A falling out at the Winton Lions Club has left a former member wanting answers to his questions.
Aformer Winton Lions Club member embroiled in a longrunning dispute over how the club operates has been accused of trying to ‘‘wreck’’ the voluntary organisation.
But Elston King says he just wants the club to be run correctly and he wants answers to his concerns.
King took his concerns about the club’s accounting practices to a disputes hearing and says he is still waiting for answers 18 months later.
He was concerned at how the club was being run when he was a Lions member so he sought out answers.
The outcome of a subsequent disputes hearing in mid 2014, called a conciliation meeting, revealed numerous faults with the way the club was operating, including its book keeping practices.
But Ian Keelty, a former Lions district governor and the meeting conciliator, also found that club operations and decisions had been made by club officers and members in good faith at all times.
The club officers and members had believed they were operating within the bounds of Lions regulations, Keelty found.
David Black, former Winton Lions Club president who is now a club member, agreed its accounting practices weren’t in line with the Lions constitution; but he said club members had been unaware of that at the time.
Black said there had never been any suggestion any members had done anything untoward with the finances; the issue was the club’s book keeping was incorrect in some instances.
If club members had known their book keeping was incorrect they would have corrected it, he said.
The club’s focus had always been to raise money for the community and that remained the case.
‘‘What we breathe air for is to serve the community, and we never deviated from that.’’
King said he was still waiting for answers to his concerns.
Andy Andrews, former Lions district governor who was charged with working with the parties to resolve the issues, said the Winton club had indicated it had complied with most of the recommendations and he understood the club was working towards complying with the remainder.
He stressed that, though the club had not been operating to the Lions constitution, it always put the Winton community first.
The Winton Lions Club would continue to work with district leadership to ensure funds were properly managed, he said.
In mid 2013 King, then a Winton Lions Club member, took his issues to Andrews and the conciliation meeting was held in May 2014 to address King’s concerns.
King was the complainant and the Winton Lions Club was represented by Black, the president of the day, and then first vice president John McHugh.
King, who resigned from the Winton Lions Club after the conciliation meeting, claimed the club had not been operating to the rules of the Lions constitution and said there was an absence of reporting which was required to ensure transparency and democracy. He said reporting of financial matters appeared inadequate.
King requested a full audit and audit trail of numerous Winton Lions Club accounts going back six years.
Keelty, who subsequently found fault with the Winton Lions Club on numerous matters but reiterated the club members had believed they were operating within the bounds of Lions regulations, declined to comment for this story.
He said the conciliation report was a confidential document between the parties involved.
The conciliation report document reveals King’s concerns and Keelty’s written findings.
King questioned why project money from the club’s firewood account was being used to pay for expenses such as tickets for entertainment, wine and bus trips.
Keelty’s response was that one of the factors that led to some members being uncomfortable with the club’s handling of some issues, and hence the ultimate conciliation process, was the ‘‘donation’’ of $600 made to the ‘‘Boots and Vests’’ community fundraiser.
The secretary had announced at a club meeting that a donation of $600 be made from the club’s firewood account which would enable members/partners to attend the function free of charge, Keelty says.
‘‘One may accept this was a donation to a worthy cause supporting the community, however, the manner in which it was delivered caused some friction. It could be argued that some members and partners were deriving a direct benefit from it,’’ Keelty’s report says.