As an aside, it might be healthy to have some turnover. With club full we may miss a generation of new members.
Mike
That seems a very cavalier approach to me. After all you are on committee to represent these people. It's not just about shareholdings and percentages but about it being a club. These people you are happy to lose have probably invested time, effort and money to help make the club what it is. Why would you want to treat them like that ?
Or look at it from the other angle. If you don't get your way and the plans aren't approved, will you and your colleagues on committee resign to let in fresh blood ?
Niall
Niall,
I think there is a very large difference between seeking to take care of long-time members who have supported the club through thick and thin (and there ARE ways to do that, even at times of dues increases and assessments) vs dealing with club members who are simply obstructionists and chronic complainers. And I think it’s fair to say that both obstructionists and chronic complainers tend to be older members.
If Mike is at a member owned club, then a long-range planning committee is pretty essential; capital improvements never cease to necessary. I don’t know the steps in approval of long-range plans at Mike’s club, but typically at member owned clubs there would be some sort of a vote after the committee had submitted plans to the membership. I suppose it wouldn’t be unheard of for committee members to leave if the plan wasn’t ratified by the membership, but certainly a particular committee member might view the rejection as meaning that the club would face facilities problems down the road that might make another club more attractive.
Private clubs lose members all the time; job related transfers, changes in family situations and finances, and, of course, death. The club had better figure out ways to get new members to come in, otherwise the club dies on the vine. And losing members who don’t want change in the interests of the long term health of the club, AND who bitch about it constantly isn’t a bad loss in the life of a club. There is a point at which the club management simply has to say, “Ok, we’ve listened, and we understand your concerns, but perhaps YOU should consider that you might be happier at another club.”