More redundancies. Where are you SMISA?

[HSS]

35 minutes ago, Stu said:

 

Wow,WTF is going on?

[InMehmetWeTrust]

I wonder if all the noisiest voices in here and across the various forums and social media platforms regarding SMISA transparency (or lack thereof) will continue to be outspoken on this latest regime change and overwhelming lack of clarity shown, or, they’ll be fairly quiet because the person it’s favoured this time is on their side. 

[djchapsticks]

So the new interim chairman has been put in place, not only unelected but the individual in question was added to the to the board following the last elections (where 4 new board member were already added I might add) without so much as an announcement - rather than the democratic thing of the spot going to the person who placed fifth in the open elections.

I await those who were so vocal about transparency before the last round of elections being just as vocal to the same degree now that their preferred candidate(s) are on the board and apparently just as guilty of keeping things from the larger membership as the previous members of the board that they were so keen to discredit.

Maybe no hold my breath though, eh?

SMISA cannot continue to take people's money and expect not to be questioned about what the f**k is going on. We pay these fees monthly to be kidded onto that we have a voice and then they go and add people into positions without throwing it out to the membership which was the entire premise of paying a monthly fee (which lets be honest, without a vote or any sort of input from the support, is now pretty much redundant given that the club has been bought)

Edited March 20, 2023 by djchapsticks

[TopCat]

Do SMISA publish their membership numbers? Would be interesting to see the extent of the decline over the last year or so. 

[djchapsticks]

Just now, TopCat said:

Do SMISA publish their membership numbers? Would be interesting to see the extent of the decline over the last year or so. 

Peter Murrell is drawing them up as we speak.😄

[alanb]

An interesting development given his promotional piece in the latest B&W magazine 

Extolling the Future of better fan communication and holding the club board accountable 

Along with the new board members the future looked bright

Comment on social media suggest this is no surprise given the last SMiSA meeting and the minutes of the meeting are highly anticipated 

[HSS]

35 minutes ago, TopCat said:

Do SMISA publish their membership numbers? Would be interesting to see the extent of the decline over the last year or so. 

If we don’t get a quick answer as to what’s going on then they can add my name to the decline

Sick of it all

[JJ McG]

Smisa is a shambles, jobs for the boys.

[portmahomack saint]

More fall out from the Scottish Governments Gender Recognition Bill the whole country is imploding... It's Sturgeon's fault for the drop in SMISA membership 

[waldorf34]

4 hours ago, djchapsticks said:

So the new interim chairman has been put in place, not only unelected but the individual in question was added to the to the board following the last elections (where 4 new board member were already added I might add) without so much as an announcement - rather than the democratic thing of the spot going to the person who placed fifth in the open elections.

I await those who were so vocal about transparency before the last round of elections being just as vocal to the same degree now that their preferred candidate(s) are on the board and apparently just as guilty of keeping things from the larger membership as the previous members of the board that they were so keen to discredit.

Maybe no hold my breath though, eh?

SMISA cannot continue to take people's money and expect not to be questioned about what the f**k is going on. We pay these fees monthly to be kidded onto that we have a voice and then they go and add people into positions without throwing it out to the membership which was the entire premise of paying a monthly fee (which lets be honest, without a vote or any sort of input from the support, is now pretty much redundant given that the club has been bought)

The constitution  says the elected  directors  appoint  the Chairman  ,there is no vice Chairman  in the constitution  ,it means nothing

[golf buddie]

Only question needing answered, is why are SIMSA being so secretive about matters that should be discussed openly
I thought point of SIMSA was fan based but seems more special handshakes at moment

Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk

[bazil85]

3 hours ago, portmahomack saint said:

More fall out from the Scottish Governments Gender Recognition Bill the whole country is imploding... It's Sturgeon's fault for the drop in SMISA membership 

I agree fully, I heard the Kibble were brought in to draft the bill as well.

DJ Unimpressed! Angry from Paisley!! 

[beyond our ken]

On 1/30/2023 at 5:32 PM, glen said:

Kibble's Jim Gillespie, a Rangers supporter is now our vice chairman.

 

 

And to think the uproar that was caused when someone considering a takeover consulted a lawyer that had been involved with a Rangers takeover bid (not with Rangers, just the bidder)

[Brilliant Disguise]

22 hours ago, JJ McG said:

Smisa is a shambles, jobs for the boys.

It’s only jobs for the boys because no one else is interested in it. The reason no one is interested is because its run as a clique and always has been.

SMISA needs to be more open minded to its membership and look to co-opt experienced members to be potentially on to the committee then verified by the membership. 

It’s ironic observing on social media that some of the past committee members are happy to watch it burn (even fuelling the fire )rather than put forward solutions. Seems a rather egotistical approach rather than thing of the wider objective of SMISA

 

[Albanian Buddy]

2 hours ago, Brilliant Disguise said:

It’s only jobs for the boys because no one else is interested in it. The reason no one is interested is because its run as a clique and always has been.

SMISA needs to be more open minded to its membership and look to co-opt experienced members to be potentially on to the committee then verified by the membership. 

It’s ironic observing on social media that some of the past committee members are happy to watch it burn (even fuelling the fire )rather than put forward solutions. Seems a rather egotistical approach rather than thing of the wider objective of SMISA

 

Why don’t you apply for election (Law) Stu D?

That would create an interesting battle of ego with SGG.

[bonzoboys]

Almost everybody that gave a statement about joining the SMISA Board included "communications".  why do we read this bured in the Forum.

what is SMISA main means of communications?  E-mail? twitter ? .

Having announced Eddie's appointment with such a floursih a few months ago, woudl it not been better to contavt all SMISA members regards such a sugnificant event.

No wonder there is so much moaning on here about SMISA, Board, Kibble when SMISA just shhots themselves in the foot at each event.

[ALBIONSAINT]

Not involved in SMISA, but reading this thread it kind of reminds me of this….

 

[Cookie Monster]

Almost everybody that gave a statement about joining the SMISA Board included "communications".  why do we read this bured in the Forum.
what is SMISA main means of communications?  E-mail? twitter ? .
Having announced Eddie's appointment with such a floursih a few months ago, woudl it not been better to contavt all SMISA members regards such a sugnificant event.
No wonder there is so much moaning on here about SMISA, Board, Kibble when SMISA just shhots themselves in the foot at each event.

It's on and has been since Monday on the SMISA website. That's where it was announced 1st, then on other social media sites.

[antrin]

Just had an email from SMISA, outlining current status, addressing grumbles seen on here and other places and satisfying me, at least, that the current personalities running SMISA are recognising (and addressing) problems noted and are working their best for the club.

SomeBuddie else might want to add it, in here.

[Albanian Buddy]

The SMiSA Board would like to take this opportunity to provide members with an update following the quarterly members meeting which took place on 28th February 2023. Minutes for the members meeting can be found at the bottom of this email following the update. We would like to thank everyone for their continued support and look forward to seeing as many as possible at the SMiSA AGM which will be announced shortly. 

 

FINANCIAL REVIEWS WITH CLUB BOARD: 

Repeated requests for key financial information has been ongoing from the SMISABoard to the Club Board Directors. We understand that confidentiality is an essential requirement and in the interest of the Club not all information can be circulated at all times. The SMISA Board must however be in a position at any given time to accurately report on the financial position of the club to the membership, this isn’t anything more than a financial health check and is to ensure that members can have peace of mind.

To do this we need a level of information supplied to us to establish our own understanding of the situation. The £1.6m loss reported at the Clubs AGM in January happened, regrettably on SMISA’s watch. It will be difficult for many to comprehend how we were in a position where the Club was spending circa £30,000 a week over budget. Not only that, but clearly all the SMISA Board could not have been informed about this. You may recall a Special General Meeting was called and held on 03rd March 2022 with the financial position of the Club being one of the topics. The membership was informed at that time that there were no major concerns – clearly this was not the case.  

That’s done and in the past, moving forwards this sort of uncontrolled spending must not be repeated and we can only report accurately if we have access to information that allows us to ascertain that the Club is operating within the terms of our constitution. A financial sub-committee has now been set up consisting of SMiSA and Club Board members. We hope this will help provide the financial information which SMiSA have been requesting, along with opening a line of communication with the Club Board on this matter. SMiSA are pleased with the progress made on this basis. Following a meeting with SMiSA Club Board directors on Monday 20th March, we can report the club is in a much healthier financial position now compared to last year as a result of several actions taken to reduce costs.

 

RELATIONSHIP WITH CLUB BOARD: 

The working relationship between the SMISA Board and Club Board is a critical one, with both parties committed to working together for the good of the Club. Clearly from the SMISA side there has been a level of frustration around the dialogue regarding finances as noted above. A resolution that satisfies both parties must be found. Moving forwards we will schedule meetings with the Club Board and will report on the progress of these at our future members meetings. While individual members of the SMISABoard have their own views of the Club Board which everyone is entitled to, the collective position is a view to construct a stronger relationship based on mutual respect and trust. This may take some time but it is vital we work towards this and we believe the Club Board share this view so let’s look forward to making this work for everyone’s benefit. 

 

BOARD MEMBERS: 

You will be aware of the changes on the SMISA Board. Before we go any further regarding this, it is understood that all of those who have stepped forward to serve have done so out of a sense of duty and a love for St.Mirren, be that in the past or present. Clearly there has been a level of friction between Board members in recent times, while this to a degree is inevitable, it was extremely disappointing to witness a previous Board Member alleging bullying as a reason for their resignation from the Board. The seriousness of this issue is such that we will not comment further until we can fully review and hear further from both parties. Rest assured we will investigate any allegations fully and take any appropriate action which is required.

There are indeed numerous new faces on our Board with different ideas as to how we take SMISA forward. While the bedding in continues we are collectively looking to share tasks and develop skills to ensure too much does not sit with one individual. This will enable us to efficiently cover absences of our fellow Board members, be that planned or otherwise. To increase the collaboration between both boards we are actively pursuing where both boards work together. Already there are board members in finance committees, at the Academy and with the Charitable Foundation. By maximizing the opportunities for both boards working together can only be beneficial for the club in the long term. We will seek to exploit these opportunities whenever possible.

We will continually look to co-opt to supplement the skill set of the SMISA Board where and whenever required. The election process is both fair and proper, however it is also limited to the willingness of individuals prepared to stand for election. As a Board we will seek the support of individuals who can add value in key positions. Anyone being co-opted will then stand for election at the next AGM should they wish to do so. It’s essential that the rules we operate under serve the requirements of the SMISA Board. 

 

COMMUNICATION:

For first time from any SMiSA board since SMiSA was formed and to further promote transparency we will continue to publish minutes from SMiSA board meetings on our website. By doing so, it will allow members opportunity to review business being discussed and allow members opportunity to feedback their own opinions to the SMISAboard via the website. All feedback would be reviewed for inclusion in subsequent board meetings.

We are seeking to increase our presence on various Social Media platforms to improve our engagement with members. We will shortly carry out a Members Survey and plan to contact our members for their views more frequently. Please engage with us on this by completing the survey when issued. 

We are also happy to discuss any aspect of SMISA with our members, should you wish to be contacted directly by phone please email us at [email protected] and we will endeavour to get back to you. Please however keep in mind most of the SMISA Board are also in full time employment and may not always be immediately available. Should members wish to meet with us in person pre or post-match that can also be arranged. 

 

DIVERSITY: 

Ideally, the SMISA Board should reflect the demographics of the support. This isn’t something we wish to engineer as such and expect that most of the members electing candidates for Board positions are doing so based on the qualities of the individual and what they can offer. Whilst this approach is proper and democratic it doesn’t always help to form a diverse Board. We do have the option to Co-opt and utilised this to offer places to the 2 younger candidates that stood in the last election. Stuart and Jack have brought another dimension to the Board and are proving invaluable. While having younger SMISA members on the Board helps create a better balance, we cannot claim to reflect the demographic of the support. This is something we aim to improve in the future. 

 

MEMBERSHIP: 

SMISA will, indeed must always strive to increase the membership numbers. The membership has taken small and sometimes major leaps in numbers over the years. We appreciate we all find ourselves in challenging times financially these days and the argument to spend any available surplus monies on football can be a difficult one to justify before considering contributing to an organisation that already owns the controlling interest in their Club. In theory we could tie in free membership of SMISAwith the purchase of a season ticket – that would really boost the numbers. It would however create a very different income stream….. that’s to say no income and would result in us being unable to contribute to the areas we currently support. There is a balance there and we seek to find this and to that end we are currently carrying out a complete review of our Membership and Membership Category offerings. Your answers in our survey will be extremely beneficial in shaping this. 

It is abundantly clear SMISA needs younger members and we are looking to establish a Junior Membership (U18 probably) option. We understand this has been considered in the past but for whatever reason hasn’t come to fruition. If you are a parent of a younger St.Mirren fan what do you believe they would look for in membership? We would love to know. 

 

ADMINISTRATION: 

SMISA administration processes are being reviewed. This involves an assessment of the operating and support systems we use, along with a review of the policies that supplement the constitution. We will go into a bit more detail on this at the SMISA AGM and where required we will present any proposals to the members for review and approval. 

 

St. MIRREN WOMEN’S TEAM:

Those who attended the Members Meeting will have no doubt been greatly impressed by Kate Cooper who shared her frustrations, disappointment and her hope for the SMW. We have subsequently had a further meeting with Kate and it’s clear a stronger working relationship can be formed between the SMW and SMISA. We are jointly considering how best to develop this for our mutual benefit. 

 

KIBBLE: 

Following a question from a member at the last meeting, Ex Club Board Director Alan Wardrop informed the meeting of a developing situation between the Charity and the Kibble Club Board Directors. This was raised at the Clubs AGM in January. If, as Alan stated there is more to come on this issue we will review any further information if or when it is made available to us. SMISA is the majority shareholder at the Club and all Club business is by default of interest to SMISA. 

 

LOOKING FORWARD: 

We acknowledge we find ourselves in a period of transition on the SMISA Board and continue to ask for your support for which we are all extremely grateful. The SMiSABoard are already planning the objectives and vision of SMiSA for the following year, and look forward to presenting these to members at the AGM. We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the AGM which is currently looking like the 18th May. We will be in touch to announce this in due course. 

[Albanian Buddy]

From interim SMISA chairman 

“Starting my Interim Chairmanship with an apology would not be my ideal choice, however in the current circumstances it is absolutely the correct thing to do. 

The whole SMiSA Board would like to apologise for an admin error we have made, resulting in the creation of confusion and anger amongst some members.

I was co-opted onto the SMiSA Board in December 2022 along with Stuart Chawk and Jack McSkeane. In a Chairman's update in January both Jack & Stuart were announced as joining the Board but my name was omitted in a genuine oversight. 

With the requirement for an interim Chair until the AGM in May 2023 I put myself forward with one other Board member and was chosen.

I can see how some members being unaware I had already been co-opted would deduct I had been made Interim Chair with nomination.

As per the SMiSA Constitution I will present myself for election at this years AGM.

In closing I would again like to apologise for any confusion that has been caused.”

 

Regards,

Alex Dillon
Interim SMiSA Chairman
On Behalf of SMiSA Board

[div]

What does this mean or refer to?

Quote

Following a question from a member at the last meeting, Ex Club Board Director Alan Wardrop informed the meeting of a developing situation between the Charity and the Kibble Club Board Directors. This was raised at the Clubs AGM in January. If, as Alan stated there is more to come on this issue we will review any further information if or when it is made available to us. SMISA is the majority shareholder at the Club and all Club business is by default of interest to SMISA. 

 

[ALBIONSAINT]

8 hours ago, Albanian Buddy said:

From interim SMISA chairman 

“Starting my Interim Chairmanship with an apology would not be my ideal choice, however in the current circumstances it is absolutely the correct thing to do. 

The whole SMiSA Board would like to apologise for an admin error we have made, resulting in the creation of confusion and anger amongst some members.

I was co-opted onto the SMiSA Board in December 2022 along with Stuart Chawk and Jack McSkeane. In a Chairman's update in January both Jack & Stuart were announced as joining the Board but my name was omitted in a genuine oversight. 

With the requirement for an interim Chair until the AGM in May 2023 I put myself forward with one other Board member and was chosen.

I can see how some members being unaware I had already been co-opted would deduct I had been made Interim Chair with nomination.

As per the SMiSA Constitution I will present myself for election at this years AGM.

In closing I would again like to apologise for any confusion that has been caused.”

 

Regards,

Alex Dillon
Interim SMiSA Chairman
On Behalf of SMiSA Board

Someone has been to a PR seminar run by Boris Johnson 😂

[ALBIONSAINT]

Chris Iwelumo on sportscene  remarked that Saints are doing well despite only having 4 full time staff at the stadium? 

[shull]

9 minutes ago, ALBIONSAINT said:

Chris Iwelumo on sportscene  remarked that Saints are doing well despite only having 4 full time staff at the stadium? 

Four too many