Body Positive’s chairperson and board have been rolled at a closed Special General Meeting (SGM) in Auckland.
The SGM was triggered when a group of the organisation’s members signed a petition asking for the resignation of board chairperson Ashley Barratt. With no resignation forthcoming, the petitioners triggered the SGM which removed Barratt and his board from office.
The petitioners citied a “lack of transparency” in the decisions being made by the board and the recent closure of the organisation’s Wellington branch as reasons for the petition.
The meeting was held behind closed doors with only members of Body Positive allowed to attend. The motion put forward by the petitioners was one of no confidence in the board, which passed 86 – 37 votes with 11 abstentions.
Speaking to express shortly after the vote, outgoing chairperson Ashley Barratt said he was “obviously disappointed” with decision made at the SGM. “The board has worked hard. We did what we could to try and better communicate our message. One of the issues was obviously around communication. But I guess we haven’t done enough.”
Asked if he was surprised by the outcome of the vote, Mr Barratt says “I am quite frankly.”
There will be a meeting on December 5 to elect a new board. Mr Barratt says “those who voted no confidence [in the outgoing board] will now have a chance to put themselves forward.”
Mr Barratt is not ruling out the possibility of standing again for a position on the board saying “I haven’t made a decision on that yet.”
