Response to Mr Weaver's Points of Issue

The following points of issue with the club, hi-lighted in bold, were raised by Mr Mervyn Weaver to committee members Howard Green and Mark Blunden at their meeting at the White Horse pub in Barnbury on the 25th November 2006.

The response by the GWOA Committee follows each point.

1) No minutes sent out before AGM.

The minutes of the 2005 AGM were part of G Wizz December 2005 issue. This was sent out to all members whose membership was current on 22nd December 2005, and to every member joining between that date and the AGM in August 2006.

2) No notification of changes in committee.

Notification of changes in the committee from August 2006 as a result of the 2006 AGM were sent out as part of the September 2006 newsletter.

3) No proxy vote forms.

The constitution of the Mercedes G Wagen Owners Association requires that all nominations are made at the AGM, and that members present at that AGM vote in the officials to serve until the next AGM. It is not within the constitutional guidelines to offer proxy voting, therefore no proxy vote forms are available. To permit proxy voting, or postal voting, a change in the constitution will be required.

4) No agenda.

You raised this point at the AGM, where it was accepted. The omission is regrettable, but was due to oversight rather than any malicious intent. An agenda is normally issued within the club magazine of the September before the AGM. The AGM was changed to August, and there was no magazine issued in the month before it, so no agenda was circulated.

5) No topics for discussion.

Topics for discussion are raised in Chairman’s business, Secretary’s business, Area Representatives business and in any other relevant business. The latter gives the opportunity for members to raise there own issues from the floor of the meeting.

6) Does the club need more members? Some members think not

There is no policy within the club or desire within the committee to cap the number of members in the club. No club member has raised the issue of limiting the total membership with any committee member at any time.

7) New members complain that they have to apply for access to the members section after they have paid their fee

This is unavoidable as many new members are already using the website as non members under a pseudonym. We have no way of relating these pseudonyms to their real name unless they specifically tell us. Likewise for new members and new forum users, most would prefer to choose their own pseudonym and password.

As there are numerous legal issues that surround having an open forum, new forum users must read and agree to registration terms prior to being able to use it.

It is indicated in an email to each new member and numerous locations around the forum how to do this.

8) Possible members led to believe that they will be able to get a workshop manual but find that once joined, that is not possible

Some members have contacted me informing me that they have had difficulty contacting the committee member responsible for the despatch of workshop manuals during the last twelve to fifteen months. These difficulties were resolved on an individual basis, until August when steps were taken to remedy this. All the club’s technical publications are now or will shortly be available on line via the website.

9) Over 600 people have viewed this post in the members section, does this mean there are over 600 paid up members or do people have unauthorised access to that section

It means neither of these. It means that it has been visited by members 600 times. It might be one member has visited it six hundred times, two members have visited it three hundred times each or twenty members have visited it twenty times and two hundred members have visited it once each. The combinations are endless.

10) It was stated at the AGM that there would be 4 mags per year, seems that there are now 2 mags and 2 newsletters. People want to know why.

It was not stated at the AGM that there would be four magazines a year. An explanation of why the present system is being adopted at the moment was in the first paragraph of the September 2006 newsletter.

11) Got an email from Mr Carnell saying he wanted better relations between the club and G-Class centre. Is this not a conflict of interests with a commercial interest

The e-mail you received invited discussions to strengthen links between the G-Class Centre and the club. The point of these discussions was, from my point of view as chairman, to ensure that there was no conflict of interest. I believed it could be done. From your comments it would seem that you disagree. It therefore seems pointless continuing any discussions on this matter.

12) The forum needs better policing, there are probably a lot of under 21’s reading it, these could be the G owners of the future & should be encouraged not deterred

The forum is monitored, not policed. We accept the right to free speech and freedom of thought.

13) Mr Carnell tells me that David Watkins is the new northern rep. Why was there not a ballot?

The September 2006 issue of G Wizz asked for nomination or volunteers for the post. None were received. The constitution of the club states that where there is only one nomination, that person is deemed elected. It also gives the committee power to co-opt a club member to a post if the post has been advertised to all club members and no nominations or volunteers result from this. David Watkins subsequently offered to
take the post on. As there were no other nominations, he was deemed elected. This is to be reported to the members in the next issue of G Wizz.

14) People want to know what you get for £25, a shabby website, 2 mags & 2 news letters are not very appealing.

A great many think they get value for money. Any suggestions for improving the services offered will be explored.

15) New members say that the welcome pack is not very appealing.

Since August, Tony Baskill and I have been looking at ways of producing a newer, more comprehensive welcome pack. It is almost at the stage of getting quotations. Unfortunately it has had to be put on a back burner while we deal with other issues.

16) Several companies with no interest in G-wagens have expressed an interest in advertising on the site & mag & are willing to pay, should this be used to raise funds for the club

No companies have contacted any member of the committee with a view to advertising either in the magazine or on the website. Any that did would be welcomed, as has happened in the past, and the revenue generated deposited in club funds as it has been in the past.

17) Several companies have expressed an interest in sponsoring events, Should this be used to raise funds for the club.

No company has contacted any member of the committee to express an interest in sponsoring events.

18) Members are finding it difficult to post pictures on the site, to complicated. Is there another way.

I am advised that the problem is one where the picture needs resizing. We are examining the cost effectiveness of allowing greater picture sizing on the website. Anyone who is experiencing difficulty can be guided through it by the website administrator or our Southern Representative.

19) With the present membership, will the club be able to afford to operate as a limited company with the various fees that it will incur

Yes.