By David

And so Swimming New Zealand has a new laird of the manor. Ross Butler has inherited the title of Acting President. I suspect he couldn’t wait to jump into the empty seat at the top of the Board Room table or have his new title printed on carefully crafted business cards. I met him in an Auckland pub not so long ago. He gave me the impression of being a rural artisan trying to make it in the big city; very concerned with appearances, maybe even a touch pretentious. Certainly full of small talk and hearty bon ami but without much substance, I thought.

There is no way Ross Butler is a long term solution to the top job in Swimming New Zealand. He has been there long enough to own his share of the Ineson litany of mistakes. The failings of the previous regime were the product of poor selection compounded by poor supervision and poor management. Butler was part of that problem. When you look closely at the current Board, who is there that understands the product – no one, certainly not Ross Butler. And the Chief Executive can’t provide the Board with any product knowledge. He knows as much about elite swimming as Ross Butler – that’s the blind leading the blind. No wonder the current Board couldn’t control the elite sport’s program. No one on that Board has a blind clue what the three words mean.

My concern just now is that the Coalition of Regions and others may be discussing Swimming New Zealand’s future with Butler as though he was there to stay. That would be a serious error. Never negotiate with terrorists. Of course I don’t mean that Butler is in any way similar to Mohammed Atta – he can’t fly an airplane for a start. But many of the principles are the same. Negotiating with Butler gives him legitimacy. “The Coalition of Regions is discussing the future with me,” he will say. “The Athlete’s Federation are talking to me about their member’s welfare,” he will add. And he will positively tingle describing the cosy relationship and “working understanding” he has with Bronwen Radford. You can bet your socks every last drop of PR spin will be extracted by Ross Butler in an effort to stay in the Chairman’s chair.

And the temptation to deal with him could be too high to resist just now. There has probably never been a better time to obtain a raft of generous concessions. Right now, I doubt there is much Butler would not agree to. American politicians are doing it all the time; buying favours. And for every favour the unspoken contract is – if I do this for you, I expect you to support my bid to stay in the President’s chair in two weeks time. That’s the deal. And for ten years we have all had far too much of that sort of dealing.

In this context, never negotiate with terrorists, is vitally important. Bronwen Radford and the Coalition of Regions won our support by taking on those who led swimming into a dark place. But, not only that. They won our support by offering a better way; by offering a more open form of government that kept its constituents informed. It would be distressing indeed if those responsible for the Coalition of Regions were now involved in secret negotiations that we knew nothing about. Distressing because it gives legitimacy to people who have failed this sport. Distressing because we thought the Coalition of Regions would not take part in Wellington, behind closed doors, deals. Distressing because we thought we would be told what the Coalition of Regions was doing. Distressing because of the thought that perhaps the previous Bay of Plenty newsletters were simply aimed at gaining our favour. Distressing because, pray God, the North Shore letter isn’t right after all. Never negotiate with terrorists; but if you are, come clean about it quickly and tell us.

Ah but, I hear some Swimwatch readers say, wasn’t it you that argued that the Coalition of Regions has the right to govern without referring every decision back to the membership? Now you are demanding to be consulted about every decision; every negotiation. That is not consistent. You are as bad as the North Shore Club’s Dr. Phil. He had a shot at running Auckland from a club office. So are you. Such an argument has validity. However in this case there is a difference.

If the Coalition of Regions is negotiating with the very people it asked for our support to remove and if those negotiations include Ross Butler remaining in a position of power on the Board of Swimming New Zealand then we are concerned. We are concerned because the Coalition may be riding rough shod through the principle of negotiating with terrorists and may be agreeing to a course of action 100% contrary to the one many New Zealanders supported. I support your negotiations – you do have the right to govern. But striking deals with Ross Butler shows all the integrity of a hungry rattle snake. We are sick of that sort of management. We have endured it for the past decade. It is the reason a letter from the North Shore Club has been included in the 2011 AGM general business The North Shore Club has no standing at the meeting and their letter arrived way passed the cut off date for including in the Agenda. But, to score political points, Butler ignored the rules, dismissed the Constitution and agreed to include it on the Agenda. It tells us all we need to know about the man from Nelson. He needs to be replaced – not empowered.

So, while it is fine to have negotiations, if those negotiations include striking deals with Ross Butler, then the New Zealand swimming community had better be publically informed very quickly and the explanation had better be very good, very open and very honest. The recent call for change in Swimming New Zealand was all about the integrity of the sport’s management. Swimwatch fought for a long time to see that change. Those who now assume positions of power will be held to the same standard. And back room deals done over a glass of Chardonnay in Wellington, if that is what we are about, are unlikely to meet that test.