ALSO showdown looming

ALSO’s Committee of Management contacted members this week detailing its requisition for a special general meeting to vote on four new resolutions put forward by 10 members of the association.

The committee said calls by members for the loan made by ALSO Care to the ALSO Foundation in April to be recalled would result in immediate insolvency for the Foundation.

“To close Foundation at this point, particularly when it continues to be an important vehicle for advocacy, partners with scores of other organisations, and houses 15 community groups and organisations on its premises, would leave a serious gap in the GLBTIQ community sector,” its argument against the repayment resolution read.

The committee has proposed four further resolutions, requesting the release of additional money from the Members Resolution Fund and the reclassification of the initial loan to the ALSO Foundation as expenditure on behalf of ALSO Care & Benevolent Society.

It acknowledged that funds were accessed from the Members Resolution Fund in the current financial year without consulting the members, claiming it was the result of poor financial reporting procedures.

Concerns about the legitimacy of management, given the large turnover from both the ALSO Care & Benevolent Society Committee and the ALSO Foundation Board, were also addressed in the correspondence to members.

The committee stated that it’s actively working to attract experienced and skilled new committee and board members for both organisations.
A reporting process within nine months about the long-term viability and direction of each organisation has also been promised.

A message sent to ALSO Care members and contributors this week by ALSO Care founding member Geoffrey Richards stated that a petition is being prepared which would “appoint an auditor, supported by competent legal counsel, to investigate solvency, loan and fund guarantee transactions and powers, conflicts of interest, duties and responsibilities of Care Committee members and to report and recommend directly to Members by the Annual General Meeting”.

“The alternative — a more expensive but more definitive route — to resolve the impasse, is a court ruling and the government supervisory body does suggest this as one approach to resolving disputes between members,” he said.