Policy Details
Why You Should Vote For William Jacomb
This year the RACV limited Candidates Statement to 150 words. Please find
below the full details of my campaign platform.
Service Calls
Currently you can only carry one call forward each year and that is only if
you do not make a single call each year.
There are a number of serious problems with this system. They are:-
- At the 1996 AGM, the former chairman, Nigel Dick, stated that the average
member makes one and only one call a year.
This means that the "average" member can never carry calls forward!
- The first time a member finds out that they have no more calls is when the
patrolman tells them that they will have to pay extra for that call.
A better and fairer way would be to allow you to carry all of your unused
calls forward.
This would have the following benefits:-
- It would reward and recognise member's maintenance of the cars
and their long membership.
- It would mean that members would have a significant number of
calls which would encourage them to renew their membership.
- The members who were abusing the system would still be caught
out as they would not be able to carry calls forward because they
would rapidly use them up.
Insurance
RACV was founded with your money. Why aren't their rates more competitive
for members. They should be. Afterall your a member and not a number aren't
you?
Petrol Fuel Pricing
Petrol fuel prices, especially in the country, are a matter of grave concern.
The RACV response to date has been to have meetings in the country where
when all is said and done, lots was said but little has been done.
The RACV may claim that they have helped convince the Victorian Government to reduce petrol taxation. Howver since the Oil Companies have increased the prices accordingly. it is of little use.
The tragedy is that the RACV already knows how to effectively reduce fuel
prices by running price watch campaigns.
We did it a number of years ago in Mildura and it achieved dramatic success.
We should doing more of this rather than just complaining about it.
Modern Technology
The RACV needs to embrace modern technology to allow it to give better
service to members and take it into the 21st Century.
Why is the RACV Web Site not as sophisticated as the NRMA Site. On the NRMA site, not only can you sign up as a member but in addition there are areas which are only accessible by quoting your membership number.
Technology is the key to our future . We should be working it to death to give as much value for money benefits to our members.
Compare the two:-
RACV Webs Site is "http://www.racv.com.au"
The NRMA Web Site is "http://www.nrma.com.au".
RACV Repair Centre
Did you know that only those cars insured by RACV Insurance and those cars
that RACV is obliged to repair can be repaired at the repair centre.
If you don't insure with RACV Insurance you
cannot have your car repaired at the repair centre.
This is unfair.
The option to have a quality repair done by the RACV Repair Centre should
be available for all members and not just a select few.
Better Representation For Service Members
Currently Road Service Members pay in about $36M per year. Ordinary Members
pay in about $6M.
Despite paying in 600% more that ordinary members, service members are only
entitled to 40% of the seats on the Board.
This is clearly not equitable.
I myself am an ordinary member and this unfairness gravely concerns me!
Seats on the Board should be based on equality of contribution!
Use Of Intergraph
Currently RACV uses Intergraph for the dispatching of patrolmen.
Given the concerns expressed about Intergraph, should we be using it?
RACV Finance Gift Vouchers
RACV currently has a deal with Myers where if Myer Customers convert their
home loans to RACV Finance, they will receive upto $20000 in Myer Gift
Vouchers.
This regardless of whether they are an RACV member or not.
Surely RACV members should get a better deal from the company set up with
their own money!
Contactability
- If Board members are not easily contactable, are they really accountable?
- If Board Members are to represent member interests, they need to be easily
contactable by members to find out what the interests of members are.
- Through the Internet and freely giving out my address and phone details, I
will ensure that I am readily available to members to address their
concerns.
Fairer Election Procedures
Currently the Board uses an election system that was thrown out by the Australian Senate in 1919 as being manifestly unfair and unrepresentative.
Elections for the Board should be done using proper preferential voting system, such as we use for the House Of Representatives.
Consider last year, their was a dramatic vote against the incumbents. However they were returned.
Had a preferential voting system being used, it is likely that one incumbent and one of the independents would have been returned thus ensuring that all member interests were represented, not just a select few.
Its about time we used a fairer election system!
The Denying Of Members Of An Easy Opportunity To Know More About Candidates & Their Policies
In previous years, Candidates' Statements appeared in Royal Auto. This gave members the a convenient way to know what Candidates proposed to do for them if elected.
This year the RACV Board has changed the rules so that Candidates' Statements are no longer printed in Royal Auto.
How can members make an informed choice if they do not know what individual candidates' platforms are?
Once elected I will actively campaign to have candidates statements printed in Royal Auto.
In the meanwhile I am offering space on web site to all candidates to allow them to display their campaign statements.
Reducing The Election Period
Early this year, the RACV amended Bylaws to reduce the Election Period from the month of June to just 10 days. In addition, members can only pick up one ballot paper from RACV Offices and may not cast their vote their. The only place a ballot box will be is in 123 Queens Street, where you have to be an ordinary (social) club member in order to enter.
Why is this an issue?
Members Ballot Papers arrive in Royal Auto. In theory this should be delivered in the last week of May.
However, in previous years, I have had numerous complaints from members who have only received their Royal Auto in the third or last week of June.
Under the new rule, such members now run the risk of being effectively disenfranchised unless they are able to make a trip into a Branch Office or make special contact with the Club to obtain one.
Why did the Board cut the election period to only 10 days?
If you would like to talk to me on any of these issues or issues of your
own which I can address once elected to council, I can be contacted at
3/24 Straw Street, WEST BRUNSWICK, 9388 0073 (fax) 0414 724 565 or ) by
EMAIL.
E-Mail William
