz

 

 

[Tiger]

Has anyone read the RAAus website tonight? I just did and was shocked at what I read. !!!!!

 

The Board, signed by our secretary, has released a three page document saying how good the Board is, how they are fixing the rego debarcle, blaming prior board members for the problems and said a lot of political talk without addressing any real issues (to the older Qld people it was called Jo speak where a lot is said that means or says absolutely nothing)

 

The document purports a number of items but instructs members to give their proxy only to a board member. This is in direct contravention to legislation, and is breach of our Constitutional rights in that it is instructing members to ONLY give proxy votes to members of the board and to NO other party.

 

Then they had the audacity to ask us to give them our proxy. They have made out that they are a group of "Angels" and have done nothing wrong.

 

Why ??? Why should I give someone my proxy when he (the individual board members) are the ones who caused the problems over the past twelve months.

 

That would be giving my opposition all my ammunition and then wanting me to fight them with no ammunition in my camp.

 

Members out there , think seriously who you give your proxy vote to if you cannot attend the meeting. If you do not know someone who you can trust to carry your vote, then think seriously why you should give it to any member who you don't or trust explicitely. Remember you can always abstain.

 

I have seen some very serious emails from the membership over the past few days and I have continued with my idea of going to Canberra.

 

Come on 9th February, so we can get this sorted and get RAA back onto a good footing under better management than we have at present.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

The OBC seem desperate to hold onto their power!

 

 

[normfox]

Has anyone read the RAAus website tonight? I just did and was shocked at what I read. !!!!!

What a happy little read! I wonder if all Board members knew this was going out?

 

If you want some fun, try downloading the proxy form and important information after you have read the letter.

 

Turned into the 'great circle time waste' for me. Impossible. They cannot even get a simple web-link to work.

 

(Or perhaps that is the intention - fewer proxies the better?)

 

 

[Aerochute Kev]

I've just spent 15 mins going in circles on the RAAus site and cant even get to the letter. Has it been removed? or can someone post it here so we can read it?

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

Pdf file here http://www.raa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Letter-to-members-Feb-2013.pdf Im astounded that the claim of it was all before us.....many of them have been in place for years in fact i think Middo is probably one of the longest.......

 

still there are claims made that can be tested at the meeting!

 

Andy

 

 

[Tiger]

I just rechecked the site. It is still there.

 

All I did was click on the news section then clicked the general meeting item and it then came up and then a further click on either the information sheet with a lot of bXLL SXXX and then I clicked on the proxy form.

 

Also the proxy form information is incorrect as they say you can nominate two on the form. That is incorrect (another stuff up by the board executive) as there is only provision for one proxy holder name.

 

Remember, be very careful who you give your proxy to. Ensure they have ideals like your own and I suggest you check with your proposed proxy holder first to ascertain their intentions as to how they think and to advise them how you want them to vote at the meeting.

 

 

[Aerochute Kev]

Pdf file here http://www.raa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Letter-to-members-Feb-2013.pdf Im astounded that the claim of it was all before us.....many of them have been in place for years in fact i think Middo is probably one of the longest.......still there are claims made that can be tested at the meeting!

 

Andy

Thanks Andy. dont know why I cant access through the RAAus site. Very interesting reading.

 

 

[Tiger]

It is a case of "not us" therefore we will try blaming someone else. They are not willing to accept that they are the problem, it must be someone else to blame.

 

Get real, most of the Board have been there for a long time, however it has escalated and deteriorated overwhelmingly in the past twelve months. Only a couple of board members were not there during this time.

 

In particular the executive have been there for over three years, so it occurred on THEIR WATCH and no one else is to blame.

 

Why have wages to RAA staff blown out from $508,729 in 2008 to $1,075,708 in 2012 over 5 years years or by over 111% and in this tough economic times? This has occurred on their watch also when they have just "given away" pay rises.

 

 

[dodo]

Tiger,

 

they did not instruct us to give our proxies to a board member - they just suggested it.

 

Other than that, I agree with you. I was disappointed that they didn't mention the last tech manager - he was hired after this blew up, so it was a current board appointment, a current board firing... and we still don't know why or what the potential outcome of that may be.

 

No GM/CEO/whatever, no tech manager, and no real explanation. There were three follow-up audits, not one, as the letter suggested!

 

However, I would like to hear explanations before I form a lasting opinion. Running RA-Aus would be challenging, so I can understand mistakes & f-ups. I really want to know why we ended up where we are and where the board think we are going.

 

dodo

 

 

[Riley]

Has anyone read the RAAus website tonight? I just did and was shocked at what I read. !!!!!The Board, signed by our secretary, has released a three page document saying how good the Board is, how they are fixing the rego debarcle, blaming prior board members for the problems and said a lot of political talk without addressing any real issues (to the older Qld people it was called Jo speak where a lot is said that means or says absolutely nothing)

 

The document purports a number of items but instructs members to give their proxy only to a board member. This is in direct contravention to legislation, and is breach of our Constitutional rights in that it is instructing members to ONLY give proxy votes to members of the board and to NO other party.

 

Then they had the audacity to ask us to give them our proxy. They have made out that they are a group of "Angels" and have done nothing wrong.

 

Why ??? Why should I give someone my proxy when he (the individual board members) are the ones who caused the problems over the past twelve months.

 

That would be giving my opposition all my ammunition and then wanting me to fight them with no ammunition in my camp.

 

Members out there , think seriously who you give your proxy vote to if you cannot attend the meeting. If you do not know someone who you can trust to carry your vote, then think seriously why you should give it to any member who you don't or trust explicitely. Remember you can always abstain.

 

I have seen some very serious emails from the membership over the past few days and I have continued with my idea of going to Canberra.

 

Come on 9th February, so we can get this sorted and get RAA back onto a good footing under better management than we have at present.

With the referenced news flash on "how good things are getting because of us", RAA board have further increased my awe at the size of the bubble they obviously live in. Codswollop?... bollocks?.... unmitigated crap? ....an insult to each member's intelligence? .... I'm at a loss how best to describe this 'news release' apart from stating that the honourable secretary further demeans his character by putting his name to it and I take great umbrage at being fed rubbish that a village idiot wouldn't accept. If the three amigos and their curious bed partners don't have the good sense to resign at or before the meeting, hopefully concerned members will either have or soon achieve the support necessary to arrange suitable replacements for their inevitable departures (and the sooner, the better). Am extremely dis-appointed at my aircraft being grounded for 3 months now with absolutely no reponse from Canberra and I admit to being even more indignant and hostile with this new & stupid revelation from Fyshwick.

 

 

[AlfaRomeo]

. . . However, I would like to hear explanations before I form a lasting opinion. Running RA-Aus would be challenging, so I can understand mistakes & f-ups. I really want to know why we ended up where we are and where the board think we are going.

Of course that's a wise strategy Dodo and one we should all follow. The first item on the requisition for a General Meeting was intended to do exactly that - to hear from a Board who have been virtually silent on any meaningful information about anything.

 

I think that if they had come clean instead of instructing the staff to lie to enquirers about the "computer glitch" and then pulling up the drawbridge and going into lockdown, they would have been given a lot of understanding and support. Instead they launched tirades of abuse like Gavin's "detractors" and "misinformation" and "tactics to undermine the Board" and set out to move a motion to stop any action being achieved on 9th February.

 

I felt it was particularly galling to have been one of the 300+ who signed the requisition for a General Meeting and to then read that BS that Middo wrote about how the Board is really looking forward to the meeting "We welcome this opportunity". If it was such a good idea, why didn't the Board call it themselves? They only need 7 Board Members to agree not canvass for 300 ordinary members. And why did they want to defer the meeting until Easter? No doubt in the hope that the "huge backlog" would have been eliminated by then.

 

By the time of the General Meeting in February, it will have been more than 3 months since CASA lost all confidence in the Executive, the CEO and the Technical Manager to get registrations right. This is not CASA's fault. No new Regulations have been introduced. All CASA asked for was compliance. Picky or not they are entitled to get it. If you don't like the rules ask for them to be changed. But until you get those changes, you have to COMPLY!

 

Middo's letter, in my opinion, is a one-sided presentation of the Board's defence of their unconscionable conduct and an abuse of office. This should not surprise us because Middo did the same sort of thing on the Notice of Meeting, pooh-poohing the requisitioning of the Meeting and making out it was a big waste of time as he could answer the questions on the Notice of Meeting. And, can somebody explain to me how a Board Member can seek proxies so they can vote against a censure motion of themselves? How independent will that make the Chair of the Meeting when the Meeting has been called to question their awful performance?

 

So, we've now had two lots of propaganda from the Board with no right of reply available to the 300 members who requisitioned the Meeting. Well done Board Executive. Let's see how you go when we do have the right of reply!

 

Arthur B.

 

 

[DWF]

I am extremely disappointed at the emotive, inflammatory, hostile and often inaccurate nature of some of the posts on these forums.

 

(I wonder if this post will generate more of the same toward me. )

 

It is not hard to get the impression that there is a lynch mob forming to storm the bastions of RAAus headquarters.

 

For example, while the Secretary's letter suggests members think carefully about who they give their proxy to and even says Board members will accept proxies, I cannot see how you can interpret it as " instructing members to ONLY give proxy votes to members of the board and to NO other party." This highly emotive and (in my opinion) inaccurate statement significantly diminishes the credibility of the post and the poster.

 

There are enough real, credible questions to be asked and arguments to be made without having to descend to mud slinging and name calling.

 

I know people on (semi) anonymous forums tend to get a bit carried away but these issues are too serious to be derailed and deflected by emotive and inaccurate statements.

 

Just because something is said LOUD and OFTEN does not make it true or correct. This applies to both sides of the argument.

 

"Middo's letter, in my opinion, is a one-sided presentation of the Board's defence(sic) of their ....... conduct ...."

 

What do you expect! Many of the posts here are a little one-sided as well.

 

Are you denying them a right of reply or a chance to explain their position?

 

Surely it (the letter) is an attempt to address the second reason for calling the GM. Isn't that what you want them to do?

 

I think it falls short of what we would like but at least it is an attempt.

 

Good on them for getting the process moving. Its about time!

 

But what concerns me more is, is it moving fast enough?

 

75 renewals processed in a week. Isn't that about the rate that our aircraft regos fall due?

 

At that rate will they ever catch up?

 

I understand and sympathize with the frustration of those who are awaiting (re) registration of their aircraft.

 

I too was grounded for a month just because the rego became due in December.

 

You certainly have a right to complain and ask when you can get back in the air.

 

I don't think getting abusive about it will help much (and may move you to the bottom of the pile!)

 

I also agree that there seems to be a large number of other irregularities that need sorting out.

 

I live in one of the beautiful but far flung corners of the Empire country and have very little contact with other RAAus members.

 

I joined and participate in this forum to try to get some idea of what is going on.

 

Highly biased rhetoric and name calling do not help in this.

 

The very limited communication from the Board is also mostly unhelpful.

 

I do not know and have never met (to my knowledge) any of the Board members and do not know anyone who is going to the GM.

 

Members in my situation feel disenfranchised as they would like to participate in the deliberations but cannot get to the GM and do not know anyone who is going well enough to give their proxy to.

 

I would urge those attending the GM to

 

• stay calm
   
   
  
• keep a clear head
   
   
  
• collect the (irrefutable) facts
   
   
  
• make a list of your questions (in reasonable, un-emotive language)
   
   
  
• marshal your arguments
   
   
  
• not vote for any motion in the heat of the moment that you will regret in the cold light of day.
   
   
  

 

 

 

Remember that the prime objective is to (re)establish a functional, efficient, well run association so we can get back to FLYING FOR FUN!

 

[End of Tirade]

 

DWF

 

 

[webbm]

I thought it was an interesting read, filled a few gaps, put a few things into perspective, disagreed with some of the points, but we we human, so that doesn't bother me.

 

But then I read the last few paragraphs which left me furious. Just a letter trying to canvass proxies for board members. I trust the gathered proxies will be used to improve RA-Aus and not themselves. That fact that the "Board Contact List" contains everything required to give a Board Member a proxy, but no phone number or email address so you can contact them makes it kind of obvious...

 

Is it possible for members to view the CASA audit reports?

 

 

[rankamateur]

For the board to salvage any credibility at the GM they need to appoint an independant chairman, otherwise the chairman will just end up directing traffic for the old boys club and the general meeting will become a bigger farce than the AGM.

 

 

[rankamateur]

No GM/CEO/whatever, no tech manager, and no real explanation. There were three follow-up audits, not one, as the letter suggested!

dodo

In fairness to the board, between the mention of the first audit and mention of the Nov 2012 audit when the boom was lowered on registrations they did mention "further CASA audits have followed" just before the spray about some members being less than positive in the assistance to comply with the audits.

 

 

[Methusala]

MESSAGE FROM METHUSALA : DON'T GIVE EM YOUR PROXIES

 

 

[JohnMcK]

MEMO to RA-Aus Members in SEQ

 

Good Morning all.

 

Late last night I was made aware of a memo from Secretary Paul Middelton placed on the RA-Aus website. Please be aware that this post does not represent the thinking or views of the entire Board. I can't speak for the others, but I for one, was never consulted, or was aware of this Memo before its posting.

 

Also, please be aware I am NOT seeking Proxies. I have been given some, but my personal view is this coming General Meeting is about the performance of the Executive and the Board. If there is a problem with the Board, then I, as a member of the Board, am also part of the problem. I have no idea of what motions may come from the floor and I don't believe it ethical of me to use member proxies to protect myself or the Board from member motions. I also don't believe it ethical for me to use member proxies I may hold against other Board Members, even though I may totally disagree with their actions. It is my duty to do the best I can for my constituents, and vote accordingly inside the Board. Externally it is the General Member duty/right to use their vote in motions concerning the Board.

 

If you do give your proxy, and all of you should do this; please make sure you do give it to someone who has the same views, and opinions as yourself. That way your vote is used to achieve a result you would want.

 

John McKeown

 

Rep. SEQ

 

Ph. - 0438728311

 

 

[turboplanner]

The message from Paul Middleton should be an abject lesson to you that you are dealing with clever people here.

 

In attempting to give the board members natural justice when requesting the February 9 Meeting, in not including something like "extreme dissatisfaction with board members" your words have been able to be broadcast to thousands of members who are out of the communications loop, all but implying that this meeting is actually what the board members wanted.

 

Many of these people will have the lemming philosophy that "we elected them so we should support them" and could produce enough proxies to neutralise the meeting.

 

 

[Gentreau]

Many of these people will have the lemming philosophy that "we elected them so we should support them" and could produce enough proxies to neutralise the meeting.

Then I respectfully suggest that they will get the association they deserve.

 

.

 

 

[webbm]

Thanks John. I should have pointed out in my post that I wouldn't think that the letter would have been sanctioned by every board member. Certainly I can not see my local board member sanctioning it...