Doug PollardTime to Clean Up and Move On
Some people don't know when they're dead
The ALSO SGM has been and gone almost two weeks, but there is still no sign of progress. The undead Foundation continues to walk and feed, but at what cost?
There have been a couple of board meetings, and some more trawling through the accounts, which a source tells me has turned up another discrepancy in the accounts, with close to $200k more now unaccounted for.
If this is true (and I stress I have no confirmation) there can’t be much left to fight over.
I have received, from several sources, a copy of an internal email, which appears to show that the Board were well aware before the SGM that the hole they were in was bigger than they were admitting, This document has been circulating widely in bars and clubs, too. Its authenticity has not been denied, though it’s importance has been downplayed.
“It’s no smoking gun,” I was told.
I have also received several communications from people whose stock of goodwill towards ALSO, which was once considerable, is rapidly becoming exhausted. One wrote:
“Though it is a sad and somewhat unnecessary place that ALSO now finds itself in . . . . I hope that it is wound up with dignity, but also that there is further investigation into the last three or so years with the relevant individuals (and authorities where necessary) to ensure that it doesn’t sink without members knowing why and who, if anyone, is in actual fact responsible."
That neatly encapsulates the community sentiment that I am hearing from all sides. We must have an open and transparent accounting by independent outsiders.
SIT DOWN AND TALK
Winding up with dignity means that the YES and NO camps that emerged at the SGM should by now be sitting down together working out what can be achieved with whatever is left.
(YES – voted to take funds from the ALSOCare & Benevolent Society to prop up the ALSO Foundation: NO – voted against. The NO’s won)
Overtures have been made from the NO camp, but I understand that the board ( or whatever is left of it after yet more resignations) still refuses to countenance winding up the Foundation, still insisting it remains solvent, still refusing to negotiate.
The sticking point, as I understand it, is the demand for a full and transparent investigation “into the last three or so years with the relevant individuals (and authorities where necessary).”
MOVING ON
“We need to move on,” I was told, “not dwell on the past.”
Very convenient for those with something to hide. But the time for hiding is surely over.
Presumably they’re hanging on by their fingernails in the hope that the state budget will tip some money their way on Tuesday. If so, I have to say that I think a rescue from that quarter would be about as unlikely as the relaunch of the Pyramid Building Society.
It is indeed time to move on. It is time to shut down the Foundation and say thank you and goodbye to the current board and staff. I think it is time for an independent group chaired by perhaps a retired judge, with the involvement of a local MP or two, to come in and sort things out.
And I think it’s time the community as a whole was heard. Assuming there is any money left, then we need to start talking about what to do with it. The future is too important to be left to one small and now almost wholly unsupported and isolated clique.
WHERE NEXT
I’ve already said, more than once, that whatever is left of ALSO should abandon its pretentions to be a broad-spectrum community peak body. That has only resulted in a scattergun spray of minor and largely ineffectual efforts across a broad range of issues.
Whatever ALSO eventually becomes, it must instead focus down on ONE issue in ONE area, and do that one thing very very well.
Given the origins of the organisation and the lack of support for our seniors, I have suggested that this is where ALSO can make a real and urgently needed contribution.
But there are other possibilities.
One of the reasons for ALSO’s downfall has been the very expensive city offices they occupy, eating up around $65k a year. A similar sum burdens Joy.
At the same time, there is an urgent need, not just for office space, but for meeting space for the community. This is especially needful for the transgender community: the Zoe Belle centre needs to become more than a desk and a website, it needs to be a safe space where people can drop in.
Could there perhaps be a way to pool ALL our resources as a community and use the remaining ALSO money as seed capital for the purchase or construction of a community centre where ALL our organisations can come together? With office, meeting and performance spaces?
Docklands comes to mind as a great potential location. City and state government are very keen to promote the area, and would likely be amenable to an approach for funding from a broadly supported community-wide organisation of proven integrity- provided, of course, we first successfully demonstrate our honour and integrity by openly and honestly cleaning up the ALSO Foundation mess.
OVER TO YOU
I am just one individual: what are your ideas? What would YOU be prepared to put your money and time into building? Let’s have the cleaners in, and then while they're at work, let's have a public debate.
