Friday 30 March 2012

The Decline of City Tattersalls Club - who is to blame ?

There is no question that City Tattersalls Club has gone downhill dramatically since Tony Guilfoyle started in the top job. But he is only an employee, answerable to the Committee. It is the Committee who are supposed to be in charge, in this or any other members club. So who is to blame ?

The rot started with John Healy - the Chairman in 2006
If you want to understand why City Tatts is the way it is today, you have to go back to 2006. In 2006 it was already obvious that Tony Guilfoyle was a disaster for the Club. In an attempt to get the Committee to take action before it was too late, members called a Special General Meeting to pass the following four motions:

  1. That the International Buffet be reopened
  2. That major building works be approved by members
  3. That remuneration of the highest paid employees be reduced in line with industry averages
  4. That the Committee stop the reduction in facilities and amenities in the Club
Not only were these problems obvious at the time but everything that has happened since then proves just how right members were in seeking action.

John Healy's reaction to the four motions
If Healy had any brains he would have prosposed these ideas himself long before the members did. And if he had an ounce of integrity he would have supported the members after they proposed them. Instead he embarked on an insane, spiteful crusade to crush the proposals:

  • First, he got legal advice to deny members the right to vote on the motions at the meeting !
  • Next, as Chairman of the meeting, his spiteful performance set a new low in dealing with members of City Tattersalls Club
  • Following the meeting, he then took the astonishing step of removing the right of members to put forward a motion at any meeting (and got this approved with the aid of postal voters)
  • And finally, he did absolutely nothing about the problems that caused the motions !
It is worth noting that Patrick Campion was on the Committee at the time and fully supported everything that Healy did.

John Healy has a lot to answer for
Apart from the damage he did while he was there, he set new low standards for running City Tattersalls Club that are still there today. He was the first Chairman to spend insane amounts of members' money on legal advice to use against members - something that continues to this day. In fact, since that 2006 meeting the Club has spent over $500,000 on legal fees, mainly to silence members. He was also the first to put more effort into attacking members who noticed problems in the Club than he did in fixing those problems - again something that still happens today. The one good outcome of the 2006 meeting was that within a year he decide not to run again for Chairman.

But make no mistake - in the decline of City Tattersalls Club the rot started with John Healy.

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