RAA elections

[FlyingVizsla]

The candidates have been announced - 5 to be chosen from these 10. Voting ends 31 August 2016

 

 

 

Andrew Schox

 

Eugene Reid

 

 

 

Graeme Allinson

 

 

 

Keith Finlayson

 

 

 

Lorenzo Mazzocchetti

 

 

 

Luke Bayly

 

 

 

Rodney Birrell

 

 

 

Scott Bretland

 

 

 

Tony King

 

 

 

Trevor Bange

 

 

Further information - resumes and statements are on the RAA website. A link to the page is on the RAA email to members.

 

 

[Fishla]

"A ballot paper and envelope will be included with the August edition of Sport Pilot Magazine which will be posted out to all financial members."

 

Am I about to get a free magazine?!

 

 

[frank marriott]

O dear. Large lack of aircraft/aviation knowledge (save for the ex board members)- or maybe it is just the criteria that was asked to be addressed.

 

Certainly interesting times ahead.

 

 

[Aldo]

I have just finished reading the resumes of all ten (10) candidates and can only say that I'm less than impressed.

 

Engineers that claim to have good communication skills - fly's directly in the face of 30 years of past experience with engineers and I employ several.

 

Eugene Reid claims in his resume to have been the one to employ Lee Ungerman - I would vote for the guy/girl who sacked him and I would also vote for the guy/girl who sacks him from his current position - looks after sport aviation with CASA what a joke following the past 18 month debacle with Jabiru - my opinion he provides no benefit to sports aviation and as such the person who employed him is in the same league.

 

Trevor Bange - know his practical knowledge and application of that knowledge within the aviation industry - gets my vote

 

Tony King - as above - gets my vote

 

Scott Bretland - reads ok, good solid background a bit more digging around to find out who he is - probably gets my vote

 

Others - underground coal mining engineers/safety/lawyers/accountants - you will need a weeks worth of paper work before you start your aircraft let alone fly it - no vote here.

 

Fun times ahead, I would be happy to go with these three and the three we currently have.

 

Aldo

 

 

[Fishla]

But we are a national sports club full of engineers/lawyers/accountants!

 

Evidently...

 

 

[storchy neil]

Flying vizsla where in the hell did you find that info why couldn't it be sent as a email this smells like we as members don't need to know Neil

 

 

[Fishla]

It's says so on the raa website, here:

 

Log in - RAA - Intranet

 

 

[octave]

Flying vizsla where in the hell did you find that info Neil

Email from RAAus and on RAAus site

 

 

[Keith Page]

All very interesting.

 

Regarding your comment Frank,,as we have been told many many many times the board members must have a good grip of governance and useful knowledge however aviation is not one of them?.. Got me beaten as well. .???

 

Aldo look deeper into that Jabiru fiasco the information is different to what is being portrayed. One hint you are not on the track with your take there.

 

Regards,

 

KP

 

 

[turboplanner]

Great work Keith!

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

This is a change from the election statements we used to get, where the emphasis was on how many hours flown on each type. From past performance, the number of hours flown didn't translate into knowledge of finance (a treasurer who didn't know the difference between a loss and a profit, or where the bulk of the money was invested) or technical knowledge (failing multiple CASA audits which RAA is still paying for), governance (allowing an under performing CEO to continue and actually give him a hefty pay rise), treat the membership badly (viz what they did to Ian denying him membership renewal until after nominations closed & refusing his help that would have got the job done for $1 rather than paying $13k for a fiasco, and other questionable actions against others). The organisation is too big to run as a flying school club.

 

 

 

RAA needs people on the management board who can make sure the employed staff get the job done in the best way possible and can give the required direction and oversight. I knew nothing about footy, little about the volunteer fire brigade, and other local clubs, but they knew enough to come get me to clean up the mess and be their treasurer when they failed audits or something went seriously pear shaped. Some of the new blood might be of this ilk, and I would appreciate knowing a bit more.

 

 

 

Regretfully Keith didn't nominate, so the Board will have to struggle on without his inside knowledge.

 

 

[frank marriott]

Sue I am sure at least 800 people agree with you, I don't know about the rest - but it's a done thing and people can watch the future or try to change it again it they feel strongly enough.

 

I am sure a lot will be watching - certainly still a lot of talk around the airfields I visit.

 

I look forward to seeing the numbers that vote in this election as a guide to people's acceptance of the current process.

 

Voting for unknowns on the basis of an academic style statement is certainly a different approach - better or not is up to the individual members personal opinion.

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

800 agree with me? I should have nominated! The other 9,000 are not interested and I expect won't bother voting. Some of the 800 might give it a miss as they don't know anyone on the list rather than in opposition to the new constitution.

 

 

[Keith Page]

Well Sue that might be a good idea that I did not nominate, bit late now. Would be a couple of disturbances on the horizon if I ended up there.

 

I still probably get the information FOI then I can tell the world.

 

Sue, you should have nominated and we would have moved you over to Treasurer, a good idea - a treasurer with good flying knowledge.

 

If one has not much idea of the subject, how does one know if the employed staff are pulling the wool over ones eyes? Happens you know.

 

Look what some of these expert report writers can do. They look like world beaters.

 

Regards,

 

KP.

 

 

[DonRamsay]

O dear. Large lack of aircraft/aviation knowledge (save for the ex board members)- or maybe it is just the criteria that was asked to be addressed. Certainly interesting times ahead.

Frank, I thought your brief time on the Board was very valuable for RAAus. Your contributions on the Ops and Tech Manual revisions had special value and contributed to very important improvements on what might otherwise have been delivered.

Also, you held a perspective that was different from a few of us regarding where RAAus should be going in the future. We might not have agreed but you sharp questioning was an important test of the ideas that were being floated at the time.

 

Personally, I was afraid that we may have set the bar a bit high and might have a shortage of candidates for the coming election. However, as it turned out we have unearthed some very talented and competent people. I could not be happier with the candidates who have been nominated. They are a diverse group of people with high level skills that, in the business world command very high fees and these people are going to be working hard for the members of RAAus at no charge.

 

A Board that had Tony King, Mick Monck and Trevor Bange as members would make 3 out of 7 well experienced pilots and maintainers. Add in Barry Windle (Trike Flyer) who is not up for election this time and you cover pretty well every form of flying done by RAAus pilots.

 

It is critical that we get Trevor Bange and TOny King re-elected to the Board for the sake of continuance and because both Trevor and Tony have been high performance Board Members and are committed to RAAus being the best that it can be.

 

I'll make a few comments about some of the other outstanding candidates in a separate post but let me leave it now with the comment that I am very confident of our future in that we have the basis of a highly professional Board.

 

 

[DonRamsay]

So, I had had a look through the election statements and resumes yesterday but just had another look now. I say again, this is an outstanding group of people and we are truly fortunate to have these people put themselves forward to serve the members of RAAus.

 

Firstly I would mention the two flying school owners, Rod and Eugene. Both are well known to me personally and I have a very high regard for both of them - personally and as aviators. Both have earned the title of "Fathers of Recreational Aviation" for their extraordinarily long service to RAAus.

 

Secondly, there are Trevor Bange and Tony King. Also both well known to me and outstanding contributors to the RAAus Board.

 

Thirdly, I would group Luke Bayly, Lorenzo Mazzocchetti and Andrew Schox. These three are not known to me personally but have very impressive resumes and election statements. The combination of Business Administration, Engineering, Legal and Director knowledge and skills these three possess will bring great advantage to the Board Room.

 

Finally, Allinson, Finlayson and Bretland. Again, none of these three are known to me personally. To their credit are achievements like MBA, Bachelors of Science, Doctorate of Atomic Physics, Institute of Chartered Directors, RAAF Pilot Instructors . . . .

 

Anyone who is not impressed by what all these men have achieved would be very hard to impress.

 

Having given it some thought, I would like to recommend to you all that you give close consideration to voting the following five people onto the Board of RAAus Limited:

 

• Tony King
   
   
  
• Trevor Bange
   
   
  
• Luke Bayly
   
   
  
• Lorenzo Mazzocchetti
   
   
  
• Andrew Schox
   
   
  

 

 

I think it is time for Rod and Eugene to be recognised for their enormous contributions in the past but time for them to stand aside from the Board. Neither were in favour of the future for RAAus that was the subject of the big referendum that saw more than 80% vote in favour of the new direction. Both were Board members in the period that saw RAAus go into decline and suffer severe financial losses and harsh criticism from members who suffered in the registrations debacle. The problems of the last few years should though be kept in perspective with decades of growing RAAus and winning progress despite strong opposition from the regulator.

 

Finlay, Allinson and Bretland all have reasonable claims for election to the Board of RAAus Ltd and it is only a matter of comparison that I think Bayly, Mazzocchetti and Schox are the better suited.

 

Don

 

 

[turboplanner]

Well if you want to throw Eugene doen the drain, be careful of the splash in your face.

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

I am impressed with the standard of applicant. The spread is good too. No addresses so this is an educated guess for some - 1 WA, 1 TAS, 1 SA, 1 VIC, 2 NSW/ACT, 4 QLD (including one from FNQ - Keith should be happy with that). Spread of ages are good too. I am guessing that the change to a Company has attracted these new applicants as there are better protections & more recognition. The pay is still lousy. About what I get paid to be a Scout Leader. So it is a love job.

 

 

[frank marriott]

including one from FNQ

? You know more then me, I certainly didn't read that into any statements........

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

Luke Bayly - Mackay. See his resume. Assumed that if he worked in Mackay, he probably lived there too. Then again, he might be FIFO from Perth for all I know.

 

 

[frank marriott]

Luke Bayly - Mackay. See his resume. Assumed that if he worked in Mackay, he probably lived there too. Then again, he might be FIFO from Perth for all I know.

Thanks, I didn't pick that up.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Who's endorsing Eugene?

 

 

[Riley]

Who's endorsing Eugene?

Eugene is.

 

 

[Downunder]

I am impressed with the standard of applicant. The spread is good too. No addresses so this is an educated guess for some - 1 WA, 1 TAS, 1 SA, 1 VIC, 2 NSW/ACT, 4 QLD (including one from FNQ - Keith should be happy with that). Spread of ages are good too. I am guessing that the change to a Company has attracted these new applicants as there are better protections & more recognition. The pay is still lousy. About what I get paid to be a Scout Leader. So it is a love job.

Just skimmed through the resume's myself and I'm suitably impressed with the qualifications. Hopefully we get a good mix.