News Lions Board Spill - update: Board Dispute Resolved

[Last of the Roys]

The way I saw the presser was that Sharpless looked a little uncertain and very careful ... and then the camera switched to Lethal who just stared down the journos and the camera and delivered.

I hope we don't end up being The Brisbane Springfield Land Concern Lions

Leigh was magnificent in the press conference. It is a pity he also clearly said that he was not going to be a spokesperson for the Club so ask your questions now.

I hope he doesn't stick to that line literally. Obviously he won't be out their spruiking like the Chairman, but some ongoing comments every now and then - like Malcolm Blight - would be beneficial for our profile.

As an aside more than anything else, in Power and Sharpless, we now have the 14th and 38th richest people in Qld on our Board (according to a Sunday Mail article from a couple of months ago).

I don't know if anyone has posted the following article which I stumbled across today.

http://www.brw.com.au/p/brw-lounge/rich_list_lions_takeover_kicks_brisbane_0Y2Ei0poqXCuqvKWMoGUlO

Mick Power is the 81st richest person in Australia and Sharpless is 182nd.

 

[archiebutterfly]

Now that the crisis has been sorted at the Lions through a smoky back-room deal and Lethal has taken his rightful place at the board table, we need to have a chat about the deep conflicts of interests of the new Lions powerbroker ‘Big Mick’ Power, the new Chairman of the board Bob ‘The Sharp Shooter’ Sharpless, and, dare we say it, Lethal himself, before we make any decisions about abandoning a democratic vote of members to decide who controls our club.
Because Big Mick, Lethal and the Sharp Shooter, who now have absolute control of the 5 member Lion’s board, have something other than footy in common. And that something is the elephant in the room – Springfield.
Most will be aware that the Lions board under the Clown decided to move the training and administrative base of the club to a new $60 million dollar facilityto be built at Springfield, out near Ipswich and a bloody long way from the Gabba and the club’s Brisbane supporters. The move is presently on hold due to the Abbott Government holding back the $15 million toward the new base that was promised by Big Bill’s handbag carrier’s mate Julia Gillard. But now the Sharp Shooter is running the joint we suspect all bets are on again.
So now the big question now for members to decide is whether moving the club to the middle of nowhere is really in the club’s best interest, or whether instead it is simply in the interests of those with large and deep personal financial stakes in the Springfield region. And by that we mean just about the whole bloody board.
To get an understanding of the personal interests involved you first need to get a handle on the geography of Springfield. This map here shows the greater Springfield area, and this map here shows the new train station set to open at the end of the year. We understand that the proposed Lions ground is next to the train station in the bright green.
The Sharp Shooter, along with his new age guru mate Maha ‘Mr Burns’ Sinnathamby, owns the Springfield Land Corporation, the company that built the new town of Springfield (sounds like a Simpson’s episode we know) and controls all the developments in the area. Mr Burns and the Sharp Shooter are set for an absolute windfall if the club is relocated to their estate, and as a bit of gentle encouragement to Can Do and the Mad Monk their company has donated just a tick under $90 000 to the Queensland LNP over the past 2 years.
Big Mick has got a fair stake in the area too. His company BMD, via their subsidiary Jmac Constructions, has recently been gifted a $30 million contract, twenty million of which has come from public funds, to build a new park in the middle of Springfield. The park, which is to be called the Robelle Domain and is named after none other than the Sharp Shooter himself, whose full first name is Robert, and his wife Belinda (Rob-Bel), has attracted a fair bit of criticism from the local MP, who is not at all keen on either the park or the whole Springfield Development itself.
And when he hasn’t been providing expert commentary on the footy, Lethal has been keeping himself busy in recent times as the face of Devine Homes, the suburban estate builders. Devine has built a master planned community calledMountview at Redbank Plains that is right next door to Springfield, and is a lead builder in the Broowkwater development right next door to the proposed new Lions headquarters. It is understood that Lethal, who earlier this week copped a share of $2.5 million when he sold Sizzling, the racehorse he shares ownership in with Big Mick Power and David Devine of Devine Homes, has a very healthy financial interest in the success of both developments.
So here we have it – the 3 blokes who control decision-making at the Lions are all set to make millions if the club goes ahead with the move to Springfield and become in effect the Greater Western Ipswich Lions. And the funny thing is, both Big Mick and the Sharp Shooter share the same political lobbyist, a bloke name Con Sciacca, the lawyer and close friend of Big Bill Ludwig and also close mate of his handbag carrier Cameron Milner, our least favourite Lions board member. And Lethal doesn’t need a lobbyist, because the master of them all, Uncle Terry Mackenroth, former head of Stadiums Qld, landlord of the Gabba, is on the board as a director of Devine Homes.
What a bloody mess of conflicts. How can Lions members and supporters have any faith that an independent decision in the best interests of the club will be made about the Springfield plan?
And given that when the original decision about Springfield was made Big Mick and the Clown, who also has a large personal stake in Springfield, stepped aside from the vote in order to remove any concerns about potential conflicts with their business interests in the region (Milner didn’t but he should have), now if there needs to be any discussion or decisions made regarding Springfield then Melbourne based Director Peter McGregor will be talking to himself, because he’s the single person on the board without a conflict of interest.
But if any part of the Springfield deal is financed by the Commonwealth Bank then it will be a short conversation because then he’ll have a conflict of interest too. What the bloody hell are we going to do then?
So let ask ourselves the hard question – is this really about footy or is it actually about a bunch of self-interested millionaires looking after themselves and their business interests? And why exactly do we want to spend $60 million to move to another city when we can have a ready made top class facility with a 48 000 seat stadium just down the road for a fraction of the cost?
Are we being taken for a ride here?
www.archiebutterfly.com

 

[Lace Out]

Sharpless on SEN shortly.

 

[Haggis McHaggis]

The biggest thing I picked up during that presser was Leigh saying he believes another couple of people will be added to the board in due course. Curious as to whether Thornton and/or Smith will nominate for appointment at this or the next AGM.

 

[Lace Out]

Sharpless said he can't understand the exodus but thought there could be something in that they all came from the same draft.

 

[James North]

Sharpless said he can't understand the exodus but thought there could be something in that they all came from the same draft.

Yeah ... I really did get the "a few weeks ago I was just a member who knew some guys on the board" vibe from his presser. Hopefully he learns quickly.

 

[Last of the Roys]

As I have said elsewhere, I am willing to give Sharpless and McGregor a chance. Obviously I already trust Lethal and Mick Power.

That leaves just one person on the board I can not trust.

OK, so from those who are good at reading the constitution (i.e. not I) can you answer me these questions three:

• Will anyone be up for re-election at the AGM?
• So many of the Directors have been appointed, is there a quota (if any) on how many should be elected by the voting members?
• Is there any mechanism for setting the number of Directors?

I had the same questions, specifically because I want Cameron Milner kicked out sooner or later.

Anyway, here is the link to the Constituion which I have just read again. I am not a lawyer and the Constitution would hardly win an award for its clarity, so my answers are not 100% certain.
http://www.lions.com.au/staticfile/...ts/Constitution of BBFFC 12 December 2012.pdf

Will anyone be up for re-election at the AGM?
I don't think so. Because Johnson, Nash and Williams have resigned (or effectively resigned), more than 1/3 of the existing normal Directors would have gone.

Currently I think there are now only 2 normal Directors (Power and Milner) who were appointed in September 2010 - I am not sure what clause they were appointed under or when they last were re-elected (it may have been at the last AGM in December 2012). [normal Directors is termonology I have made up but it is consistent with the meaning of the Constitution].

There are now 3 specialist directors (Lethal, Sharpless and McGregor) appointed under 9.14 for a minimum of 2 years before they become normal directors and are put up for re-election at the next AGM (McGregor was appointed in April 2012, Sharpless earlier this month and Leigh yesterday).

However my reading of the Constitution (given 9.2 and 9.15) suggests there are now 3 normal director vacancies that must be filled. They can be appointed by the current Board, but would have to stand for election at the 2013 AGM.

So many of the Directors have been appointed, is there a quota (if any) on how many should be elected by the voting members? Is there any mechanism for setting the number of Directors
It is not straight forward. 9.2 says there must be between 5 and 12 normal directors (given 9.15). 1/3 of these must retire and can seek re-election at each AGM (those that must retire are the ones that have served the longest without re-election).

In any case the Board can fill vacancies of normal directors but they have to retire and seek election at the next AGM (9.10)

Full members can seek to challenge for the Board (against those who must retire and seek re-election) at the AGM if you follow the process set out by the Club by 1st of November (9.11 and 9.13).

9.14 Is the section under which up to 4 Specialist Directors can be appointed by the Board for 2 years before they become normal directors and have to seek re-election.

A Victorian based member can be appointed by the Board as a Director as well (9.16 and 9.17).
Other interesting info
- 2014 AGM - I believe Peter McGregor will be up for re-election and one of Power or Milner (not sure who)
- 2015 AGM - Lethal and Sharpless will be up for re-election along with one of Power or Milner
We may need a member's resolution to get rid of Milner (or get someone to challenge him if he is up at the 2014 AGM) - that can happen if 100 full members sign up to it, and then voting members endorse it by a majority. However, given the 2 months notice required, it couldn't be voted on until the 2014 AGM.
All that is about as clear as mud hey? (And possibly not 100% correct either).

 

[Lionator]

Wow Sharp was terrible on SEN. Willing to give him a go but he clearly hasn't done a lot of media before. He is loaded so lets hope his wallet does the talking

 

[Always a Lion]

Now that the crisis has been sorted at the Lions through a smoky back-room deal and Lethal has taken his rightful place at the board table, we need to have a chat about the deep conflicts of interests of the new Lions powerbroker ‘Big Mick’ Power, the new Chairman of the board Bob ‘The Sharp Shooter’ Sharpless, and, dare we say it, Lethal himself, before we make any decisions about abandoning a democratic vote of members to decide who controls our club...

Chilling stuff if accurate and true. Just trying to catch a breath.

There'll be a book series in this one day.

So Archie, what's in it for Vlad and the AFL?

 

[James North]

Is there any chance I can have a middle name with inverted commas too?

 

[dlanod]

Is there any chance I can have a middle name with inverted commas too?

James "True" North.

 

[blynd_freddie]

James "True" North.

Will change it to "magnetic" by deed poll.

 

[bato]

For those who missed it:

 

[Football Pope]

Is there any chance I can have a middle name with inverted commas too?

James 'Zero Degrees' North

 

[Ironmonger]

James "And The Giant Peach" North

 

[Mr Ripper]

"Northy"

 

[John]

Is there any chance I can have a middle name with inverted commas too?

James "North by" North.

 

[James North]

James "The Derailer" North?

 

[James North]

"Northy"

The Quik-E Mart is real ... DOH

 

[adey115]

Is there any chance I can have a middle name with inverted commas too?

"Due"

Or on a cold morning, "Dew"

 

[James North]

Incidentally, what's this thread about now? Do we chat about the AGM?

 

[Mooch]

weather or not is he a supporter or nio, doesn't he own the land out in springfield?
the place where he wants the lions to move out to?
Springfield is in the middle of nowhere west of Brisbane in the city of Ipswich, an utter shit hole & league Territory, it would have more so to do with private interest and obtaining government funding!

Yes, he owns (or at least part owns) Springfield Land Corp, so yes he has interests and agendas.

 

[PattyKwasagun]

Swap for the 27th richest and Patty K?

That's the post of the year on this board. Genius.

 

[brisbane13]

Yes, he owns (or at least part owns) Springfield Land Corp, so yes he has interests and agendas.

surely they could find another Area in Brisbane that would be more suitable!

 

[Cousin Jed]

Is there any chance I can have a middle name with inverted commas too?

I dunno. Did you ever carry someone's handbag?