Email from Authored by Mr MacDonald and sent by Mr Derner to the members
Statement to SHBC members. 22 May 2018
It is now just over a month since the 2018 AGM. You will no doubt recall the unconstitutional and wholly unacceptable performance of Pat McCarthy and his cohorts who obviously attended the AGM with their own agenda in mind.
As it is now apparent that McCarthy is not intent on communicating any reasoning behind his behaviour I think it is time to make you aware of a number of facts that may otherwise have been at risk of being overwhelmed by the waves of vacuous rhetoric that emanated from McCarthy at the meeting.
At the 2018 AGM McCarthy cited an email that was sent by me to another member of the club who had been witnessed casting aspersions on both my character and reputation and that of the recently retired Commodore. The comments made by the member in question about me and the previous Commodore were akin to those he had made to me regarding other members of the club on numerous occasions, which in my opinion were unwarranted and made with malice aforethought.
The member in question made his comments to two members of the club who were of the opinion that the comments expressed about me were so serious that they felt obliged to let me know. I considered this along with witnessed reports of this member in recent history abusing the now retired Commodore and the Vice Commodore.
I wrote to the member in question by email and explained that I had been made aware of his behaviour and informed him that I would report him to the Interim Committee in the form of a complaint. I duly made the complaint to the Interim Committee with a view to them resolving the issue in accordance with the club constitution.
The intention from the outset was to have the Interim Committee formally address his unacceptable behaviour toward other club members with a view to prompting the member to change his ways. At no point did I request or suggest that the member in question be expelled from the club to anyone.
The member responded to my email directly and made further derogatory comments about other members of the club by referring to them as children. I replied to him and suggested that he do not communicate directly with me again. This was necessary, as once complaint was lodged with the Interim Committee direct dialogue would only serve to undermine due process, which is a basic principle that McCarthy made clear he does not understand when he asked why I made my suggestion in my response to the member. You may also recall that McCarthy claimed that the member in question had not been given the opportunity to defend himself. The member had in fact been given full opportunity to do exactly that in accordance with the SHBC constitution and chose not to do so.
You witnessed the performance of McCarthy at the AGM and witnessed his attack on me along with two other primary cohorts one of whom suggested that I should be “kicked art ‘o’ club”. McCarthy also suggested that I was a bully which is a serious offence. I therefore challenge McCarthy and his cohorts to make their case in law. Bullying is a serious offence, accusing someone of being a bully is also a serious offence, so McCarthy and anyone else associated with him in this issue are required to provide evidence in support of the allegations put by McCarthy against me at the 2018 AGM. These issues are far too serious to be swept under the carpet and forgotten.
I also understand that the new Committee has subsequently written to the member I cited to the Interim Committee and apologised to him on behalf of the club for the way he had been treated, thus effectively condoning his unacceptable behaviour toward other club members one of whom addressed the AGM with details of him being verbally abused by the man in question to such an extent that his wife was brought close to tears. As far as I am aware McCarthy has not written a letter of apology to the member who addressed the meeting, for the wholly unacceptable way he and his wife were treated. On the one hand the Committee is effectively condoning serious antisocial behaviour and on the other hand not bothering to support those affected by it. This is completely unacceptable.
My request to see the letter referenced above has been denied by McCarthy. Has he denied access to this letter to all club members?
I believe members, that you need to give serious consideration as to whether McCarthy is fit to hold office as secretary to the club and consider what can and should be done to address the current situation.
I understand that the Committee has decided to not to adopt the proposed Anti Bullying policy drafted by the Interim Committee as they, are of the opinion, that the Constitution adequately covers this issue. Management Committees at other clubs have seen fit to adopt similar antisocial behaviour policies, why is it that such policy is deemed to be inappropriate at SHBC, particularly in light of the behaviour exhibited by some at the 2018 AGM.
I am sure that most of you are aware of the Eva Middleton (EM) email fiasco. I find the EM email interesting in that there is no member of the club of that name, no one seems to know who the author is and the content of the email albeit well written is obviously based on a seriously flawed brief. A cynic would reasonably conclude that the email was organised by someone with a chip on their shoulder and limited capacity to put pen to paper themselves in any meaningful way and so saw fit to get someone to write it for them . The EM email implies that the old Commodore resigned due to the influence of two recently joined members of the club, something that the old Commodore has subsequently refuted. There is little doubt that this EM email was issued with malicious intent and timed to stir up dissent at the 2018 AGM.
It is possible and relatively easy to trace the IP address of the computer from which the EM email was originally sent. Has the Committee taken steps to get to the bottom of this?
Regarding the second EM email, which was obviously authored by someone other that the author of the first, McCarthy circulated a statement in which he said that in fact the second EM email had come from a member of the old Committee. McCarthy has been questioned about this statement by members and to my knowledge has, to date, failed to respond. You should also consider that when the first EM email was circulated, the Interim Committee did not make any such ill considered response or rash allegations albeit that the email was apparently bogus and had been timed to impact on the AGM. McCarthy has here once again demonstrated his capacity to issue a statement without thinking it through, is this what we should expect from the club Secretary who will be communicating with external bodies and representatives of elected authorities?
For those of us who do not subscribe to Facebook it was a surprise to learn that a Facebook page had been set up by McCarthy in the name of the club. There is apparently no record of any resolution to approve the establishment of a Facebook page in the name of the club in the minutes of any meetings. McCarthy confirmed that it was he who had established the Facebook page on his own volition. McCarthy subsequently failed to notify anyone not on Facebook that he had done so. Is this the behaviour of someone who is fit to hold the office of Secretary to the club? I have seen a copy of one post made by McCarthy on Facebook which alludes to an argument that the Interim Committee members were to put themselves forward for re-election in an unconstitutional manner. Not only does McCarthy laughably contradict himself within the single paragraph of the comment, he makes it abundantly clear that he had not given any thought as to why the Interim Committee was obliged to put names forward for re-election. The simple fact was that there were but three names put forward for election to the Committee at the 2018 AGM. Three was not enough, so the Interim Committee resolved to put forward at least three members for re-election in accordance with the constitution. Interestingly, McCarthy’s name was not put forward for election to the Committee in accordance with the time frame specified in the SHBC constitution.
I am told that a number of Committee members have now proposed developing the slipway as repair to negate any requirement to go through detailed formal procedure required by the Environment Agency. This must not be allowed to happen as dialogue has already been established with the EA on this issue and to go ahead with slipway development on such a basis would place the clubs mutually beneficial relationship with the EA in jeopardy.
I could go on, but at risk of losing your attention I will therefore draw toward a conclusion here by pointing out that prior to the 2018 AGM McCarthy who obviously had issues with the Interim Committee never approached the Interim Committee to express the concerns he had, which would have been the constitutional thing to do. McCarthy instead, decided to obtain a solicitor’s letter, maybe, because he did not have the confidence to make his own case to the Interim Committee. This is fine, it was however McCarthy’s decision and as such the costs associated with that solicitor’s letter should be carried by McCarthy, not the club. I suggest that McCarthy issues confirmation that the cost of the solicitors letter he procured will not be borne by the club.
It is up to the membership to do all it can to ensure that the club is run as the membership sees fit, failure to do so may have serious repercussions for the club, particularly in light of the business rates time bomb now looming large over the horizon. I am aware that there are a good number of members who are not happy with what happened at the AGM, if you are not happy I suggest you take steps to express your concern and keep a close eye on everything.
It is apparent that I have been taken out of the communication loop and as such have not been sent email that I know has been circulated to members and non members alike. McCarthy may well be of the opinion that I am no longer a member of the club, if so, he is sadly deluded on this issue also.
Look forward to seeing you at the Haven soon.
Regards
Bill MacDonald