First of all, I take issue with Martin’s statement that I gave the impression that he would continue in office if we were elected.  I did nothing of the sort.  What I did was say

“For the post of Treasurer, I agree with the comments of a number of National Councillors that the current elected incumbent, Martin Clark, is doing a good job and therefore we are more than ready to work with Martin in the future.”

This was purely responding to the wishes of National Councillors who suggested that I should work with Martin and there was no impression given or intended that he had committed to continue in office.  What Martin did originally agree to was to have a discussion with me after the election if we were successful and make a decision at that point.  He has subsequently advised me that he is not prepared to continue as Treasurer if I am elected.  However we have no option other than to wait until after the votes have been counted.

If I am elected and Martin resigns as he has said that he intends to after the AGM in June, then we will have a number of potential candidates to consider before nominating one for a by-election.  The last officer by-election was the Deputy Chairman election in 2003 and this vacancy was filled under that process.

I will be disappointed if Martin resigns because I am sure that we could work well together.  He is doing all he can to help his colleagues to be re-elected.

I was in a similar situation in 1987 after the death of Tom Blunn, who was Chairman at that time.  I was on the Management Committee at that time and we put forward our candidate, Aubrey Drapkin of Northumberland.  John Prean of the Isle of Wight also stood for the Chairmanship. 

I backed Aubrey Drapkin strongly.  In the election, John Prean won.  I wanted to continue to serve the Association in a Management Committee role and, therefore, after a discussion with the new Chairman, accepted nomination to the Management Committee again.  After a short period of time, I was persuaded by Mr Prean to stand for Deputy Chairman.  I was elected and continued in office for almost 4 years before becoming Chairman in 1991.

I am concerned that Martin Clark is trying to make a big issue about conflict of interest.  The ETTA have in place rules regarding Conflict of Interests which includes a register of business interests and this follows the Government’s Parliamentary procedures.  These procedures have been in place for many years and have been followed in full by me for the whole time that I was on the Management Committee and since on National Council. 

The question of conflict of interest was raised on the Table Tennis Talk website last week and I posted a full reply which is attached and covers this point.

What appears, from a practical perspective, to be a much greater and far reaching conflict of interest was raised with me by some members of the VETTS Society who feel that Alex Murdoch and Martin Clark in their roles as Chairman and Treasurer of both the ETTA and the VETTS Society is not healthy for either organisation. 

In reality the situation is much worse in that Alex Murdoch has brought another 4 members of the VETTS hierarchy or members with a close VETTS connection onto the ETTA Management Committee:

Peter Bradley – Deputy Chairman
John Dignum – Vice Chairman Administration
Jim Beckley – Vice Chairman Public Relations
Eileen Shaler – Vice Chairman Development

The VETTS Society is only an organisation “in good standing” with the ETTA but can control the ETTA through having a clear majority on the Management Committee.

Does that sound right to you?


Alan Ransome

10 February 2009


For further information with regard to the election, visit www.alanransome.com
 
CONFLICT OF INTEREST

I recognised way back in 1991 when I was first elected Chairman that the conflict of interest issue needed to be dealt with and I did this by proposing that a Trade Committee be elected which would deal with all trade related matters on behalf of the ETTA. The Trade Committee has worked well for the last 18 years. I ruled myself out completely from sitting on the Trade Committee or even nominating or voting on the people recommended for the committee. All ETTA trade contracts are dealt with by tender and decided by the Trade Committee. This system has removed any potential for conflict of interest.

In addition, if at any other committee meeting a matter comes up in which I could have a commercial interest, I am required to declare that interest and leave the room until such time as discussion on the matter has been concluded. These are normal rules for governing bodies. They work well in other sports and have certainly done so in table tennis since I first served on the National Council in 1967.

With regard to the comment as being "money motivated", this could not be further from the truth as anyone who cares to study the situation will quickly realize. Being ETTA Chairman generally takes between 25 and 40 hours per week of voluntary time. That time is spent dealing with all kinds of table tennis matters, weekend meetings and events. There is no doubt that spending the same amount of time working in one's business would clearly generate significant extra revenue. Working on a voluntary basis for the ETTA, the expenses never really meet the cost of carrying out the duties, which was the reality in my last 12 years in office.  A small honorarium helps to bridge the gap.

For the last 30 plus years I have spent this kind of time or more week in and week out either organising or coaching and I do it because I enjoy being involved and the success that I try to bring to the organisation that I am involved in, whether it be club, league, county or country, and anyone who knows me well will have no difficulty in confirming this.

Being involved in business in table tennis, in fact, provides me with the opportunity to be able to spend more voluntary time in the sport and that was one of the main reasons that I started a table tennis business over 30 years ago. If I was simply money motivated, the last job that I would seek would be Chairman of the ETTA!


Alan Ransome

9 February 2009