Damian Irvine

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Long serving Sharks Chairman Mr Barry Piece has resigned his role at the club and has been replaced by Mr Damian Irvine

http://sharks.com.au/?s=article-display&id=17918

New Sharks Chairman
July 01, 2009

Long serving Sharks Chairman Mr Barry Piece has resigned his role at the club and has been replaced by Mr Damian Irvine.

Irvine, who was recently elected to the Sharks Board as Vice Chairman by members, brings passion to the position along with a genuine desire to assist the club to move forward.

“I am incredibly privileged to become Chairman of the Sharks,” Irvine said. “It is a role that is very important and bears much responsibility and I take that responsibility very seriously.

“I made the decision to stand at the election because I didn’t want to be a sideline critic. I felt I needed to either have a go, or forever hold my peace.

“I am a Cronulla Sharks supporter, passionate and totally committed to seeing the club’s best interests are taken care of and to ensuring the best board is in place to provide the Sharks with balance, enthusiasm and experience,” Irvine said.

Amongst the first objectives of Irvine and his new boardroom team was to make a commitment to transparency in all matters relating to both the board and club operations.

Irvine has called a general meeting on August 6 to provide Sharks members with the opportunity to vote to endorse the new board of directors.

“I believe it is important during this re-building period for the club that all members have a voice and that it is heard,” Irvine added.

Irvine is a company director involved in thoroughbred breeding, property investment, 5-star service consultancy and retail.

Barry Pierce leaves a long legacy of outstanding service to the Sharks, having been a member of the board of directors before taking over as Chairman of the club in 1998.

Pierce is a life member of both the Sharks Leagues and Football Clubs.

The appointment of Irvine continues the Sharks ‘new direction’ following the recent appointments of Chief Executive Officer Richard Fisk and new board members Ricky Surace, Paul Walker and Craig Douglas.

 

[slide rule]

Does anyone know how this will work exactly? Can new candidates throw their hat into the ring at this time? Or will there need to be a vote of no confidence in the current board in order for new elections to be held? I'm thinking it's probably the latter.

 

[maco_magic]

Board member Paul Walker???? maybe u shire hobbits will see him racing vin deisel in the streets around cronulla

 

[WillyInBris]

Does anyone know how this will work exactly? Can new candidates throw their hat into the ring at this time? Or will there need to be a vote of no confidence in the current board in order for new elections to be held? I'm thinking it's probably the latter.

Its a lot harder then just getting 100 sigs and then go to an election the easy part is the 100 sigs as I have said before a number of things must happen from what I have been told by a very knowledgeable person that was a part of the club at inception.

As far as I am concerned a fair amount of dead wood is gone I would endorse the new board but that's just me I think we have had enough upheaval and need to move on as it wont be easy finding sponsors etc whilst this stuff is taking place.

What we need is transparency not secret backroom crap like has been taking place (moving Games to Gosford etc) and the Board wants that as well.

I think Irvine is good for our club young and intelligent and like the other new Board members bloody passionate, that's what we have needed for a long time a passionate board not a mates club.

You only have to see what's happened at the club since the election to see that we are moving forward for the past ten years we have been treading water and and slowly been pulled backwards.

 

[fancyman]

from bay14 to top dog

 

[WillyInBris]

from bay14 to top dog

We probably have a number of other people in the bays as well that would be good on the board but didnt stand up, honestly I don't care if he comes from Goulburn Gaol as long as he doest the right thing by the club and supporters and moves us forward.

 

[Google News]

Damian Irvine takes reins at Cronulla Sharks

Damian Irvine takes reins at Cronulla SharksThe AustralianDamian Irvine, who is a thoroughbred breeder with interests in retail and property development, starts the new financial year as the new Sharks chairman. ...and more »

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25717682-2722,00.html&usg=AFQjCNGq1zI2TiBghZ2zDq8g1kPv6JvhmQ

Damian Irvine takes reins at Cronulla Sharks
Margie McDonald
July 01, 2009

THE 11-year reign of Barry Pierce as chairman of the Cronulla club is officially over with the appointment of a new board leader last night.

Damian Irvine, who is a thoroughbred breeder with interests in retail and property development, starts the new financial year as the new Sharks chairman.

The 35 year-old was only elected to the board in May, when annual elections caused a changing of the guard at the troubled Sydney club.

Pierce, 67, announced on June 2 that his tenure would finish on June 30. He has been a Sharks director for 18 years and was elected chairman in 1998.

Irvine, 35, said he wanted to deliver greater transparency and accountability at board level.

"I made the decision to stand at the election because I didn't want to be a sideline critic," Irvine said.

"I felt I needed to either have a go, or forever hold my peace."

The Sharks have been riddled with controversy this year - including the Matthew Johns group sex allegations from 2002 being aired on ABC's Four Corners; captain Paul Gallen losing the captaincy over a racial slur; Reni Maitua's two-year drugs ban, and CEO Tony Zappia resigning over his accidental punch of a former female staffer.

Zappia also became embroiled in the drama of an allegedly terminally ill fan wanting to donate money to the club. The fan now faces several fraud charges.

Then there is the pending approval of a $110-million hotel and residential complex on Sharks' land adjacent to the club that has been stuck in the council approvals process for more than a year.

Irvine is aware of the minefields he is walking into.

"I am a Cronulla Sharks supporter, passionate and totally committed to seeing the club's best interests are taken care of and to ensuring the best board is in place to provide the Sharks with balance, enthusiasm and experience," he said.

One of his first jobs as chairman was to call a general meeting for August 6 so members can vote to endorse the new board of directors.

"I believe it is important during this re-building period for the club that all members have a voice and that it is heard," Irvine added.

 

[RisingUp]

Okay, I'm confused. What happened to Madeline Tynan's push to become President? Is that now dead in the water? Sounds like this was a rushed appointment to block Tynan's ticket. Anyone else think there are a few tensions building behind the scenes?

 

[pandapat]

Okay, I'm confused. What happened to Madeline Tynan's push to become President? Is that now dead in the water? Sounds like this was a rushed appointment to block Tynan's ticket. Anyone else think there are a few tensions building behind the scenes?

Absolutely not, Tynan probably just took too long to make a move, and the longer we kept Barry at the helm the worse off we'd be, its a smart move and im very confident in Damian.
Congrats Damo!

 

[peachey]

Okay, I'm confused. What happened to Madeline Tynan's push to become President? Is that now dead in the water? Sounds like this was a rushed appointment to block Tynan's ticket. Anyone else think there are a few tensions building behind the scenes?

the board offered numerous times for her to join the board, she said no on every occasion

frankly i dont want her on the board because her company is a major sponsor of the dragons..till she gets her priorities right, i dont think she should be on the board

 

[slide rule]

the board offered numerous times for her to join the board, she said no on every occasion

How? Wouldn't she need to be elected by the members?

 

[Garbs]

Vossy sort of has it right, but you need more information than what he's provided.

To put it in completely understandable terms, here is how it works.

There are two ways in which a new chairman can be put onto the board.

a) Running as a candidate for the chairmanship during an election and defeating the incumbent chairman.
b) The incumbent chairman standing down / retiring - in this case, a current member of the Sharks board is promoted. The directors currently sitting elect the new chairman.

In recent weeks, the Sharks had an election. Nobody elected to run against Barry Pierce - hence, option a is ruled out.

Since then, he has elected to stand down. As such, a new chairman must be elected from the current board of directors.

So to put this information into context:

If Madeleine Tynan wants or wanted to be chairman of the Cronulla Sharks, she either had to oppose Barry Pierce at the recent elections, or she had to get onto the board, and then be elected by her fellow directors. She elected not to run against Barry Pierce at the elections. And, despite being offered a position on the board on a number of positions, she declined each offer.

She may have been biding her time, but Barry Pierce's date of standing down has been quite public for some time now, and if she wished to be the chairman she needed to make a move prior to yesterday. I'm led to believe that she was given every chance, but turned it down in favour of being elected by the public. In that case, she'll have to wait until the next elections in 2011, and run against Irvine or whoever the incumbent is at the time.

 

[slide rule]

So to clarify, she would need to be elected by the members in order to get on the board in the first place? Therefore, there would have to be a new election for her to get on to the board before becoming president/chairperson.

 

[Shark]

from bay14 to top dog

Not quite right.

He watches home games from the corporate box he has paid for himself for the past 12 or so years...

Away games are a different story, THEN you will find him with the folk that usually occupy The Cage...

So to clarify, she would need to be elected by the members in order to get on the board in the first place?

No. When a director resigns mid-term, a 'casual vacancy' is created. The remaining directors can then APPOINT a person to fill that casual vacancy, until the next election, when the appointed person must then stand for election like everyone else.

This is fairly common across most boards in Australia.

Therefore, there would have to be a new election for her to get on to the board before becoming president/chairperson.

See above.

Her 'way in' now would be to be appointed by the remainin 8 directors, she then becomes a fully-fledged director in her own right, and can stand for election with her 'star studded ticket' in 2 years time - if she thinks that's best.

I don't know what the Sharks Constitution says about the term a director serves as Chair, but I doubt the board and the entire club would think it was sensible to have another election for Chair until at least next year.

I sense that her knowledge of corporate governance and the club constitution is not all that strong, given her statements to the media lately about this apparent election that we are having soon!

 

[Garbs]

So to clarify, she would need to be elected by the members in order to get on the board in the first place? Therefore, there would have to be a new election for her to get on to the board before becoming president/chairperson.

Half correct.

A place on the board is quite similar to achieving the chairman duties.

There are two ways to get onto the board. You can either throw your hat into the ring at election time and be voted on my the members, OR if a sitting director stands down, you can be appointed by the remaining directors.

At present, with Barry stepping down today, there is a vacancy on the board, so it is quite feasible that Tynan could put her hand up and get the gig.

However, when Don Anderson stood down, there was a vacancy and it was offered to her several times. She refused on each occasion. I don't see why she would change her mind now, three or four weeks later.

 

[slide rule]

Half correct.

A place on the board is quite similar to achieving the chairman duties.

There are two ways to get onto the board. You can either throw your hat into the ring at election time and be voted on my the members, OR if a sitting director stands down, you can be appointed by the remaining directors.

At present, with Barry stepping down today, there is a vacancy on the board, so it is quite feasible that Tynan could put her hand up and get the gig.

However, when Don Anderson stood down, there was a vacancy and it was offered to her several times. She refused on each occasion. I don't see why she would change her mind now, three or four weeks later.

Cheers,
Thank you for the clarification.

 

[WillyInBris]

So to clarify, she would need to be elected by the members in order to get on the board in the first place? Therefore, there would have to be a new election for her to get on to the board before becoming president/chairperson.

I had heard rumours as well that Madelin had been offered one of the vacant positions as well but had turned it down this is why I kept saying I was sceptical on her motives.

Do you want to give it a shot SlideRule at the next election ?

 

[SF]

I congratulate him on the appointment, and I think generally he's performing great... but I would still hope it is a temporary thing until a fresh election endorses him as chairman, along with a new board.

During the election period a lot of people complained about:
- Lack of the best candidates for the board
- Members/supporters feeling disconnected from the nomination/voting process
- Not enough information about the election, and about who is entitled to vote.
- Jobs being handed out without proper process

The only thing I can see that has changed are the board members themselves (well some of them).

Sure they are not legally or constitutionally obliged to honour Pierce's promise of a fresh election. But I believe most supporters took this as a good-faith committment from the club, as I'm sure did the board members who stood down. The current board should continue that process.

I know there are some other great candidates out there to fill in some of the gaps, not just Tynan. But we will not find them just by giving out the board spots to whoever seems good at the time. I would still love to know how Craig Douglas is considered a fresh face when he has previously been an auditor, and I believe director.

As it stands the current board members each got about 900 votes, less than 5% of the membership of the club and only a tiny percentage of our supporter base.

Maybe it will cost $50,000... isn't that a worthwhile investment to ensure we have the best leadership team for the next 2 years, and to get as many people feeling part of the club as possible?

 

[Macca]

I congratulate him on the appointment, and I think generally he's performing great... but I would still hope it is a temporary thing until a fresh election endorses him as chairman, along with a new board.

During the election period a lot of people complained about:
- Lack of the best candidates for the board
- Members/supporters feeling disconnected from the nomination/voting process
- Not enough information about the election, and about who is entitled to vote.
- Jobs being handed out without proper process

The only thing I can see that has changed are the board members themselves (well some of them).

Sure they are not legally or constitutionally obliged to honour Pierce's promise of a fresh election. But I believe most supporters took this as a good-faith committment from the club, as I'm sure did the board members who stood down. The current board should continue that process.

I know there are some other great candidates out there to fill in some of the gaps, not just Tynan. But we will not find them just by giving out the board spots to whoever seems good at the time. I would still love to know how Craig Douglas is considered a fresh face when he has previously been an auditor, and I believe director.

As it stands the current board members each got about 900 votes, less than 5% of the membership of the club and only a tiny percentage of our supporter base.

Maybe it will cost $50,000... isn't that a worthwhile investment to ensure we have the best leadership team for the next 2 years, and to get as many people feeling part of the club as possible?

It is unconstitutional to hold another election. Elections can only be called by the board every 2 years. They cannot call another one now. Something Mr Pierce should have researched before he made a promise he couldn't keep. Not only was it a promise he could not keep, but it was one that he made prior to the election, thus not giving new board members a say in the matter.

Since then around 1000 or so people have voted and elected 8 of the 10 nominees that put their hand up. That election was governed by the electoral commission and it was declared a fair ballot. It's not the current boards fault that more people didn't put their hand up and have the courage of their convictions, is it?

It's also not this boards fault that only those 1000 or so people voted. Any financial member of the Leagues Club or the Football club had voting rights. All they needed to do was head down to the club and have their say. It actually about that many that have voted in previous elections. It's a fairly indicative number.

Now, instead of ignoring the promise made by the old board, the new Chair has called a general meeting om Aug 6 where the members can vote to endorse this new board or it can vote not to endorse the new board. If the former is the result then we move on. If it's the latter, then 100 signatures can be collected by the membership to call for an Extraordinary General Meeting.

At an EGM members can move special resolutions to have indiviual board members replaced, be it one or all of them, but it's done individually.

In my opinion, now that 5 of the former board have stood aside or not been elected, it is time to move on and get this club back on it's feet again. I will be voting to endorse the new board.

 

[fitz]

Ok, so what we clearly have here is basic irrefutable doubt as to whether the office holders of the Board are actually reflective of the membership's desired representation.

If that is the case... and under the recent circumstances that the Club has had to endure (with regards to a general public perception that the previous election processes has been both tarnished and flawed) surely the current Board should adhere to what is morally correct ... and not necessarily pedantically legally or logistically correct... and undertake a new election process to get a true representation of whom the Club's membership wishes to represent them.

If the purpose of an election is to source an accurate and reflective plebiscite, then the only tenable thing would be for there to be another extraordinary Board election to be called.

There can be no doubt then that the Board is a duly elected body which serve to represent the wishes of the membership.

At this time in our Club's tortuous times, we must be more than crystal clear that we have complete and absolute executive and managerial transparency and accountability.

As fans, we have drawn what appears to be a very defined line in the sand as to The Sharks of the past and The Sharks of the future. It is just a huge pity that there are people out there who seem reluctant to embrace this watershed moment and attempt to resist a complete clean out and rebuild.

I'm not saying for a moment that the current Board may or may not be good in what they do and be good for the Club - what I am saying though is that The Sharks must go to the every possible degree to ensure that they are completly and entirely squeaky clean with their business practises.

Justice must not only be done - but be seen to be done, willed to be done.... and KNOWN to be done.