I would have liked to attend the AGM

Having read the letter from Tina Cook, your report and the views expressed in “Two Bits” on the Doccra AGM along with the chairman’s report in the “Life and Style”, I can sadly only comment from afar.
I, like many other “paid up” members, would have liked the opportunity to attend the AGM, however this was not possible as it appears that a notice was not published in the local press, but an e-mail was received late on the day, which was not acceptable hence the very low attendance figures.
The coverage of the meeting did not paint a very good picture of the chairman, who apparently became exceptionally aggressive when challenged on the legality of the meeting. In his report he rubbished the previous committees and the validity of the approx 2000 members, but was quick to accept the R300,000 which was handed over to the new committee. One can only assume that this amount was made up of membership fees of the 2000 members.
It would have made sense for the new committee to follow up on these members in the hope of continued financial support. However, in their wisdom this was not done and a recruitment drive in the form of advertising in the chairman’s own newspaper was instituted. This resulted in a membership of 131. A loss of over 1900 members from the previous year.
The reasons for the poor response are numerous in his report, including apathy on the part of the ratepayers. Whilst this may be true in part it is up to Docrra to overcome this and communicate with the members and public at large. If I am not mistaken we, the members, were promised regular newsletters. What happened? I do not recall receiving any such correspondence.
The lack of volunteers was another reason put forward for the poor performance of Docrra. For this the chairman must look to himself, especially when you look at how Tina Cook was treated at the meeting. Many months ago, a neighbour and I contacted Dave Charles no less than five times to offer our time to the committee, and on each occasion he promised to get back to us. We are still waiting and naturally gave up, which may well be a blessing when one looks at what has transpired.
I would like to thank the efforts of the committee past and present for their time and effort. Sadly, the chairman has let everyone down, and it would appear that his contribution and handling of the finances has a ring of “self-serving”.
GEORGE DUNN
Umhlali