Ructions: Difference between revisions

Ructions (view source)

Revision as of 13:34, 24 November 2007

506 bytes removed , 24 November 2007

Saved mid-edit...

Jonathan

14

edits

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 (Repeatedly referred to as a vote of confidence by James, presumably due to his politics background where this term is used. However in YSTV's constitution, and in the meeting where the vote was held, it was referred to as a vote of No Confidence - i.e. a 'for' vote was to remove James and an 'against' vote was for him to retain his position.)
-===First Mention===
+===Build-Up===
-A vote of no-confidence in James as Station Director was mentioned first by James himself at a station meeting in {{unsure|week 6}}. At this point, the suggestion was not a serious one in most minds, however, as time went on and people became more upset with James' running of YSTV, the question of a vote became more and more serious.
+By around week 6 of the summer term some members were talking about leaving the society to avoid the politics and in-fighting or because they didn't like the way the station was being run. The following day, James sent an email to officers asking if he had their support. By his own figures, 7 out of 11 people said he had their full confidence, with the rest preferring not to respond.  However the definition of "full confidence" was debated as there had not yet been a single incident that warranted such a statement, more a general concern of the style of leadership.  It also put officers in an uncessarily uncomfortable position by having to proclaim their support or feel they were "dissenting" and thereby causing problems themselves.  In short it was not something that was really in the spirit of YSTV.
-By that meeting, some members (such as [[Ed Jellard]]) were talking about leaving the society to avoid the politics and fighting and/or because they didn't like the way the station was being run. The following day, James sent an email to the team leaders asking if he had their support. By his own figures, 7 out of 11 people said he had their full confidence, 2 people said that they'd prefer not to talk in an e-mail, 1 person said they were undecided and 1 officer didn't get the e-mail in time. However the definition of "full confidence" was debated, as Rowan, for one, had said that James had his support on a personal level, but that there were some issues with his leadership syle, and that he would always act in the best interests of YSTV. However, it is clear that there was not a resounding cry of no-confidence at this point.
 ===Decision To Call A Vote===
-However in early June, the vote came. It was proposed by Ed Jellard, and seconded by Richard Ash. Ed volunteered to do this at least in part because he would not be in York the following year, and felt he could take the 'blame' without too much problem, and his absence would help the unease at YSTV to settle.
+The decision had not come easily, and was always a last resort.  Much private debate (mainly via group MSN conversation) centred around this decision and the likely implications.  Calling a vote which would subsequently fail would be disastrous. It would split the station in two and undermine James just as the new academic year with the associated recruitment drive was looming. Finding a consensus was important, yet asking people how they would vote in a hypothetical vote was difficult.  There was much debate about who would propose a vote given the likely atmosphere should the vote fail, so [[Ed Jellard]] volunteered to do this at least in part because he would not be in York the following year and in any case was gradually moving towards spending more time in Ents over YSTV, but still felt strongly about what was happening to the society in which he had spent most of the previous two years.  It was seconded by Richard Ash.
-The decision had not come easily. From not long after the first suggestion, many had considered what would happen if a vote took place. 2 major issues presented themselves:
-* Would the vote succeed?
-* Who would take over as Station Director if the vote did succeed?
-These questions in themselves posed a problem. They needed to be discussed before a vote could reasonably be called, yet discussing them without calling a vote was difficult. As a result, some members did discuss these questions in private. Calling a vote which would subsequently fail would be disastrous. It would split the station apart and undermine James, while leaving him attempting to control a divided society. This would be bad for all members, including but not limited to James. So finding out a consensus was important, yet asking people how they would vote was hard. Secondly, if James were to be removed from office, a replacement would have to be found. With the new academic year looming, we needed a strong leadership and a united society.
+There was also the question of who would take over as Station Director should the vote succeed, and over the need to ideally get this procedure started before the summer break due to the need to present a united image to the freshers arriving in October.
 The obvious replacement was Rowan, as it was known that he had considered standing for Station Director in the first place. He was uneasy about this, both because he had his own reasons for not standing originally, and also because he did not want to be seen to be attempting to pull power from James. He had been involved with the criticism of James, and although perhaps not the most vocal, was certainly linked to it. He was asked by a number of people whether he would stand as SD if James were removed, and refused to commit, as he did not want to pour fuel on the fire. However, many assumed that he would fill the role if it became vacant, and as history proves, they were right.