Meeting talk: 2012 AGM/Candidates/Charles Gregory

==Questions==

Hi Charles I've noticed that you have yet to post any statement given that its now 18:00 AEDT and elections open tomorrow I have some questions;

As a current member of the committee;

# Why would the proposed employee be based in Brisbane when the association is incorporate in Victoria given that we have legistaltive reporting requirements there?
#*At the time Craig first drafted the position description, there was a possibility of securing some office space in Brisbane from a related organisation.  This is no longer the case, but there is no rule that the first employee or our office be in Brisbane. -- [[User:Chuq|Chuq]] 20:58, 17 November 2012 (EST)  
# Why was there a need to develop a new  COI policy  when it was already incorporated into the new rules that were published in April and at a time when the FDC application appears like it should have taken a priority in committee work?
#*While John recognised the potential for COI accusations between him and Siska and publicly disclosed it, he did so voluntarily and not under any formal requirement.  With the recent negative press about WMUK and the Gibraltarpedia project, it was too high a potential risk to the chapter to not develop it further.  I believe John has explained further in his answers. -- [[User:Chuq|Chuq]] 20:58, 17 November 2012 (EST)   
# Why was there delay with FDC application?  How does the current board see this as impacting our ability to get funding and our relationship with the Foundation?
#*The FDC process is a new one and as such the FDC came back to us for clarification on several points, with very short timeframes.  Since there were only four active members of the committee (and only John and Craig had detailed knowledge of the financial questions being asked), we found it a challenge to provide the information requested in the timeframe given.
#*Fortunately, the FDC recommended that we be allowed to apply in the next round (March 2013) and we have significant cash reserves to support our programs between now and then. -- [[User:Chuq|Chuq]] 20:58, 17 November 2012 (EST)
# Why was the COI between John and the president of Indonesian chapter not disclosed during the last years AGM vote on WMAU proceeding with the language conference? What steps did you take to ensure that WMAU was not being compromised by its involvement in a situation that has the appearance of a COI?  How does this COI impact any ongoing planning for the Indonesian language conference?
#* I'm not sure how I could answer this - the first I knew of any potential for COI was when John notified the members list earlier this year.  John has been very specific in being open about the details of his travel and accommodation, etc. and abstaining from votes that involve him or Siska personally.  He often covers expenses personally even for WMAU activities.  Obviously the answers on his page go into more detail about this. -- [[User:Chuq|Chuq]] 23:57, 17 November 2012 (EST)
# Do you believe that this years committee communicated in a fast and effective manner? What are some examples of the board not responding quickly and effectively this term and how will you address those if elected in the next term?  
#* Yes and no.  When urgent proposals or resolutions were required the committee was usually able to gather (on IRC) quite quickly, which is always a challenge as we had members in six states/territories and three/four timezones at various stages.  The longest delay was in writing up minutes - of course the committee had to confirm and review them before they could be published.  After my experiences of the last couple of months, I have come to understand the time consuming processing involved a bit more, and some suggestions of alternate technologies (such as etherpad) which could be used for recording the minutes.
#* I also like the suggestion made by one of our members recently about using the WMAU wiki more.  I think with a few navigation templates and categories, etc. we can improve the usability of the site quite a bit and formalise the workflows used with approving/notifying people of the results of requests, etc. -- [[User:Chuq|Chuq]] 23:57, 17 November 2012 (EST)
# What actions did you take address concerns raised about the inadequacies of last years AGM? What have been the problems so far in this election cycle and do you feel the board prepared adequately for these election?
#* This year there were a couple of issues which slowed us down; the first was the change of secretary in late October - I had to learn a lot in a short time; the second was finding that Brian would be unavailable to be returning officer, which happened around November 10.  These changes, as well as the previously mentioned shortage of active committee members, put us under tight time pressures.  We also decided to implement Adams' election software (for reasons that have been discussed on the mailing list over the past couple of days). -- [[User:Chuq|Chuq]] 23:57, 17 November 2012 (EST)  
# Why given the issues raised about commincation for the AGM has the committee not made arrangements for each city to have a venue available for members to join the AGM more effectively?
# So you believe that the committee complied with the rules in the matter of removing Anne from the secretaries position?
# What effort did you personally make to contact Anne
# Are you currently holding all the records as required of the Secretary of the Association
# do you have any future plans that will make you unavaiable for an extended period of time, especially during September October 2013?

Thanks
Gideon [[User:Gnangarra|Gnan]][[User_talk:Gnangarra|garra]] 18:35, 15 November 2012 (EST)

:Thanks for the questions Gideon - I will get around to answering these in detail <s>tonight</s> make that some stage today (Saturday)! -- [[User:Chuq|Chuq]] 14:29, 16 November 2012 (EST)