You may have seen that we’ve been advertising to fill the role of Kiwiburn Treasurer for some time now. Here’s an update on what’s been happening with this position:
Kiwiburn has been without a Treasurer since the beginning of April when Andy resigned from the role of Acting Treasurer.
“ExCom wishes to thank Andy for the Treasury work he has done for the past 8 years – the first 4 years as Treasurer, and then the last 4 years continuing to fulfil the Acting Treasurer role in addition to being Chairperson. He has brought a wealth of knowledge on the financial management of non-profits, and an energy and commitment to the role which has resulted in Kiwiburn being in an exceptionally strong financial position, ensuring the success and longevity of Kiwiburn. Andy remains in his role of Chairperson.”
Why did Andy hold the Acting Treasurer role for four years?
Because despite advertising the Treasurer role for four years – since 2021 – no one else in the community put their hand up to take on the role permanently, and without a Treasurer the event and the Society could not proceed. It is difficult to run a Society or an event without budgets being developed, vendors getting paid, artists being reimbursed, taxes being paid, statutory returns being filed, etc. Andy agreed to continue fulfilling that key role whilst Kiwiburn attempted to recruit a replacement Treasurer simply to ensure Kiwiburn could be held in 2023, 2024, and 2025 (note 2022 was a gap year with Covid).
Unfortunately, everyone has their limits, and after four years of continued backlash and unfounded accusations and allegations toward Andy by a small group in the community, the final straw was the posting on public channels of such misinformed accusations that had the potential to impact his professional reputation, and therefore Andy immediately removed himself from this role and no longer wishes to be associated with the Treasury role at Kiwiburn Inc.
We would like to clarify to the community that neither our constitution nor the legislation which we are currently incorporated under prohibits the holding of two officer roles by one individual. We understand a misreading of those documents has given some members an incorrect impression and wish to take this opportunity to correct any misinformation that has been spread. Andy has always had the full support of ExCom during his terms as Treasurer and Acting Treasurer.
Lack of a Treasurer puts us at risk of not being able to effectively run the event as we wait on a community member to take up the challenge and work with us on the budgets, payments, reimbursements, taxes and annual returns.
In the interim all payments and reimbursements will be voted on by Excom. This means that payments will not be processed as quickly as in the past. Unfortunately this delay will continue while we recruit for a Treasurer.
The role of Treasurer has been one which we have had some difficulty in recruiting. Those of you who have taken the time to read the job description will realise that it’s one of the few in which our preferred candidate will have a relevant qualification and/or professional experience, along with Kiwiburn experience and, as an Officer of Kiwiburn, be willing to have their full legal name and contact details publicly available.
The ExCom team eagerly awaits all and any applications to join our team, and we encourage any members of our organisation that might be on the fence about applying to take the leap!
If you’re ready and willing to take that leap (thank you in advance!), you can read more about the role here, and when you’re ready to apply, you can do it here.
Image Credit: Pixabay
