Council Resignation

[JohnO]

Dear chairman,

I refer to your email of the 10th May in which you claim that I am either an incompetent fool or I attempted to mislead the Council for my own gain. Your email states:

This therefore raises the question are John and Mike incompetent and fools ( which is not an opinion I have of them ) . . . Or are fellow trustees being misled in that they knew the correct position ? . . . John and Mike . . . are giving misleading facts to fellow trustees in an attempt to get them to make a decision with which at present are not the correct facts . . . It is not denied the project has merit however we are charged as trustees to do things for the members and Charity's benefit and not for our own benefit I think you will find that in the recent often quoted "Governance " together with other information on trustees abusing the position they are in for their own ends." (emphasis added).

I find these accusations outrageous. The attempt to save the unique Cornahir line of Dexters has cost me personally both financially and in terms of time and effort. From the tracking, purchasing and gathering of the remaining Cornahir animals to the preparation of a plan which the Irish government would support, this has been a painstaking process over a period of years -- one from which I have not received any financial gain and do not ever expect any financial gain. The help offered by the Irish government will go nowhere near covering the costs involved.

Your contact with people whose help is needed to progress this effort has jeopardised the project and, as in so many of your contacts on behalf of the DCS, your innuendo, bullying and distrust of others causes offence and results in people becoming defensive and uncooperative.

The breaches of confidentiality and data protection involved in your and your agents/puppet masters actions were entirely unwarranted especially as I had already committed to returning the straws if the efforts to import failed.

Chairman when the time comes they will cut your strings, abandon you, deny all responsibility for what was sent in your name and leave you to carry the can.

The following questions remain to be answered
•Who shared my application for straws of Shadwell Robert with Andrew Sheppy and on whose authority was this done?
•Where is the record of the creation of the position of Genetics adviser to the DCS?
•Where are the terms of reference for the role?
•Where is the record of an appointment being made to this position?

In my opinion, in the absence of records addressing the last three questions, sharing with non council members information belonging to a member of the DCS without the member's permission and the express approval of the Council is both a breach of confidentiality, and a data protection issue. Again in the absence of these records the use of this title is misleading and anyone using it needs to be instructed to stop doing so.

If such a position is to be created the person appointed to it should be independent, credible and reliable.

I use the example above to illustrate how the executive within the DCS has been operating. Other examples of unacceptable behaviour include:
•Acting on behalf of the society without council approval.
•Alteration of council meeting minutes produced by a professional minute taker before those minutes were circulated to trustees for approval.
•Failure to respond to questions and requests for documentation and information made by trustees in the course of their duties.
•Failure to consult all trustees before decisions are made.
•Attempts to restrict decisions to times and places where it is difficult for those who disagree to attend.
•Arbitrary and unnecessary extension of meetings to make participation difficult.
•Continuous efforts to isolate and bully individual trustees.
•Failure to implement decisions of council.
•Attempts to disband a validly setup committee.
•A continual focus on secrecy.

With Duncan MacIntyre and Mike Sinnott having resigned I no longer see any prospect of getting this council to operate democratically in the interests of the breed and the members and I am no longer prepared to lend my credibility to the council. Nor am I prepared to bear the responsibility that all trustees must for the actions taken by the executive operating within the society. For these reasons, with apologies to other trustees who have tried to right this ship, I resign as a trustee of the DCS with immediate effect.

[helena]

I have not be involved in the dexter society since the 1990s ,It seems nothing has changed from the comments.
My problem was I wanted a good beef type animal not a pet animal ,I think some are far too small .
I think the problems are that those who HAVE to make a living with cattle are held back by those who don't ..
As for the comment about commercial farmers getting government handouts GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT.Subs on cattle were withdrawn overnight SFP is paid on land.
I hope those of you who have resigned still fight for the Dexter a truly loveable animal.
Please excuse my comments as I am not a member but had to say something.

[Rob R]

On the issue of secrecy. I am reminded that the membership voted at the last AGM to do away with the publication of Minutes. Yes, it’s true - the membership, (myself included temporarily distracted by a family problem) sleepwalked into secrecy.

Not true, the membership includes all fee paying members, not just the ones attending the AGM.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

All resolutions going before each AGM are now circulated to all members, with a proxy voting form, so that everyone is able to vote whether attending or not. Each member should read all such stuff very carefully, but of course it can happen that we get the mailing when we are in the midst of one crisis or another and just do not take time to digest it all - but the members do have a lot of voting power now compared to a few years ago. Maybe we have not adjusted to the changes.


Duncan

[Jac]

I have not be involved in the dexter society since the 1990s ,It seems nothing has changed from the comments.
My problem was I wanted a good beef type animal not a pet animal ,I think some are far too small .
I think the problems are that those who HAVE to make a living with cattle are held back by those who don't ..
As for the comment about commercial farmers getting government handouts GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT.Subs on cattle were withdrawn overnight SFP is paid on land.
I hope those of you who have resigned still fight for the Dexter a truly loveable animal.
Please excuse my comments as I am not a member but had to say something.

Then you have a choice - non short or a commercial cross. I am well aware that subs on cattle were withdrawn - don't people with cattle own land and are eligible for SFP?
To say that pet owners are holding the breed back (by the way I am not one) who then go on to sell stock to the pet owners when it suits especially the ones that are far too small.

[Rob R]

All resolutions going before each AGM are now circulated to all members, with a proxy voting form, so that everyone is able to vote whether attending or not. Each member should read all such stuff very carefully, but of course it can happen that we get the mailing when we are in the midst of one crisis or another and just do not take time to digest it all - but the members do have a lot of voting power now compared to a few years ago. Maybe we have not adjusted to the changes.


Duncan

Looking through my past AGM papers & proxy voting forms there isn't one that mentions minutes. I don't know how we are to verify if we haven't received a piece of paper if the only communication about it is the missing piece of paper.

[Jac]

All resolutions going before each AGM are now circulated to all members, with a proxy voting form, so that everyone is able to vote whether attending or not. Each member should read all such stuff very carefully, but of course it can happen that we get the mailing when we are in the midst of one crisis or another and just do not take time to digest it all - but the members do have a lot of voting power now compared to a few years ago. Maybe we have not adjusted to the changes.


Duncan

Looking through my past AGM papers & proxy voting forms there isn't one that mentions minutes. I don't know how we are to verify if we haven't received a piece of paper if the only communication about it is the missing piece of paper.

It got me as well. I will post up part of the e-mail between myself and the chairman when I locate it.

[Jac]

Here is the explanation

"1.
Prior to this years AGM Council minutes were shown after ratification at the next Council meeting.
Following the AGM only a report will be given on the website after the Council meeting minutes have been ratified.

2.
The AGM papers that went to out to members gave a clear statement on them regarding resolutions that were being proposed and that the Resolutions were listed on the website. Also that members could if requested obtain a hard copy of these proposals from the DCS office.This whole process was done to reduce mailing costs.

[Jac]

All resolutions going before each AGM are now circulated to all members, with a proxy voting form, so that everyone is able to vote whether attending or not. Each member should read all such stuff very carefully, but of course it can happen that we get the mailing when we are in the midst of one crisis or another and just do not take time to digest it all - but the members do have a lot of voting power now compared to a few years ago. Maybe we have not adjusted to the changes.


Duncan

Was it not possible to implement a postal voting system instead/or as well as proxy?

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Maybe the term proxy voting does not completley describe the system. One can indicate on the proxy for which way you vote on each issue, or you can leave it to the discretion of the person you appoint. You can appoint someone by name eg friend, known trusted fellow member etc, or one can nominate the chairman if one does not know any individual personally.

Duncan

[JohnO]

Mike Sinnott was waiting for a response to his resignation from the DCS council but none came and he has now asked me to post his resignation letter here .


Chairman and Council,

I find myself unable to continue as a trustee of the Dexter Cattle Society. This is due to a prolonged period of inadequate governance. My attempts to rectify this unfortunate situation have failed and therefore I regret that I must resign from Council with immediate effect. My professional experience and expertise are still available to the DCS and I am willing to stand again for election to Council should the current communication and management problems be resolved.

Mike Sinnott

[davidw]

I question that the issue of minutes of council minutes being held confidential was voted for and approved at the last AGM. I attended the AGM and knew nothing of this, and it does not appear in the minutes.

I also think that its completely ridiculous that some council members have apparently refused to use conference calls and electronic meetings. I have used several of these systems in my business for years, in fact I was introduced to Skype by an IT specialist who worked with the US State Department. He recommended it as being more secure than many diplomatic communications systems. With the increasing cost of travel, it seems a no-brainer that all should take advantage of these systems where they exist.

It seems such a shame that the services of good and committed people appear to be given so little value. All of them are, after all, volunteers.

I suggest that this years AGM should be asking some direct questions and demanding straight answers.

[Broomcroft]

I may well be out of date, but certainly when the law came in to allow all members (or shareholders) to have a vote, not just those at a meeting, that right had to be made extremely clearly so that it could not be missed by anyone. Anything less than extremely clear / unmissable, would be invalid.

[Pennielea]

I too have now resigned from Council for all the reasons given by my colleagues and others besides . I have become extremely wary of what I post here since Mark pointed out that this is his private site and he has the power to delete postings. Should anyone wish to read my letter please request same and I will forward privately.

The discussion about proxy forms and voting on AGM resolutions is diverting attention from the true crises as to why 5 council members have resigned. The process in removing the requirement to publish minutes was totally above board and legal. Reversing that decision should now be the target for all of us.

Ian

[Broomcroft]

What a shame, and a loss. We haven't met Ian but we had lots of communications when you were helping as an advisor, and I can't think of anyone more reasonable and capable.