Results from March 28 Special General Meeting

New Management Committee Members Elected

 

Last Sunday, March 28, a CDAQ Special General Meeting was held for the purpose of passing five amendments to the rules and to determine candidates for four vacant Management Committee positions.

 

Advice sent via email and letters to all members, explained the amendments in detail, called for Management Committee nominations to fill vacancies, and provided the opportunity for proxy voting for or against the amendments.

 

Four nominations of members were received for the four vacant positions.  They were Stan Zemanek, Risto Reponen, Chris Burnell and Epi Domoni.  As only four nominations were received, there is no need for an election.

 

I am pleased to announce that this is the first time we have had Management Committee vacancies filled by members who work outside the Brisbane area.  Chris Burnell is a well-known and very active Gold Coast member and Epi Domoni is highly respected among Townsville taxi drivers for his contribution on behalf of local members.

 

Management Committee meetings will now facilitate the need for long distance participation for members out of the Brisbane area.

 

Departing MC Members

 

It should be recognised that the circumstances involved in earning a living as a cabbie make it difficult at times for those on the Management Committee to guarantee long-term commitment, particularly the way things have been recently.  We must appreciate that people who volunteer to serve on the committee and find circumstances change may not be able to complete the full term. 

 

I would like to express my thanks to the members who were unable to continue and thank them all for all the good work performed in the most difficult of times.

 

Equally we should be thankful that others are keen to step in and fill the positions.  In addition, many others contribute to the level they can.  They may not be able to commit to the committee but perform valuable volunteer tasks that have contributed to great results. 

 

I look forward to the near future when I can safely better express my appreciation by naming these people but that is not best practice at present.  Take heart we are close to a result over the power of the taxi companies.

 

If you feel that you wish to contribute, I would love to hear from you.  It may not be more than one particular skill or task but it is likely to be something we can use. 

 

Send me an email if you wish to discuss it. secretary@cdaq.org.au

 

New President and Treasurer

 

The current Management Committee has the total maximum number of nine positions filled and, according to the rules, vacant executive positions will be determined by the Management Committee when it meets at its earliest convenience.  This should be when we get Easter out of the way.  With the recent resignations of Graham Hibbs and Ron Lloyd, the positions of President and Treasurer will need to be filled.

 

Nominations are now being determined among the Management Committee members and we will announce those positions as soon as decided. 

 

For members not familiar with the constitution, the executive positions are determined by the Management Committee and can at any time be reassigned, so in effect any position is up for election should an executive wish to step down from that position or the Management Committee determines a change is necessary.

 

Of course, this does not prevent you from expressing your support for a person whom you believe should fill an executive position.  We are keen to know the members' views and take them into consideration.

 

Feel free to send your endorsement.

 

The Management Committee now currently comprises:

 

Rob Daniels (Vice President / Acting President)

Julie Creenaune (Assistant Secretary / Acting Treasurer)

Matthew O'Meara

Fred Lind

Stan Zemanek

Risto Reponen

Chris Burnell

Epi Domoni

Lee Sims (Secretary / General Manager)

 

Five Amendments to the Rules of the Association

 

The Special General Meeting was also called to attend to five amendments to the rules.  All who attended voted in favour of all amendments.

 

Several proxies were received which all endorsed the amendments with the exception of one which only voted yes on two. 

 

Minutes of the meeting will be made available to any interested member upon request.  Just email me.  In the very near future we will be able to make all minutes of meetings available for viewing on line. 

 

We are in the process of initiating special "members only" sections on the web site. 

 

The amendments were therefore passed and will now become part of the rules.

 

Briefly the amendments were;

 

Amendment No 1          Minimum of 5 on Management Committee (Still with a maximum of nine)                                     

Amendment No 2          President, Secretary and Treasurer the only required positions (Others at discretion of MC)                     

Amendment No 3          New class of Life Member                                                        

Amendment No 4          Methods of electing Management Committee members   (Postal and on-line)      

Amendment No 5          Position of General Manager (Now formally part of association structure.  (At present still volunteer.)

 

You will be able to view these in the Rules on the web site in "Memberships" as soon as the update is processed.                                               

 

Thank you to all who participated in person and via mail. It has to be realised that the working life of a cabbie is one which inhibits the ability to attend meetings.  As well, we now have a solid membership presence in areas from Coolangatta to Cairns.  Therefore, we plan to introduce methods for viewing and participation of all meetings on line as soon as the budget permits.

 

Lee