Hustings for BCA Chair election: please send questions you want put

David Rose

Active member
This year there are two candidates to be the next BCA Chair: the incumbent, Russell Myers, who stepped up from his previous role as Secretary when Phil Rowsell resigned last year, and Rostam Namaghi, who currently serves as Publicity and Information officer.

Both have been involved in caving and the association for many years, although Rostam is somewhat younger.

In about ten days time - the date is yet to be fixed, but it may well be September 16 - I am going to conduct an online hustings, a recorded Zoom call, which will be accessible afterwards on the BCA website and, I imagine, here. I hope it may be possible to live-stream it, too.

This post is to invite members to contact me if they have questions they would like me to put to the candidates, on any issue relating to the job. You can PM me here or email me direct, at david@davidroseuk.com. Please put BCA Hustings in the subject line if you do, so I spot any emails that end up in my junk filter.

The AGM will be held online on Sunday, October 10, starting at 10.30am. There will be electronic voting for this and other appointments, and on motions.
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
David. I would like you to ask each candidate about how they intend to deal with minority but powerful voices within the association who tend to influence matters sometimes against the stated will of the majority. These influential minorities have used all sorts of dirty tactics in the past to disrupt and delay the will of the majority. It takes a strong and determined lead from the chair to stand up for what is often a less vocal majority and this has been a major failing in the past leading to some highly unsatisfactory outcomes which have been well publicised and led to a loss of some really good volunteers and a sour taste for many. The incumbent being no better than his predecessors in this respect Imo.
 

aricooperdavis

Moderator
I'd be interested to hear how the two candidates would deal with securing the volunteer "workforce" that drives the BCA. The BCA has the potential to be a really rewarding organization to volunteer with, and yet we've seen a lot of volunteers leave feeling embittered, and don't have new ones lining up to fill the gaps. For an organization that relies on volunteer effort to operate this feels just as important as managing the bank balance, and yet I haven't seen much active work to address this. So I'd like to hear suggestions from each about what should be done to protect the BCAs future by securing the volunteer workforce (e.g. enhancing the volunteer experience and selling the BCA as a desirable organization to volunteer for).
 

Ian Adams

Active member
Badlad +1 please .... this "minority voice" has managed to cause the resignation of so many excellent volunteers to the (significant) detriment of the BCA committee and the organisation as a whole.

Tim is too gracious to say this but both himself and Jane have been such targets. Tim suffered horrendous abuse and brick walls during his tenure of CRoW liaison officer and Jane's momentum and hard work promoting the BCA was shot down with a minority scud missile. 

Most of us know who the other "high profile" victims/targets are too.

As Tim has asked, it would be excellent to know how the two prospective candidates hope to prevent such atrocities recurring.

Ian
 

PeteHall

Moderator
David Rose said:
In about ten days time - the date is yet to be fixed, but it may well be September 16 - I am going to conduct an online hustings, a recorded Zoom call, which will be accessible afterwards on the BCA website and, I imagine, here. I hope it may be possible to live-stream it, too.

Is this an official BCA event and is it being/ has it been, advertised through official BCA channels?
 

nearlywhite

Active member
PeteHall said:
David Rose said:
In about ten days time - the date is yet to be fixed, but it may well be September 16 - I am going to conduct an online hustings, a recorded Zoom call, which will be accessible afterwards on the BCA website and, I imagine, here. I hope it may be possible to live-stream it, too.

Is this an official BCA event and is it being/ has it been, advertised through official BCA channels?

Yes and yes once details are firmed up. Currently the plan is for a recorded interview but there's no reason it can't be livestreamed.
 

PeteHall

Moderator
I was thinking about giving more people an opportunity to raise questions ahead of the event, as much as details of the event itself.
 

JoshW

Well-known member
Similar to Ari's point on volunteers. I'd like to know what streamlining ideas the candidates have to make volunteer's jobs easier, either technologically or procedurally.

I'm certain that there are plenty of people who would step forwards but are just overwhelmed by the amount of shit that comes with the job, and if there was significant assistance to make the job easier they would go for it.

For instance, I was extremely tempted to put myself forwards for the secretary role at this AGM, however the level of technological support for it (as it stands) would have meant that I could not have completed this role to the best of my ability.

Hopefully some of these ideas would help align all the working groups to be as transparent about their activities as others are.
 

Ian Ball

Well-known member
How will you stay involved and support the BCA if not elected as Chair at this election?

(a willing volunteer is not a good thing to lose)
 

2xw

Active member
A bit of a softball I guess but so it's not all politics and organisational

What is it you like the most about British caving?
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
Can a new National Body for British Caving start completely from scratch, based on professionalism first and foremost, and completely bin all forms of tradition? I'd gladly learn IRATA stuff as it's centuries more up to date than ladderbollocks, for starters.
 
Sorry folks but since I only found about this event last night (Monday 6th September) on here at UKC, on checking my diary I don't have any free time to devote to the "hustings" during the period in question. With some prior warning, I may have had the chance to reorganise my time but at such short notice feel loathe to re-schedule my own events particularly when I get the feeling I have been "dropped in at the deep end".
Having said that, I am more than happy to field any questions directly to my BCA email - chair@british-caving.org.uk and then copy my responses on the BCA website.
Kind Regards
Russell Myers
Chair
BCA
 

Cavematt

Well-known member
It's a shame that the availability of both Chair candidates was not confirmed prior to announcing these Hustings. Hopefully it will be rearranged for a date that both candidates can participate, perhaps closer to the AGM itself?
 

Pete K

Well-known member
With only 1 candidate present it'll be more like a party political broadcast than a hustings.
 

nearlywhite

Active member
Cavematt said:
It's a shame that the availability of both Chair candidates was not confirmed prior to announcing these Hustings. Hopefully it will be rearranged for a date that both candidates can participate, perhaps closer to the AGM itself?

You'll note that it was a proposed date, not a fixed one. The post was for solicitation of questions, once the times could be confirmed then the event would be advertised.

There was plenty of prior warning - it was mentioned at previous council meetings and in discussions. I've no interest in trying to make anyone look bad but the acting chair is not being very fair, especially given his recent actions.

I've no interest in delivering a party political broadcast.
 

BradW

Member
I have not seen an invitation to send questions for putting to the candidates posted anywhere else but here. Does that means that only UKCaving members or followers will be contributing? Should this invitation for questions not be going out via other channels in order to get as wide a demographic reach as possible?

Regarding the question of whether both candidates were aware this was happening, it seems like we have a case of he said this but he said that, and there is no way to know the truth. I think British caving has had enough of this sort of thing.

Russell's statement that he was not aware is countered by (IMHO) a cunning response from Rostam, lacking substance and leaving the reader to work out what to believe, but always leaving a lingering doubt. Such intrigue is not helping to advance the BCA, as far as I can see. Can we please all be honest, open, and level in our dealings with each other.
 

PeteHall

Moderator
Ian Ball said:
hi BradW, which other channels would you like to be used?

Not sure about "BradW", but as per my previous post through official BCA communication channels would be a good start, eg BCA constituent bodies and club reps. BCA website, Facebook and Twitter would also seem appropriate channels of communication.

I concede that the BCA is a voluntary organisation, so I shan't be criticising those volunteers, but I would have thought that the official email list to reps should be the default minimum for an announcement and other forms of social media (including here on UKC) should follow to raise further awareness and stimulate more discussion and engagement.
 

aricooperdavis

Moderator
This is bound to be a hot topic because it's the first contested election for Chair that the BCA have had in a while, but also both candidates are in positions within the BCA that require them to be involved with the election (Rostam organsising how it's publicized and the Executive organizing how it's run). However, having worked closely with both in the last couple of years, I can assure you that neither is going to be playing any "cunning" tricks to try and swing it their way. Both are volunteers and have an awful lot to do in the run up to the AGM, so messages are easily missed and wires are easily crossed. A bit of generosity and understanding goes a long way, so let's extend them both some, as they do each other.

Re. publicizing this on official channels, Rostam and I are working on a page on the BCA website that has all the AGM info in one place for ease of access. Once ready it'll be sent out to club reps, the council list, and social media. (y)
 
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