EvertonChris
22 Jun 2007, 03:34 PM
One Fan, One Vote 21/06/07
Today, representatives from KEIOC met with Everton Football Club officials, Keith Wyness and Ian Ross this morning at Keith Wyness' office with a one-item agenda - the ballot of Evertonians on the proposed ground move to Kirkby and the eligibility criteria.
The opening salvo was fired by KEIOC who thanked the club for giving them the opportunity to feedback their observations and thoughts, we also informed the club of our stance of being positive and not negative, of working with the club and not against the club, and that we are all members of the Everton "family" and share the same hopes and aspirations.
Keith Wyness stated that the club were not forced by KEIOC into having any ballot, he went on to say that it was always the club's intention to ballot the fans. He supplemented this by saying that although the ballot proceedures were not set in stone, that they were happy to share their views with us and generalise as long as we respected their confidence. We explained that we were unwilling to respect anything that they told us in confidence and that we would be informing the wider Evertonian community of our dicussions because of our deeply held desire to be open and transparent.
Ian Ross added that he had been entrusted with organising the ballot in conjunction with the Electoral Reform Ballot Services (ERBS) and that he had been working on this for the past six months. To date, and as a rough guideline, the proposals are that any Evertonian who has held a season ticket at any time over the past 3 years and / or holds shares in EFC will be entitled to one vote. If fans hold multiple shares or season tickets, they will still be entitled to one vote only. They also envisage posting a Q&A leaflet with the ballot paper and that they would be happy for KEIOC to have input into that document.
The club also stressed that at this moment in time that there are no blueprints and that they are currently only working from rough drafts, and contrary to popular belief, the ground move is not a done deal.
Once plans were in place, they will then need to go before a board meeting for endorcement. Only then would the ballot proceedure be instigated.
KEIOC then asked what, if any, consultation had taken place to date, and what plans were in place for more. Much to our surprise, the club claimed that the only consultation to date had come from Toffeeweb.com's online poll of fans posted earlier this year, a meeting with shareholders groups, and today's meeting with ourselves.
Ian Ross then went on to say that he envisaged somewhere in the region of 35,000 fans taking part in the ballot and that unfortunately they have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. We gave a number of examples of Evertonians who travel the length and breadth of the country, and in fact further afield, who for various reasons have never been season ticket holders, and by the club's own eligibilty do not fit the criteria for this vote. We have to ask ourselves the question, should we disenfranchise long time, loyal Evertonians so readily? We don't think so, do you?
The final question was "Is the club for sale?" Keith Wyness stated that all things in life have a price and if the owner received the right offer, he would accept it. He finished his contribution by saying that it was not financially viable to redevelop Goodison Park, and that the "only deal in town is Kirkby, there is no plan B."
So there you have it, the club sets the agenda but we retain our beliefs and our principles, and we will continue to campaign to Keep Everton In Our City and to embrace all match going Evertonians in the ballot process to decide our future. Onwards and Upwards.
http://www.keioc.net/
KEEP EVERTON IN OUR CITY
Today, representatives from KEIOC met with Everton Football Club officials, Keith Wyness and Ian Ross this morning at Keith Wyness' office with a one-item agenda - the ballot of Evertonians on the proposed ground move to Kirkby and the eligibility criteria.
The opening salvo was fired by KEIOC who thanked the club for giving them the opportunity to feedback their observations and thoughts, we also informed the club of our stance of being positive and not negative, of working with the club and not against the club, and that we are all members of the Everton "family" and share the same hopes and aspirations.
Keith Wyness stated that the club were not forced by KEIOC into having any ballot, he went on to say that it was always the club's intention to ballot the fans. He supplemented this by saying that although the ballot proceedures were not set in stone, that they were happy to share their views with us and generalise as long as we respected their confidence. We explained that we were unwilling to respect anything that they told us in confidence and that we would be informing the wider Evertonian community of our dicussions because of our deeply held desire to be open and transparent.
Ian Ross added that he had been entrusted with organising the ballot in conjunction with the Electoral Reform Ballot Services (ERBS) and that he had been working on this for the past six months. To date, and as a rough guideline, the proposals are that any Evertonian who has held a season ticket at any time over the past 3 years and / or holds shares in EFC will be entitled to one vote. If fans hold multiple shares or season tickets, they will still be entitled to one vote only. They also envisage posting a Q&A leaflet with the ballot paper and that they would be happy for KEIOC to have input into that document.
The club also stressed that at this moment in time that there are no blueprints and that they are currently only working from rough drafts, and contrary to popular belief, the ground move is not a done deal.
Once plans were in place, they will then need to go before a board meeting for endorcement. Only then would the ballot proceedure be instigated.
KEIOC then asked what, if any, consultation had taken place to date, and what plans were in place for more. Much to our surprise, the club claimed that the only consultation to date had come from Toffeeweb.com's online poll of fans posted earlier this year, a meeting with shareholders groups, and today's meeting with ourselves.
Ian Ross then went on to say that he envisaged somewhere in the region of 35,000 fans taking part in the ballot and that unfortunately they have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. We gave a number of examples of Evertonians who travel the length and breadth of the country, and in fact further afield, who for various reasons have never been season ticket holders, and by the club's own eligibilty do not fit the criteria for this vote. We have to ask ourselves the question, should we disenfranchise long time, loyal Evertonians so readily? We don't think so, do you?
The final question was "Is the club for sale?" Keith Wyness stated that all things in life have a price and if the owner received the right offer, he would accept it. He finished his contribution by saying that it was not financially viable to redevelop Goodison Park, and that the "only deal in town is Kirkby, there is no plan B."
So there you have it, the club sets the agenda but we retain our beliefs and our principles, and we will continue to campaign to Keep Everton In Our City and to embrace all match going Evertonians in the ballot process to decide our future. Onwards and Upwards.
http://www.keioc.net/
KEEP EVERTON IN OUR CITY