DATELINE :- 2nd August 2000
PAINTER RETURNS
Howard Painter back on the 'inside'
Howard Painter, a former chairman of the British Sub-Aqua Club, is back on the club's ruling council - four years after resigning as a director of BSAC International.
Chairman from 1993-96, Painter - an accountant by profession - also worked for the club's commercial arm, which manages the sale of BSAC training through schools. Increasingly concerned at management standards, he resigned in March '96 over what he perceived to be vague accounting records.
Two months later he was also gone as Chairman. He remained a club member but was expelled as a senior instructor on the BSAC Instructor Training Scheme, a move he says was unconstitutional.
Over the next three years, under the chairmanship of Chris Allen, the club embarked on aggressive commercial expansion which culminated in last year's financial crisis. An inquiry concluded that it had been incompetently managed.
Through that period, Painter remained one of the club's sternest critics. Today he says: "The membership was ignored or treated with contempt, in pursuit of commercial ideals which were patently out of control." So why go back now?
"I want to get to the bottom of a few things, and the best way to do that is on the inside," Painter told Diver. "I've always valued the membership. It was just the dark era that the last administration led the BSAC into that appalled me."
Now, in a partial, co-opting election to replace five withdrawing members, Painter has been voted back on to the governing council by people who back his desire to "sort out a few things". Despite a new (co-opted) chairman and the departure of business director David Roberts, Painter maintains that not enough has changed.
"There are still members of the old administration who should have gone," he says. "As a member of Council, I'll be able to keep a closer eye on people's performances. It's widely known that, in my opinion, the Treasurer, Maureen Coulthard, should have resigned once it was confirmed that the finances had been so badly handled. She's still there."
Another issue for Painter is the performance of Council. After the inquiry, renewed efforts were made to be more accountable to members but, according to Painter, there is still room for improvement: "Following the inquiry report, I put questions which were not answered to my satisfaction."
He also describes as "appalling" the presentation of the latest set of club accounts. "I'll be contributing ideas on improving the BSAC's service to members and generally bringing back some sanity to the running of the club."