Lonehill: Should We Be IMPRESSED?

So sad to hear of the passing of Joy Cook/e and her husband - within weeks of each other - recently.

Joy's steely spirit, grit, and determination epitomised the salt-of-the-earth type of character that has underpinned everything that is good about the Lonehill community initiative.

As discussed in this forum before, it would be nice to have a wall-of-honour (perhaps a Lonehill Hall-Of-Famers concept) to recognise a Joy Cook/e et all for their exceptional contributions to our community... while they're alive!

Must say that I have been impressed by the exceptionally high visibility of Doug Black (standing in for a recuperating Ian Bell) and the Lonehill Estate Management vehicle. It seems that everywhere I drive around Lonehill, there is Doug and his team cleaning up something, somewhere.

Thanks Doug, your activity delivers on the vision of pro-active community management that launched this community initiative.

Must also say, that at first impression, I am pretty impressed with the AGM financials.

I think that there are many an outsider who would love their community to have the foundation of resources that we appear to have at our fingertips.

I doff my cap to the entire Board for their turnaround of the LRA management debacle of some two years back.

There is no doubt that the LRA is now where it should have been some four years ago... ready to launch some innovative, world-class, visionary initiatives to make Lonehill a GREAT community.

Clearly some individuals are more responsible for this turnaround than others - for the quality of their efforts - and it is my belief that they should be highlighted (let's not be coy, and let's make it an LRA responsibility to recognise those that make exceptional contributions). I'm guessing that names like Rob Gillespie, Ray Stride, and Michael Goodwin are due some warm praise for their efforts.

Let's also not be shy to question governance issues raised by the financials.

Directors emoluments of some R257 000..?

Retroactive 'transparency', exposed by the need for declaration in public financials, and that have to be questioned for clarity to discover what has actually transpired, can only lead to raised eyebrows!

Don't have a problem with anyone being remunerated for a job well done, as long as, and especially in a community initiative context, such intentions are openly pre-declared to the community for stakeholder discussion and approval, and the position is openly offered/advertised as an equal-opportunity to anyone in the community wishing to tender for it.

It has always been my view that individuals with transparently declared vested interests and/or requiring remuneration/incentivisation (a slice of the pie) will be critical to making a significant difference and building a much bigger pie for the benefit of all in a community.

The question is, to what extent should Executive directors be able to vote themselves remuneration/awards without pre-approval of their members?

Today R257 000... tomorrow R500 000... soon R1 Million and maybe more..?

What should be the rights and limitations of the Board when it comes to making themselves such awards?

Again, don't get me wrong, I believe this community must go professional, and the right people who deliver must be paid.... and some paid big to deliver on big ideals.

I am just of the view that they shouldn't be on the Board..! Raises all sorts of governance issues related to undue influence and potential for accusations of vested interests. Just too close to the line of propriety for comfort.

In the interest of a positive AGM befitting the credit that is due to those engineering the management turnaround, I will withhold my personal answers to the above questions and related issues until my next post. You form your own views and questions... and ask them at the AGM.

At this year's AGM, I would like to hear a justification (albeit in hindsight) for the Directors emoluments as declared in the financials (i.e. what was delivered as KPI's by whom in return for that remuneration), a current SWOT analysis of the LRA, and future plans for the LRA - with KPI's - and who holds responsibility/accountability for their delivery in the coming year.

Some questions that should be asked and answered at the AGM are:

i. What are the biggest challenges facing our initiative in the coming year?
ii. What plans are in place to resolve those challenges and what innovations will we see?
iii. Who is accountable for deliverables on these resolutions (what are their KPI's)?
iv. What finances are required for the coming year and future... and where will it be sourced from?
v. What are the critical numbers we should be watching to assess future success of the project?
vi. What is being done to reduce the burden of current contributors?
vii. Why do we only have +- 300 voting members on the LRA from +- 6000 householders?
viii. Are there any expected major budget allocations (in excess of R50 000) that may be paid to individuals in the coming year and for what?
ix. Should a new budget allocation limit be imposed on the Board requiring referral back to Members for approval?
x. What added-value does each paid individual on the LRA add to our initiative (e.g if paid +- R250K, did individual add another +-R250K and more to the initiative)?
xi. How can stakeholders benefit from and use the LRA community centre facilities which they have funded?
xii. Should LRA AGM not be held within 60 days of financial year-end?

This forum has consistently complimented the chalk-and-cheese improvement in management of our community since the events leading up to the AGM debacle of two years ago.

However, this forum also believes that this Lonehill community initiative and its stakeholders are deserving of far greater VISIONARY application which can only happen by implementation of 3 simple things:

1. ..to RAISE Standards... continually... especially those of service delivery, openness and transparency.
2. ..to unleash the Abundant Potential that lies within our community... open up to include everybody who wants to participate.
3. ..to facilitate a regular major indaba of all key stakeholders, decision-makers and interested contributors in this community.

We've still not yet achieved the above in any significant manner. When we do, is when this Lonehill community initiative will really take off as it should.

There are simple ways to implement them. Just takes a little LEADERSHIP!

That's when I'll be truly impressed.

Thought I'd close with this comment from a colleague (Chairman of an impressive Section 21 organisation) who watches our LRA affairs with interest:

'My suggestion would be the establishment of a working party comprising of the existing board & management team, plus interested community stakeholders. On the agenda :

1. Structure, accountability & governance.
2. Current situation - SWOT
3. Requirements for short & long term viability
4. Procedures & rules w.r.t
a. Changes in policy, accounting practice, remuneration.
b. Contractors, tenders, suppliers and any other forms of procurement
c. Marketing, fundraising, advertising
d. Rights & limitations of the board

So simple.

Regards
Trevor Nel - Lonehill Resident
011 - 705-2790