In a defiant comment on the Deni RSL Club’s post on the situation last week, Mr Stone stated: “Unfortunately members, my ‘standing down’ as chair is not true. I have written to the vice chair Mr Stuart Calagaz and informed him that I am an RSL member in accordance with the constitution and therefore have not lost my rights as a member.”
Mr Stone claims there has been “an attempted ‘stitch up’ to prevent me from moving a motion at the next board meeting to spill the board and conduct fresh elections for appropriately skilled directors”.
He continued: “I will be taking my rightful place as chair of the board at the next meeting. I have been elected by the members to be a director and therefore these wishes should not be thwarted by a cynical group of directors against the interests of the club.”
Mr Stone’s removal as chair of the RSL Club came within a week of a decision by Edward River Council to immediately terminate his contract as chief executive officer.
In a letter to RSL Club members last week local businessman Stuart Calagaz, signing off as the club’s ‘chair’, said Mr Stone’s membership had lapsed “and as per the constitution, to hold a position on the Board of Directors a member must be a financial member for two consecutive years. As such, at the meeting of the board of directors on March 26, 2024 I was voted as chair and Martin Wilmshurst as deputy chair”.
In his social media post, Mr Stone acknowledged he was three days overdue “from paying my RSL sub branch subscriptions but this is simply a donation to the sub branch and not a membership fee for the club as sub branch fees are not mandatory”.
“What this letter (from the chair) failed to say was that, following this alleged membership lapse, my ‘application for membership’ was ‘declined’ by the board at the following meeting with no reason stated,” Mr Stone continued.
Mr Stone claimed the board had presided over a substantial decline in the club’s finances, a lack of due process and governance, and poor leadership over the last five to six years.
“I have been the only director prepared to hold management to account and bring about appropriate change for the betterment of the club,” he said.
Mr Stone said he would be “taking my rightful place as chair of the board at the next meeting. I have been elected by the members to be a director and therefore these wishes should not be thwarted by a cynical group of directors against the interests of the club.
“All members should seek the resignation of the board at the next annual general meeting on May 21 - look out for the announcement and save the date and please turn up if you love your club.”
Mr Stone’s tenure in Deniliquin since moving here as council’s CEO has been plagued with controversy.
Most recently, it was revealed that ERC’s payroll had ballooned to almost $12 million, compared with a combined payroll of the former Deniliquin Council and Conargo Shire Council of $7.4 million.
An important component of the merger was considered to be an ability to reduce council’s payroll.
The Pastoral Times reached out to Mr Calagaz for comment on Mr Stone’s claims he would chair the next RSL Club board meeting and that there had been “lack of due process and governance and poor leadership”.
Mr Calagaz said he was not in a position to make comment at this stage.
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