VOTING AT THE 2023 SANDHURST BOARD ELECTIONS
The Sandhurst election and AGM material was released to shareholders today with a long list of candidates. Several people have contacted us asking for help on voting so as to achieve our goal of change in the direction of the Sandhurst Board.
We have compiled some important information in relation to how the voting works and how it is tallied to help you vote effectively and as you intend. So please read this to understand the tricks inherent in the voting system, particularly in relation to chairman proxies.
Important voting Information
· Voting is now open to all shareholders via the digital VERO Voting system.
· If you are a SHAL shareholder, golf shareholder or residential property owner, you should have received an email this morning from support@verovoting.com.au with a link to vote or provide a proxy
o If you haven’t received it check your junk folder or search for vero in the search bar
o Contact the club if you haven’t received your Vero voting link to chase it up
o The email link should also include your username ID and a password you need to use when voting
o You can use the vero voting link to vote, abstain or allocate your vote to someone else as a proxy
· The first section asks for your proxy and if you leave it blank it automatically assumes the chair is the proxy, so if you leave it blank make sure you answer all the lines yes, no or abstain.
o If you don’t appoint a proxy and leave any resolution lines blank, then we believe the proxy for that resolution automatically goes to the proxy, or Chairman - if the proxy is left blank
o If you want change do not allocate your proxy to the chairman, instead write the name of a change candidate to allocate your proxy to. This means their YES/NO voting format will be applied for your vote
o SANDHURST CLUB PROXY: If you are not sure what to vote you can appoint Susanne Horman as proxy for Sandhurst Club Pty Ltd.
o SHAL PROXY: We are looking out for a person to proxy Sandhurst Holdings votes as you need to be a shareholder to be the proxy (we are checking this, but Sonya gave that ruling today). If you know of someone who is a SHAL member and could manage proxy votes for the change focussed group please email cr.sandhurst@gmail.com so we can provide this to interested people.
o In the absence of a proxy, please ensure you vote yes or no on each resolution for your vote to count.
· Voting for the upcoming election involves indicating a YES, NO or abstain for each candidate
· It is just as important to write NO for the candidates who don’t want change, as it is to write a YES for those that do.
· Typically, only 300 or so shareholders vote or provide proxies each year.
o So most shareholders never vote!
o With approximately 1800 shareholders, it has been a low percentage of shareholders involved in guiding our future for the past 8 years
o Last year 100 YES votes were enough to be appointed to the Board
This year let’s aim for several hundred YES votes for change. This will send a strong message to the existing Board members not to block change, regardless of the outcome and who ends up on the Board!
Bios for candidates for Sandhurst Club Pty Ltd (resident and golf shareholders) can be found here (5 positions available):
https://www.sandhurst.com/assets/documents/Notice-of-AGM-Sandhurst-Club-2023.pdf
Bios for candidates for Sandhurst Holdings Pty Ltd (SHAL asset holding company shareholders) can be found here (6 positions available):
https://www.sandhurst.com/assets/documents/Notice-of-AGM-Sandhurst-Holdings-2023.pdf
Whilst we are not advising how to vote, we have read all of the candidate bios and we note that the candidates below have advocated change/balance in their profiles. These are the people we are voting for because this aligns with our view on what would most benefit Sandhurst shareholders, including both golfers and residents. Some of these candidates are also board endorsed which will give them votes from the chair.
Change Focussed/balanced board advocates (7)
· Susanne Horman
· Andre Olschyna
· Grant Norton
· Lee Atkinson
· Craig Allen
· Keith Hopkins
· Tom Clarke
We are voting NO for candidates who aren’t promoting change/balance in the board.
Most important of all is to vote. This will indicate growing member engagement in the club and demonstrate to the board there is change in the air and people want to hold them accountable.
We wish all candidates well and look forward to the results being announced. For those with questions or comments you can reach us on cr.sandhurst@gmail.com
Happy voting everyone!