Questions to ask The New ISQ

	Questions to ask the "newisq" Why a newisq? : : The real issue? : : Get Answers before you Vote : : “Figure Skating 2010” How many documented facts have you seen from the "newisq"? Here are some simple questions to ask them, before you make a big mistake!
	Why A New ISQ ?
	Why a "newisq"? The real Issue? Get answers before you vote Questions about the newisq "2010 plan" About the Audit Misappropriation of Funds? Sell Sell Sell Exclude You It's a Coup Increasing Membership Open Meetings Put the Fun Back Talent Officer Working with Coaches Club Funding Spend $1.5 mill! Group Lessons	Isn't the proposed take-over by a pre-selected group of people, simply another name for a coup d'état? Why weren't other people allowed to nominate? If the purpose of the requested meeting was to remove everyone currently on Council "in block", how is that not simply a kangaroo court? Wouldn't a whole "newisq" be too new and too inexperienced? Doesn't the idea of a completely new Council contradict the SRQ Audit report's recommendation to protect the valuable knowledge of our Treasurer and Trustees by implementing a succession plan? Wouldn't it be better and simpler to change the Constitution so that say 3 of the ISQ Councillors were required to be replaced every 4 years, so that all the combined years of experience are not lost all at once? Or promote Councillors to the executive positions after a few years of experience. This would be a sensible succession plan. Do the proposed Councillors have the necessary business acumen and suitable experience to maintain and grow the assets we currently own? Will they sell the Loganholme land to fund the $1.5 million of promises. If not, where will they get $1.5 million to fund their promises. Is it fair and equitable to give $25,000 to clubs with 3 and 8 members (eg: Logan and Coffee Skaters Ice Dance Club). What detailed business plans do they actually have in place to take over the running of ISQ and the rinks? How did they arrive at the pie-in-the-sky figures they propose to give all Clubs each year for 5 years? What effort will it take to protect this money? Will they commit the time and effort to monitor it closely so it is not wasted away? Will there be any ISQ rinks left when your grand-children want to skate? How can we have more ice time and still achieve enough public session profits to support ISQ members unless we build Loganholme? We already have more funding, cheaper ice time and more figure skaters per capita than any other State. So what is the real reason that we don't we have more champions and better international results? We have more money, training facilities and more subsidies than our fellow roller skaters, so why do they achieve better results in World Championships? Is selling Loganholme land going to get us better international results? Is that what's important to our members? Why do people who had little or nothing to do with creation of the ISQ's assets, think they have a right to evict the hard-working people who did?
	What are the real issues?
	Why a "newisq"? The real Issue? Get answers before you vote Questions about the newisq "2010 plan" Sell Sell Sell Exclude You It's a Coup About the Audit Increasing Membership Open Meetings Put the Fun Back Talent Officer Working with Coaches Club Funding Spend $1.2 million Group Lessons	Misappropriation of funds Ask Karen Thompson why did she not take the opportunity afforded to all Councillors to read the full Trust and Loganholme files when she was offered? The other Councillors made the time and effort to wade through it all, so why did she refuse when offered? And how can she know what goes on if she didn't even glance at the files? Sell Sell Sell the capital assets & the spend the money How can the "newisq" justify spending more than a quarter of our wealth in just 5 years? The Audit report stated our assets as approx. $4.2 million. The "newisq" want to sell capital assets to pay for the $1.5 million they intend to spend in just five years! Exclude You - You can't nominate to be on the Council! They intend to elect the "newisq" council without allowing you (or anyone else with suitable skills) to nominate. (Karen Thompson's own words: see Minutes of ISQ Council meeting 14th February). Isn't the correct term for this is a kangaroo court or a coup d'état. Why a Coup? Why not wait a month for the ISQ Annual General Meeting (AGM)? At every AGM, all the current Executive and Councillors, must step down and stand again for re-election.(see Constitution 11.2) . What is the real reason that the "newisq" need to stage a coup before the AGM? Why is no other ISQ member allowed to nominate for their Council? That's unconstitutional! What are they going to do immediately after they are (unconstitutionally) elected. Are they gong to throw out the current constitution so you and I can no longer nominate? Are they going to disband the Trust? Who will the get to run the rinks? Will they lease it to someone? How is this different from what the ISQ does now? I was told by one of the "newisq" lobbyists that they are going to remove the Trustees and put a Board in place to manage the rinks. *But the Audit report advises the opposite* - it says to put a succession plan in place so the valuable expertise of Don and Colin are not lost. And will the Board need to be paid for their time? How much? Do you know how much Don and Colin get paid to run the rinks!!!!! I wish I could tell you but it's not for me to say. Ask them yourself!! You will be shocked. It's going to cost so much more! And why are the newisq's promises and "plans" changing all the time? (see newisq website!) Do they plan to change promises and plans constantly after you vote them in?
	Get Answers before you vote
	Why a "newisq"? The real Issue? Get answers before you vote Questions about the newisq "2010 plan" About the Audit Sell Sell Sell Exclude You It's a Coup Increasing Membership Open Meetings Put the Fun Back Talent Officer Working with Coaches Club Funding Spend $1.5 mill! Group Lessons	*The "newisq" say they will* "ensure the recommendations mentioned in the recent Sport and Recreation Audit Report of August 2006 are put in place, including better financial reporting. The "newisq" actually intend doing the opposite of the Audit Report ... Read on! Don't the "newisq" know what a succession plan is? It's a plan to train a suitable person to fulfill the role of a valued person before they leave so we don't loose all the skills and experience!! Not kick them out then stumble in the dark for months. The Sport & Recreation Audit of the ISQ stated in each case that the Trust was stable, extremely successful, achieving remarkable profits and capital growth, and was “obviously operating very successfully”. Which recommendations are they referring to? They want to dissolve the Trust immediately (which the current Council can already do if they wanted to). How are they going to ensure the QSR Audit recommendations are carried out? Where is their detailed business plan? Is it a one year plan or a five year plan? If they haven’t already completed it, then why should we be voting for them? We need to see that they have the requisite business acumen and experience first - before electing them. What about the parts of the Audit that repeatedly praised the successful management of the Trust and excluded it from the Audit because of its obvious success? How are you going to achieve similar rink profits to those the Trust has continually achieved for ISQ members?
		*The "newisq" say they will "increase the membership base of ISQ and Affiliated Clubs. [and] financially assist Figure Skating Clubs across Queensland to grow the sport. By how much do they expect to increase the membership base and at what dollar cost? i.e. How much will each new member cost us? How are the figures arrived at? What feasibility figures and demographics do they have to support their plans? Why do they need to increase the membership when there is so little access to ice that we cannot even find enough ice time to satisfy current demands? What will the Clubs be required to do in order to qualify for this money? i.e. What structure do they propose to ensure the money is used wisely and effectively? How much of the Loganholme sale will they spend on current skaters? How will they manage the remainder? What plans do they have to maintain* the current ISQ assets and the growth rate that the Trust has achieved? What funds will be left in ISQ when our children’s children begin skating? What consideration have they given to fixing the floor at Acacia Ridge? How will they fund it? Where will skaters practice while it is being fixed? How long will it take? What is the cost of delaying this maintenance? What will they do if the floor fails before they are ready to fix it?
		*The "newisq" say they will:* "allow all Committee Convenors to attend all Council meetings, so that their opinions can be garnered and involved in the forward planning;" They don't even want you to be able to nominate for Council. Why would they listen to your input? Since they already have an intention/plan to spend $300,000 per annum, how can they fund the ideas that “committee convenors” request? Are they prepared to devote the extra time that would be needed for such meetings?
	Questions Re: “Figure Skating 2010”
	Why a "newisq"? The real Issue? Get answers before you vote Questions about the newisq "2010 plan" About the Audit Sell Sell Sell Exclude You It's a Coup Increasing Membership Open Meetings Put the Fun Back Talent Officer Working with Coaches Club Funding Spend $1.5 mill! Group Lessons	*The "newisq" say they will:* "be fair and equitable to all ice figure skaters". What are they going to do for dance skaters who want to practice but can’t because there is no ice time for them? What plans do they have to include Adult events in competitions and tests? My dance partner and I have a greater chance of a Gold medal at the Adult World Championships than most of figure skaters have of winning Nationals. How about sending us to the Adult Worlds? Is that a "fair and equitable" request under their plan?
		*The "newisq" say they will* "encourage skaters and put the fun back into the sport for the enjoyment of all"; This is just a motherhood statement! What skaters are not having fun, and why do they remain in the sport if they are not having fun? Just tell them to find another sport so we that are having fun can get one with it. You don’t need to spend valuable effort and money on people who don’t want to be in it. How much money can you justify spending on skaters who are not enjoying themselves?
		The "newisq" say they will "Employ a part time sport development officer and talent development co-ordinator". You or I cannot apply! This person is already chosen by them. Hour many hours? What salary? What bonuses? What research has been done to prove that figure skating can attract more than it’s current share of the “sporting market”. What would be the likely cost of establishing transition programs? And how would they be different from what has only just been established in the last 6 months? What quantitative methods will they employ for “talent identification”. Will your child be overlooked?
		The "newisq" say they will "take an active role in working with coaches for the betterment of the sport and the development of their skaters". What sort of active role? What do they intend to do and when exactly will they have time? Are the coaches happy with this idea? Have you asked them? I did. Ask them yourself.
		Club funding of $25,000 per year each year for a 5 year period for figure skating advancement initiatives. How did they arrive at that amazingly round figure? How will they control how effectively this money gets spent? What plans do they have to control this? How are they going to fund this without draining the coffers for future skaters? PS: This takes us to 2012 not 2010!
		They intend giving $1.5 million dollars to clubs in 5 years How many new figure skaters of talent will they have to show for that in 5 years? How much of it will be wasted by the clubs? What will be considered good use of the money? Where are the guidelines to control frivolous spending? If they aren't written yet, when will the 5 years start?
		From their published budget figure, they are going to charge more than we currently pay for Group Lessons and have more people in the group! Who would want to pay more than currently, and where and how will they get the extra numbers? And what will it cost? What are they going to do for dance skaters who want to practice but can’t because there is no ice time for them? What plans do they have to include Adult events in competitions and tests?
		*The "newisq" say they will:* "offer opportunity, where practicable, to all figure skaters regardless of skating level". What are they going to do for dance skaters who want to practice but can’t because there is no ice time for them? What plans do they have to include Adult events in competitions and tests? My dance partner and I have a greater chance of a Gold medal at the Adult World Championships than most of solo figure skaters have of winning Nationals. How about sending us to the Adult Worlds? Do you think that is a "fair and equitable" request under their plan? I do!

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13-Jun-2007