A Letter to the
Board of U3A Darwin
To U3A Darwin Board,
I find
that U3A Darwin is no longer acknowledging its members, as the tenets are
written in the flyer (a self-help and learning group)! The Board
should concentrate on the smooth running of U3A Darwin, not just the
conference in 2008; this can be left to a sub-committee who has a proven
record. We need to focus more on the new members who do not rejoin in the
following year.
As an
Association, we do not have a building or a secure common place to store our
assets! The current location is very good, but we have no security of
tenure, and the cupboard has been left unlocked at times (fortunately we do
not seem to have lost anything yet). We have limited options for a larger
group; some lateral thinking is needed to over come this looming set of
problems.
Now on
most Tuesdays and Thursdays the room is in a messy state unlike the pristine
condition we leave it in, this should be conveyed to the Darwin City Council
or The Casuarina Library so that at a future date we are not excluded from
the using of the Community Room. The library sound system setup is still not
working properly, fortunately, we have our own.
The
Board is failing to see that U3A Darwin consists of people who fall into the
following types.
-
Regular Members
-
The elected Board of Management
-
Volunteer workers (who try and ensure the smooth running of meetings)
-
Volunteers who donate goods and service
-
Donors who donate goods and services (non members)
-
Donors who donate time/labour (non members/lecturers)
I have a
few Questions to ask.
Why do
we no longer receive revenue from CDU for their advertisements? After a
question from Bill Kerr inquiring as to what the income was for, the answer
given from the board was that this arrangement was going to continue.
Why do
we have free advertising for the ABS? ABS is a non-U3A organisation.
Why do
you continue to insult Ian Winstanley, by calling him an expert? He clearly
is not an expert, but he actually does the de rigueur work. Ian Winstanley
takes umbrage at being called an expert and believes actions speak louder
than words.
Why
didn’t you thank Ian Winstanley for the constructing and maintaining of the
U3A Darwin web page for so many years or apologise before you decided to
create a conflict apropos the web page? It was at no cost to U3A Darwin and
no sponsorship advertising on the page. It was not necessary to take sides
and blame Ian Winstanley for the dispute; ie two against one.
Why do
you blame Ian Winstanley for people who are left off the membership list? At
no time did he accept responsibility for the maintaining of the membership
list.
If we
have a secretary that can only be contacted on Fridays and you are
dissatisfied with the Newsletter, as you appear to be, then I think that all
articles should be submitted at least one week prior to printing. I do not
charge for my time, (as it should be) but I do need to be supported with
reasonable deadlines. Postage is wasting stamps when newsletters are sent to
people who actually turn up on some Thursdays! It would be better to keep
all members Newsletters unless it can be confirmed that they are away, this
is supposed to be a way to reduce costs.
Why do
all regular items have to wait until the last minute to be given to Ian
Winstanley, is it to see if he will stop doing everything else and only do
your work?
Why did
you stop Ian Winstanley from arranging speakers from CDU? He has never been
informed as to what he did wrong, and why he has been isolated from this
activity.
Ian
Winstanley has been mentioned by both political parties in Hansard, because
he is a very good chap and not party political. This is just another attempt
to vent Ian Winstanley’s spleen!
That is
a statement pertaining to my grievances. I believe that an apology from
David Swift for the back chat he uttered to me apropos the U3A Darwin web
site, and newsletter content. It is difficult to work with John Bloomfield
and his Vituperative Avalanches directed at me for no reason. I find Judith
Cooper to be sycophantic and mendacious, who upsets the printing and folding
of the newsletters. Until these situations are rectified I will be unable to
do any voluntary work for U3A Darwin.
Regards Ian
PS I do
expect to receive the regular newsletter as I have not resigned from U3A
Darwin Inc.
