Five times more members voting for me than closest rival gives me a third place finish!

 

How is that fair, you may ask? Well, it isn’t! This election was once again only “window-dressing” on the part of DRI to make it appear that members have a say in the running of their clubs.

Nonetheless, Club Intrawest Owners Group members – THANK YOU!

Although I did not get a position on the Embarc Board in this election, the result, given the unfairness of the “weighed” votes, is excellent! Thank you for voting as a block, for not splitting your votes! Because of this, it is readily evident to anyone looking at the results that the candidate who obtained by far and away the most member votes, came in third.

 

• Over 5 times more members voted for me than for the closest “incumbent”, James Orr.

• Over 6 times more members voted for me than for the second “incumbent” Robert Reyes.

• Over 3 times more members voted for me than for both incumbents together. 

• In fact, 25% more members voted for me than all 7 other candidates added together.

And yet - James Orr and Robert Reyes are once again Embarc board members for another 3 years!

Although it is said nowhere in the run-up to the election, the declarant, the entity that “holds” DRI points as a member, has 15 times the voting power per point than that of individual members. They are very careful not to state this fact in the emails sent concerning the election – both before AND after. They are very careful to make it appear that members, who have the vast majority of the points, will have a chance to get their candidate onto the board. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Embarc membership. Even as they vote, are engaged, most members don’t understand that when the Declarant (DRI) votes, our member votes are made virtually worthless.

When one breaks down the numbers given in the pre-election emails as well as the results, the chart of the “count/weight” looks like this*: 
    

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Once we all understand how this all “works”, it becomes evident and imperative that members must join forces to oblige DRI to give us what is our due – the number of board members that correspond to our points owned.

 

We need to increase our voting power so that it is at least half that of the Declarant (DRI).

 

Why do we only need half + 1? Because when the board has elections for incumbent positions, we can cast all our votes (2 positions = double the votes) for 1 person, while they must put half of their total entitlement on each.

How do we do this?

 

• By each of us doing our part by recruiting members into our group each time we go to a club

• By pushing back against the unfair governance of our clubs by email, FB posts and raising awareness of the issues 

• By voting as a block each time we are called upon to vote

• By demanding that elections information be posted on the Embarc member site, on the Embarc member Facebook pages, at the Clubs! DRI suppresses votes by only sending the information by email or nondescript postcard. It is a proven fact that emails from organisations have an “open rate” of less than 30% on average. Using only emails (and the undistinguished postal card) to announce elections, effectively allows DRI to suppress the vote while claiming to have done their duty.

• By joining the new not-for-profit Embarc Owners Association when it is launched and consolidating our power.

• By growing our numbers in the coming years, we can beat DRI at the election polls – and once we’ve done it the first time, we can do it again the following year – meaning that we CAN have 3 members on the Embarc board representing member interests. 

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What is the cost involved? Almost nothing! With a tangible result that doesn’t involve court costs and years of litigation!

 

That’s why I’m not disappointed in this year’s election results – I’m thrilled with our member engagement. 

 

We WILL overcome – time and determination will allow us to achieve our goals.
 
 

Thank you all!

 

Chantal