In an unprecedented move in the history of the sport of local gymnastics, one of the voting delegates is seeking to have the results overturned and is calling the conduct of the elections “a travesty of democracy”. Bahamas Gymnastics Parent Booster Club who is one of two member clubs under the Gymnastics Federation of the Bahamas is claiming irregularities in the electoral process.
BGPBC’s first argument is that the incumbent President was given a casting ballot to decide the outcome of the election. Romell Knowles, secretary-general of the Bahamas Olympic Committee, who moderated the election insisted that it is the norm in elections of other federations and sporting entities to allow the President to use a casting vote to break a tie. BGPBC objected during the elections that casting votes are not permitted “in an election” scenario but Knowles overrode the objection.
The GFB's Constitution allows for a second round of voting in the event of a tie and is silent on how the tie is to be broken. Knowles and BGPBC agreed that Roberts Rule of Order govern how the tie was to be broken but disagreed that the President had a casting vote ”in an election”. Knowles and Cora Hepburn who is a member of the BOC and the incumbent Vice President insisted that it is the norm in other sporting federations and clubs for the tie to be broken by the President in their experience.
BGPBC contends that no executives are allowed to vote in an election so for Knowles to transfer voting power to an incumbent executive “runs afoul of everything sacred in democracy”. Knowles and Hepburn should know this fact as members of the Bahamas Olympic Committee as the International Olympic Committee has mandated that executives not be allowed to vote in any general election. All local federations were mandated to comply without exception.
Incumbent president Barbara Thompson was first handed the casting ballot by Knowles who in turn passed the ballot to Cora Hepburn the incumbent VP and a member of her slate to choose the President. Hepburn chose Thompson as President and the ballot was passed back to Thompson to select the remaining members of the Executive Committee. Thompson chose Lenise Flowers as Secretary-General from BGPBC’s slate of nominees. Cora Hepburn as Vice President and Renee Moore from Thompson’s own slate were hand picked by her to complete the executive committee. Flowers immediately declined the position of Secretary-General.
“Watching this transfer of power from General Assembly members to executives was stomach wrenching and sickening,” offered a member of BGPBC who attended. “If we are wrong on our interpretation of Roberts Rule at the end of the day, we will be the first to admit to it and apologize for creating a tempest in a tea cup but if we are proven right, we will fight for justice and equity on behalf of athletes in our sport and other disciplines to ensure that this course of behavior is never repeated especially when it violates so many tenets of fairness”
Amidst BGPBC’s strong and obvious clear objections, Knowles offered both clubs to expand the Executive Committee by four positions to allow for more parity. BGPBC and Nassau gymnastics agreed to amend the Constitution and the positions of First Vice-President, Asst. Secretay-General, Asst. Treasurer and Council Member were added. Other members of the BGPBC slate agreed to fill the positions. Dr. Tracy Roberts-Halkitis filled the post of First Vice-President, Nicola Thompson as asst-Treasurer and Rufus Swann as Council Member. Nassau Gymnastiscs would announce asst- Secretary-General at a later date.
BGPBC also questioned whether Nassau Gymnastics was in financial standing per the Constitution to vote in the elections. Barbara Thompson gave the assurance that they were after consulting with Nikita Thompson-Wells, the outgoing Treasurer. Thompson-Wells’ financial report was wrought with so many errors that an Extraordinary General Meeting has been set in two weeks for the report to be retabled. BGPBC’s viewed that since the financials were so flawed, the possibility that the eligibility of Nassau Gymnastics as a member in good financial standing is questionable.
Ahead of the elections, BGPBC questioned whether NN was in good financial standing to even be permitted to nominate a slate of candidates. The question was never addressed and so when raised at the meeting, the response given was affirmative but doubt remains as the report tabled by Thompson-Wells reflected a non-payment by NN. The report covered the period to August 31.
In 2012 elections, BGPBC was faced with a similar scenario. They questioned after the elections whether dues were paid by Nassau Gymnastics based on suspicions raised from the financials tabled at the 2012 Annual General Meeting. It was later confirmed that BGPBC’s suspicions were not unfounded when the Treasurer tabled the report that NN was not current and therefore not eligible to vote during those elections but BGPBC in the spirit of good will did not seek to have those elections overturned. Over the course of the years since its admission in GFB’s memberships, BGPBC has given up many rights with the hopes of achieving better cooperation in the sport.
BGPBC is questioning another action on Knowles’ part. The Constitution gives members the right to request inspection of the financial books and records at any meeting. BGPBC made a submission ahead of the AGM but the records were not made available. Knowles injected that the request was setting a “dangerous precedence”. BGPBC objected that it is a constitutional right but Knowles pushed that an audit or review should be requested if the work of the Treasurer could not be trusted. He further pushed his point that the course of action by BGPBC would discourage people from serving in a volunteer capacity as many have busy lives and commitments.
Earlier this year, BGPBC found it necessary to report the GFB’s Executive Committee to the Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG) for irregularities. Amongst the reported issues were failure to hold AGMs as none were held since 2012, failure to submit regular Minutes of Meetings Held and failure to table financial statements (none tabled for more than a year and half). In 2014, BGPBC reported these matters to BOC but there was not action taken. After BGPBC submitted their concerns to FIG, the BOC was contacted by the world governing body to oversee resolution of the matters. BOC gave assurances that the matters could be resolved internally.
Based on past experience with the GFB’s elections and strained relations between the GFB and BGPBC, the club requested election monitoring by FIG.
“We ought to be able to trust that individuals reposed with the duty of public trust and confidence would be objective in the exercise of their duties. We are deeply saddened that since 2012, we find it difficult to place our confidence and trust in the administration of the sport of gymnastics based on our experience. This ought not to be if the focus is truly on the athletes. We suspect that the cry from the GFB would be that we should be celebrating the accomplishments of sending gymnasts off to the World Championships and we do. We celebrate all levels of achievement in this sport and any others. Achievements and accomplishments do not and should never be an excuse for not conducting sports administration with integrity.”
BGPBC hopes that the irregularities of Saturday’s elections are quickly and properly addressed for the betterment of the sport and for the athletes.
“America sent astronauts to the moon but still had to deal with civil rights issues on planet Earth and they continue to do so. We have sent gymnasts off to the World Championships but unless we address the cancer of entitlements and partiality in our midst, we will face greater challenges and hurdles to improving the sports”.
Please click here for the Gymnastics Federation Constitution- 2009.
