News Lions Board Spill - update: Board Dispute Resolved

[Haso]

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

Pretty thing like you can chat about whateeeever he wants.

 

[Fatcat08]

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

James "Peter" North

 

[James North]

James "Peter" North

I've heard that before, and I have an uncle named Peter. (No).

 

[James North]

Pretty thing like you can chat about whateeeever he wants.

How about the disappearance of Paul Allen?

 

[Haso]

James "Peter" North

Waiting to see who 'likes' this one.

 

[Fatcat08]

Waiting to see who 'likes' this one.

Why do you think I put it out there

 

[James North]

James "Peter" North

I mean ...

Why is this funny?

 

[WhiteLionFeva]

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

"We're the Fakawee"

 

[lukiuslion]

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

Interesting post, however I find the "stand to make millions from us moving to Springfield" notion a bit confusing. Yes having a pool and a gym around the corner might boost the land value near by, but how else do these guys stand to get rich from a 12m gov grant, and a very broke and locally unpopular sporting club moving to the area?

I understand there is a conflict, but, the AFL and the club are not hiding this is a perceived 'growth corridor' and they won't people with connections to it to play a role in setting up our club out there, it is viewed as 'cruicial' in the AFL's eyes. Yes there are strong connections, yes there will be conceived conflicts of interest, I still struggle to see exactly how the lions are going to be used to make the board members rich.

 

[adey115]

Notice in Greg Davis article tonite that "Milner will leave the board in twelve months as part of the compromise".

Is that a bit weird?

 

[Old Den]

Notice in Greg Davis article tonite that "Milner will leave the board in twelve months as part of the compromise".

Is that a bit weird?

I find it interesting.

For weird I'd go for James "Headless Horseman" North.

 

[James North]

I find it interesting.

For weird I'd go for James "Headless Horseman" North.

Cameron "Davis Reckons I'm Outta Here In a Year" Milner

 

[Danny3]

Interesting post, however I find the "stand to make millions from us moving to Springfield" notion a bit confusing. Yes having a pool and a gym around the corner might boost the land value near by, but how else do these guys stand to get rich from a 12m gov grant, and a very broke and locally unpopular sporting club moving to the area?

I understand there is a conflict, but, the AFL and the club are not hiding this is a perceived 'growth corridor' and they won't people with connections to it to play a role in setting up our club out there, it is viewed as 'cruicial' in the AFL's eyes. Yes there are strong connections, yes there will be conceived conflicts of interest, I still struggle to see exactly how the lions are going to be used to make the board members rich.

For starters, the $60M that their, or their mates', companies will get paid to build the thing.

 

[T Rick]

Notice in Greg Davis article tonite that "Milner will leave the board in twelve months as part of the compromise".

Is that a bit weird?

Sharpless, the deputy chairman of the Springfield Land Corporation, only joined the board this month but now leads Leigh Matthews, Mick Power, Cameron Milner and Peter McGregor in the post-Angus Johnson era.

Milner will leave the board in 12 months as part of the compromise.

The peace deal struck on Wednesday guarantees $1.8 million in AFL funding for the under-resourced football department

Good news...pity it wasn't NOW.

 

[The Dice Man]

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

WOW. Strong first post.

 

[MacMum]

Good grief!....how you unravelled all that is full marks to you archie!

Boy oh boy wowee, what a conflicted web we have running the club. That right there is how the big boys just keep getting richer and richer.....you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

Will be watching with much interest.

 

[Danny3]

Just received this email response from Angela at the Lions:

In regards to your privacy concerns, the Club is investigating the issue. However, rest assured that your information like credit cards and address are safely stored in our membership database and Dr. Henry Pinskier does not have access to that information.

Interesting wording, wouldn't you say?

 

[Skoob]

Just received this email response from Angela at the Lions:



Interesting wording, wouldn't you say?

Interesting? I'd say bloody incredible. Either an unfortunate choice of words, or the club (or someone she knows in the club) knows exactly what info he has got and therefore presumably, how he got it.

 

[adey115]

Very very interesting wording Danny.

Its good to know that Dr Pinko doesn't have credit card details and addresses (and I doubted he would, and to be honest I didn't actually fear that he'd use them for any kind of evil if he did), but this wording does indicate that the club has not ruled out that Dr Pinko had the actual email addresses specifically for voting members.

That is still an espionage concern for me.

 

[James North]

Interesting wording, wouldn't you say?

Incredible.

 

[Fatcat08]

did anyone else get the EGM forms delivered yesterday?

 

[Mooch]

Just received this email response from Angela at the Lions:



Interesting wording, wouldn't you say?

Wow! How much can you say by not saying it? Maybe we're reading too much in to it and it was an innocent staff member trying to put you at ease but geez it doesn't look that way from my chair.

 

[Angus72]

Now that the board spat has passed, I have been wondering how safe is Malcolm Holmes job?
My opinion is that he is a marked man, how much longer will he be there I have no idea but I am sure he would feel a little nervous.

 

[adey115]

"Fresh Start" is my take on that question.

Michael Conlan is very very well credentialed.

 

[BuntonRules]

Notice in Greg Davis article tonite that "Milner will leave the board in twelve months as part of the compromise".

Is that a bit weird?

I DO NOT LIKE THIS.

I WANT TO VOTE HIM OUT NOW.