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(Removed "rumours" as it's largely irrelevant to the subject and having been there when it started is entirely trivial(!)) |
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(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.) | (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.) | ||
=== | ===Build-Up=== | ||
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. | |||
===Decision To Call A Vote=== | ===Decision To Call A Vote=== | ||
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. | |||
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. | 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. |
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