Dear Bernard .......

[Reefton]

Now Bernard.......

One of the things your little venue review plan uses as its primary plank is how much will be saved by shutting down all these courses.

Now to your credit you are prepared to travel the country and come to places like the Coast to put up with the demented ravings of people like me(I do not imagine any of the non entities who make up your Board will front but anyway.....)

I suppose you wonder how the hell Clubs like mine claim to cost the industry nothing are you?

Well Bernard here is the first thing my club doesn't do.

It doesn't ask the Secretary to provide catering for every Committee or AGM meeting it holds.

So why have you asked for catering to be provided(no doubt at NZTR's - read the NZ Racing Industry's - cost) at the West Coast meeting?(an no doubt every other one around NZ?)

You see Bernard this is why we have have managed to survive (if not prosper) for so long 

Because we are CAREFUL with our money and do not incur unnecessary expense (a quality and protocol NZTR - and NZB - does not seem to be able to appreciate)

It might not be a lot of money (it is requested as finger food and I imagine a cup of tea) but why waste $500 or so of industry money feeding people(half of them will be like me and too bloody fat already) Bernard??????

It is easy to spend money when it is not yours.

 

[Horseboy]

Isn't there a distinction missing...

A club operating at no loss on it's own balance sheet

Vs

The long term cost to the governing body to maintain that track

and before you have a crack at me i'm not bagging Reefton! 

[Rowley Mile]

Oh so bloody well said Reefton, good on you.  There is a culture at those two boards, it cam out in the audit, the costs are despicable ! and that's being kind.

If it was the board of Coles/Myer or BHP there would be hell to pay, how this has been allowed to roll on is disgusting, none of them are accountable, until that stops, and hell will freeze over first, it will continue.......

[Reefton]

16 minutes ago, Horseboy said:

Isn't there a distinction missing...

A club operating at no loss on it's own balance sheet

Vs

The long term cost to the governing body to maintain that track

and before you have a crack at me i'm not bagging Reefton! 

You have had a go at me before and got burnt off

I will use little words because you are clearly not terribly bright

it does not cost the New Zealand Industry one cent to 'maintain' the Reefton track

If you cannot contribute some thing intelligent to the conversation don't bother posting

'Tis better to remain quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it'

[Chief Stipe]

The only cost to the industry would be the cost of travel and accommodation to the Coast race meetings for the requisite officials on race day.  I doubt you would see anyone during the rest of the year.

The smaller clubs have been living off the hind tit of the cow for decades and have always maintained their own tracks.  Thankfully I'd say given the massive costly cock ups done on the so called bigger club tracks.  Otaki, Awapuni, Pukekohe, Ellerslie all come to mind.

 

[Reefton]

Actually given that the cynic in me(99.9999% of me to be fair) says that these closures are a fait accompli I might question why Bernard is even bothering travelling the Country because it is not like it is going to achieve or change anything?

Might get Bernard a bit of a tiki tour around the Country but cost the industry a fortune?

Better if he wants to play the good cop to set up a video link one might have thought???

[Mark D]

56 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

The only cost to the industry would be the cost of travel and accommodation to the Coast race meetings for the requisite officials on race day.  I doubt you would see anyone during the rest of the year.

The smaller clubs have been living off the hind tit of the cow for decades and have always maintained their own tracks.  Thankfully I'd say given the massive costly cock ups done on the so called bigger club tracks.  Otaki, Awapuni, Pukekohe, Ellerslie all come to mind.

 

Yip its a lie and always has been but

 

[nomates]

1 hour ago, Horseboy said:

Isn't there a distinction missing...

A club operating at no loss on it's own balance sheet

Vs

The long term cost to the governing body to maintain that track

and before you have a crack at me i'm not bagging Reefton! 

Perhaps before wading into these conversations with questions perhaps you could inform people what the costs incurred by the ' governing body " are to maintain Reefton or any other of the tracks listed to close . Perhaps if you had provided that information first " REEFTON " wouldn't have given you a rap over the knuckles .

[Freda]

3 minutes ago, nomates said:

Perhaps before wading into these conversations with questions perhaps you could inform people what the costs incurred by the ' governing body " are to maintain Reefton or any other of the tracks listed to close . Perhaps if you had provided that information first " REEFTON " wouldn't have given you a rap over the knuckles .

I'd like to know those figures too.

[Rowley Mile]

Count me in!

[Chief Stipe]

12 minutes ago, nomates said:

Perhaps before wading into these conversations with questions perhaps you could inform people what the costs incurred by the ' governing body " are to maintain Reefton or any other of the tracks listed to close . Perhaps if you had provided that information first " REEFTON " wouldn't have given you a rap over the knuckles .

Well Bernard will argue that "the industry" needs to upgrade the infrastructure to meet OSH and other legislative requirements.  He could argue that it is a cost to "the industry".  However the flaw in the argument is that clubs like Reefton, although they struggle, do get by with community help and volunteers.

No doubt over the years the local sawmill or the odd farmer has dropped a pack or two of timber off at the local course.

Now if Bernard is going to use NZTR funds to "assist" clubs in getting their infrastructure up to speed then "the industry" costs will increase because you don't see the likes of Te Rapa and Ellerslie members taking their suits or high heels off and getting down to the track to install new kit in the stables.

[nomates]

That would be the first and only question that has to be asked , Reefton knows what NZTR give him to maintain his track , so any answer would be very interesting . They might have the person responsible for the new FOB platform because that person sure knows how to " shine a turd " .

[nomates]

2 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well Bernard will argue that "the industry" needs to upgrade the infrastructure to meet OSH and other legislative requirements.  He could argue that it is a cost to "the industry".  However the flaw in the argument is that clubs like Reefton, although they struggle, do get by with community help and volunteers.

No doubt over the years the local sawmill or the odd farmer has dropped a pack or two of timber off at the local course.

Now if Bernard is going to use NZTR funds to "assist" clubs in getting their infrastructure up to speed then "the industry" costs will increase because you don't see the likes of Te Rapa and Ellerslie members taking their suits or high heels off and getting down to the track to install new kit in the stables.

He might want to use that as his argument but the reality is most of these clubs have been surviving without any assistance from NZTR for a number of years , on as you say gifts and massive amounts of volunteer hours and goodwill so it's only an issue for them now because it suits their agenda . OSH etc have been around for long enough now for it to have been an issue long before now if was going to be .

[Reefton]

Its accounting bullshit whereby they say 'well we have to have all these staff at HQ to service the industry  so we will say that each club/course costs us so much' 

So they can say $1m a year to employ them divided by 50 clubs/Courses equals $20,000 per club/course and that is what it costs to maintain Reefton racecourse (say)

Which would be fine if , when they shut the ten racecourses, the salaries decreased by $200,000.  But as we all know they won't and there will be fewer clubs to shoulder the  same burden.

They blind us with BS to back up this theory and carry on the same way they always did until the whole thing collapses under the weight of bureaucracy.

Solid Energy was an example - for every actual coal miner they had seven other staff - so when he went down the hole he was expected to generate enough to pay eight wages/salaries.  When things got tough in the mining game what did SE do?  _ sacked a heap of miners so when he went down the hole next time he was carrying twelve other staff wages/salaries on his back.  And then they wondered why the whole thing went belly up!

[Chief Stipe]

1 minute ago, nomates said:

He might want to use that as his argument but the reality is most of these clubs have been surviving without any assistance from NZTR for a number of years , on as you say gifts and massive amounts of volunteer hours and goodwill so it's only an issue for them now because it suits their agenda . OSH etc have been around for long enough now for it to have been an issue long before now if was going to be .

Just as the "Meeting Abandonment" issue is a red herring.  

[nomates]

2 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Just as the "Meeting Abandonment" issue is a red herring.  

Exactly , synthetic tracks are a waste of time IMO , i believe they will become another white elephant , i hope i'm wrong .

[Reefton]

2 minutes ago, nomates said:

He might want to use that as his argument but the reality is most of these clubs have been surviving without any assistance from NZTR for a number of years , on as you say gifts and massive amounts of volunteer hours and goodwill so it's only an issue for them now because it suits their agenda . OSH etc have been around for long enough now for it to have been an issue long before now if was going to be .

The whole OSH thing is a red herring because every raceday the Club's appointed 'OSH' man(in our case me) has to have a meeting with the stipes about hazards or issues.  And you can bet if something happened NZTR would be doing their darnest to pin the blame on the Club and/or the OSH man. 

More BS to justify their existance.

Why am I the only club admin person in NZ(bar perhaps Curious) prepared to expose these wankers and their carry on?  

 

[nomates]

4 minutes ago, Reefton said:

Its accounting bullshit whereby they say 'well we have to have all these staff at HQ to service the industry  so we will say that each club/course costs us so much' 

So they can say $1m a year to employ them divided by 50 clubs/Courses equals $20,000 per club/course and that is what it costs to maintain Reefton racecourse (say)

Which would be fine if , when they shut the ten racecourses, the salaries decreased by $200,000.  But as we all know they won't and there will be fewer clubs to shoulder the  same burden.

They blind us with BS to back up this theory and carry on the same way they always did until the whole thing collapses under the weight of bureaucracy.

Solid Energy was an example - for every actual coal miner they had seven other staff - so when he went down the hole he was expected to generate enough to pay eight wages/salaries.  When things got tough in the mining game what did SE do?  _ sacked a heap of miners so when he went down the hole next time he was carrying twelve other staff wages/salaries on his back.  And then they wondered why the whole thing went belly up!

As i said the reason they might have a turd polisher with them .

[nomates]

Just now, Reefton said:

The whole OSH thing is a red herring because every raceday the Club's appointed 'OSH' man(in our case me) has to have a meeting with the stipes about hazards or issues.  And you can bet if something happened NZTR would be doing their darnest to pin the blame on the Club and/or the OSH man. 

More BS to justify their existance.

Why am I the only club admin person in NZ(bar perhaps Curious) prepared to expose these wankers and their carry on?  

 

Don't want to rock the boat , just in case being quiet might save them or else they are one of the clubs in the inner sanctum .

[Reefton]

6 minutes ago, nomates said:

As i said the reason they might have a turd polisher with them .

'Turd polisher'????

Excrement embellishment technician pleeeeaasse!

[nomates]

You sound like you may have been employed by NZTR at some stage , come on own up .

[Reefton]

2 minutes ago, nomates said:

You sound like you may have been employed by NZTR at some stage , come on own up .

I've been annoyed by them but never employed by them no.

They just have this culture shared by central and local government agencies of 'we know best' and 'the taxpayer/ratepayer/stakeholder will pay'. Just crap

[nomates]

7 minutes ago, Reefton said:

I've been annoyed by them but never employed by them no.

They just have this culture shared by central and local government agencies of 'we know best' and 'the taxpayer/ratepayer/stakeholder will pay'. Just crap

Suits justifying their salaries , they have ruined the world , politicians , bankers , lawyers etc . Everything is decided by money , greed rules all . Look at Peters , everybody thinks he's the saviour of racing , he's in this purely for him , nothing will come of anything he's spouting . We could be a worm farm and if he thought he could score points helping us he would .

[Freda]

1 hour ago, Reefton said:

The whole OSH thing is a red herring because every raceday the Club's appointed 'OSH' man(in our case me) has to have a meeting with the stipes about hazards or issues.  And you can bet if something happened NZTR would be doing their darnest to pin the blame on the Club and/or the OSH man. 

More BS to justify their existance.

Why am I the only club admin person in NZ(bar perhaps Curious) prepared to expose these wankers and their carry on?  

 

It's in your genes,  Reefton.

By the same token,  there will be other small club and/or admin personnel who feel the same,  but they just won't be as eloquent.

The ability to cut to the chase is not to be sneezed at.

[Tiger Tiger]

Reefton, it might be wise (if you have the time) to enlighten some on here about how the Club funding works for Reefton etc - I think it will help some people understand the financial contribution (outside of stake funding) that NZTR make and what it helps support on a raceday 

CS - I know from your posts you have a deep dislike for Ellerslie, but I am curious to understand the " massive costly cock up" that Ellerslie did with their track. From all reports that i had read / heard (i.e NZ Top Trainers, Jockeys etc) they are unanimous in their praise for the drainage upgrade that the Club did (and paid for themselves)