Mika98_99

Thanks Earl Hood for the photos and the update.

Thanks JJJ for the response and the update.

Earlier in this thread it was mentioned that the President did not attend yesterday's match. Very rare for a sitting President to miss the first home game of the season. Out of interest JJJ as you attended the President's Function, was his absence addressed/reason given and who actually spoke on his behalf?

I jotted down all the questions that were "asked". No reference to board election process change, in fact, I do not think Peter's name was referenced once for the entire night. Questions generally were about facilities, team performance/expectations for the year, diversity question, being an unassisted club, question about members attending games, bringing back the Proud to Belong jumper this year, who provided the fair value land valuation and there were 5 people on the ballot and why didn't you leave up to members to decide who to vote for,

I am genuinely concerned about the direction our football club is headed with Bartlett at the wheel. He is very proud of the Club Values that were introduced last year being TRUE (Trust, Respect, Unity and Excellence), however, can we observe his behaviour against these values as applied to the following: Election process and results - Trust Members - restricted AGM Q&A, ability to ask the question - Respect Board members - Unity. Based on his comments last night around vetting individuals, only the individuals that will be compliant to Bartlett are welcome on the Board. Diversity - From his infamous email in mid January, he referenced diversity, diversity in Bartlett's book must not apply to individuals that bring a different voice, think different and offer a different point of view - Excellence How does this type of behaviour manifest itself down to the leaders in our Footy Department and the Administration team. The President referenced that he spent a day with the Football Department, I can only hope it was a short visit.

Observations from last night: President acknowledged that he needs to join in a pre-season. I did not take from this that he is unwell as others have come to that conclusion, but by the looks of things he has put on a few kilograms presumably during COVID lockdowns and made a remark about not having to put on a suit for 12 months. Change of title from Chairman to President after feedback from members Going to be relentless in pursuit of facilities within the MCG precinct. Nor he or Pert would be making the announcement, would be left to Minister Pakula and the Premier. He did sound fairly confident that he hoped there would be an announcement this year. Future plans for the Bentleigh Club will be announced next year. 100 people have approached to join the Board in his time - it does not appear that any of which have ever made it on the Board. Made a comment during the Q&A segment that a person can join sub-committees/working groups so the President can see if he can work with them and vice versa. Sounded like he was on a bit of a power trip at this stage. Stated it was disappointing we had a contested election, but did not actually declare how many or what % voted for Peter Lawrence as I have noticed Carlton have done with their results announcement. I can only draw from the omission that Peter Lawrence achieved a good number of votes which would embarrass the President to have released. President is keen for people to get in touch with him or other board members to express interest to join working groups/sub-committees. Said that 2-3 working groups would be formed in addition to the 5 sub-committees, but did not indicate what they would be. Assume this has only come about as a result of Peter Lawrence's challenge and wanting to project inclusiveness. Flagged changes to the club's constitution to make it contemporary and meet club requirements. Referenced that the constitution requires a postal vote for an election and would look to change to make it electronic. Any changes will need to come back to the members. Q&A section was pre-selected question unlike the standard AGM with open questions from the floor.

The President acknowledged that he is overweight, but agree with Gouga, he is a terrible speaker.

Thanks Baghdad Bob for providing this additional information on the process. During the election process it did seem strange that the independent candidate did not have a platform so members could hear from him outside of the election material and so now that clears the matter up. It raises the question, what was it that the Board became so worried about that they needed to change the election rules after the process had started? Based on last night's announcement that the endorsed candidates had been successful, I wonder if we will actually be told how the voting went for each candidate? Presumably if the endorsed candidates did very well, the Board would want this message to get out to send a clear message.

Hello Hampton, The club announced that the AGM had been postponed until next Monday evening.

One of the biggest challenges (outside of COVID) facing the AFL. Good start with this move on the new protocols. Would expect there is more follow up to be done on protecting the ball carrier.

Thank you very much Deespicable. Really appreciate braving the elements and providing such a comprehensive report. Good footy fix for the day.