The election for the CRT Council is under way. Polling opened on 13th November and ends on 11th December at midnight. There are two candidates who are liveaboard boaters without home moorings who we believe will support our interests. These are firstly Ruth McCabe, who also runs the boater-friendly and environment-friendly Save The Date cafe in London, and secondly trade unionist Stella Ridgway who travels in the north west. Stella Ridgway is a member of the NABO Council. In addition, a third liveaboard candidate, Jim Owen, who resigned as Chair of the RBOA early this year, says that CRT should scrap its minimum distance for boaters without home moorings. Jim Owen lives in a marina in the north west.
Although CRT has tried to solve the problems caused by the IWA grabbing all the seats in the last election by creating an additional seat for the IWA, Vaughan Welch – who once advocated that IWA members should spy on continuous cruisers in the Birmingham area – is standing as a candidate, despite being an IWA official. Like the rest of the IWA, he is opposed to the interests of liveaboard boaters without home moorings.
There are only eight candidates in the private boater election, unlike the last election where the number of candidates was both confusing and so large that it split the votes of those who wanted to see boaters unconnected to the IWA being elected.
The election is being run by Electoral Reform Services (ERS). This time all voting is online but those without an email address will be sent their unique code by post. If you still have not received an email or letter with your unique code, then you should contact ERS on 020 8889 9203 or onlinevoting@electoralreform.co.uk
http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/anti-liveaboard-candidates-win-crt-election/
http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/crt-council-member-urges-iwa-to-spy-on-law-abiding-boaters/
Tags: continuous cruising, CRT Council, elections, Electoral Reform Services, IWA, Jim Owen, liveaboards, NABO, RBOA, Ruth McCabe, Stella Ridgway