BC Conservative Party falling apart? En masse resignations true?

Further to the fall-out over a motion to bring about a leadership vote on John Cummins (see here), I have been sent some extremely damaging emails which I am still working on confirming but will post as I received:

1) Provincial board member Jeff Bridge has resigned his position

2) Allison Patton (who I’m told was a MLA candidate) has resigned as well as the entire Whiterock board of directors

3) A letter from Greg Hoover:

August 11, 2012 

Directed to the Executive and Board of Directors 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

On July 5^th, 2012 I was contacted by Mr. John Cummins and asked if I would serve as Manager for the upcoming AGM, and ensure it was done to the best of our abilities. 

You should know that I served on Mr. Cummins M.P. Board of Directors for eleven or twelve years and on the BC Policy Committee since January 2011 and I’m now on the BC Platform Committee. 

I work during the day in my own Construction Management firm that has operated for 31 years, and because of that background I am use to being an orchestra director where every band member wants to play his own music.   

Having said that I ask that you understand my commentary is meant as constructive criticism not blame or accusation, and is offered to you in an attempt to make the party stronger. 

The first thing I did as Manager of the AGM was to meet with Linda Bellamy and shortly thereafter with Lambert Leung and Betty Norton, all hardworking, dedicated volunteers.   After these meetings the realization was that the core of the AGM was all in place but there were unanswered questions and loose ends that were preventing the completion of preparations. 

I issued my first Report July 15^th asking many questions and challenging other ‘volunteers’ to get up to speed or relinquish their position.  Eventually some questions got answered, but the most surprising thing was that several AGM volunteers admitted either that they had done nothing in their position, or needed to be replaced, and they waited until the end of July to tell me. 

As a result of issuing my first report I was deluged by emails, including those from people I did not copy with my report.   People expressed concerns about issues that had been completed or resolved months ago, and others who obviously did not read the report had their opinions and concerns too. 

It was at that time that I suggested a Board of Directors meeting at the Langley Events Centre to bring everyone up to date and ensure the AGM team was going in the right direction.   So I thank you for coming here today.   In a few minutes Linda Bellamy, Bill Zemianski and myself will walk you through the facility but before we do the following are still issues of concern.

 

MY OVERVIEW COMMENTS: 

CHAIN OF COMMAND  

As a Construction Project Manager when I take over a project I have funding, a schedule and drawings and specifications plus the authority to do the work.  Beyond that I don’t need much. 

When I relate the BCCP to that equation it’s hard to see how anything gets done.  We have an executive and a bus load of directors but there is little in the way of a chain of command or delegation of authority. 

I believe it is unreasonable to send every question or decision to the Leader or the President and Vice President.  As a result of my party involvement I receive numerous emails from numerous sources and I notice for instance how many times John is copiedon everything from party balloon purchases to global warming.  I believe the chain of command has to be clarified so that “responsibility” and the resulting work can be spread around. 

For 13 years I was a member of Rotary and they have a clear command structure so that everyone shares the load and is responsible at their level for reports to the board and the results of their actions.  If General Motors had a board of directors that could wander through the plant and change parts, timing and what the workers were doing at will, would you want to buy a car from GM? 

In delving into the AGM I found that monthly reports had been given to the board since the LEC was rented last October but it doesn’t appear that many people were reading those reports, and people must have thought they had lots of time so why worry about it.  As of July 5^th the AGM team was aware that there might be a function Sept. 21^st but we didn’t know exactly why.  So what facilities, drinks, food audio visual equipment, etc, etc, were required. 

The team was also asked to secure additional rooms on Sept. 22^nd for break out meetings, and even today we re not sure what is occurring in those rooms.  My point is that without a chain of command and a complete roster of involved volunteers the course of the event wanders and so does our readiness and the cost of the event.  

  DIRECTORS RESPONSIBILITY

 Each Director should be the Chair or Co-chair of party activities, and answer to the Board as a whole. 

​-​Events

​-​Membership

​-​Media and Advertising

​-​Fundraising

​-​Etc., etc. 

Today when a question is presented one receives several directions and numerous opinions.   This cannot continue. 

MEMBERSHIP LISTS 

Our membership records must be brought up to a decent level of accuracy.  My membership lapsed in the spring and I didn’t know.   I had to re-apply and then was given a new membership number and the “Welcome To The Party” stuff.   This is taking volunteers hundred of hours to straighten out andcompletely screws up mailers from the membership address list. 

The process if so bad that I understand the Premier, Christy Clark is or was a member of the BCCP.   Obviously a joke that someone thought was worth 10 dollars, but it shows how porous our system is. 

If that isn’t bad enough how about this.  John Cummins in the membership list has 2 membership numbers – one expired.  Sue Cummins membership has expired and John and Sue’s addresses don’t match! 

These are just numbered lists and if we did a mail merge with this, much postage would be wasted. 

It is so bad that volunteers are having to do their own database to get their work done.  

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION 

The AGM team regards the upcoming AGM as the most important thing the party has done since electing John Cummins.    However, to our knowledge we don’t know if the messages or speakers, etc., have been or will be filtered through party media and communication people.   We also don’t know how long the speeches will take, etc., 

REGISTRATION

For two weeks the AGM team has worked to develop a Registration Form that meets our needs.   A copy is in your package today for your review.   On Friday the regular newsletter was released with a registration form attached!  Not the one we have worked on – so now what do we do.  

DELEGATE INFORMATION PACKAGES 

Carollyne Evans is away until August 25^th because of the wedding of her daughter.   Currently I am not aware of anything new or exciting that will be part of that package.  Since I am a member of the platform committee I’m going to make a suggestion……….. 

Because organizing for the AGM has required me tostick my nose into several aspects of party business I must report that I’m not impressed by what I’ve found.  If we continue down this path of confusion we will not be impressive at the AGM and we will not present ourselves as being the party capable of changing the way British Columbia is governed. 

I strongly suggest that those who care about this party spend the next six weeks getting our foundation on solid ground or suffer the consequences.  I would also like to emphasize to all of you that without volunteers like Linda Bellamy and Betty Norton we would not be ready.  They have persevered through all sorts of obstacles and laid all the ground work needed to make this event a success.  It is they who deserve a huge “thank you” from this party for the hours of dedicated work and forethought that have got us to this point. 

Again I strongly suggest we reach out to those dedicated and frustrated volunteers in a six week push to get our house in order. 

In closing I believe we can beat both the Liberals and the N.D.P. but to do that we must prove to the voters we are honest, trustworthy and capable. 

It’s a challenge I believe we can master. 

Regards,

Greg Hoover

Update: What was BC Conservative’s Allison Patton doing posing with Christy Clark and Kevin Falcon at the recent Liberal event?

Update: Another resignation is being reported. Linda Bellamy has resigned from the provincial board as well as her association duties

Update: I’m being told now that Fraser Valley Regional Director Mattison Brook has resigned

Update: Two more riding presidents have apparently quit. One from Delta South and from Cummins’ own riding.

Update: Being told that the Regional Director for Delta Richmond has officially resigned and that a non-confidence motion has been put forward against Cummins by two other regional directors

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