Residents Issue Letter and Petition to Transform White Hill Community Club
On Monday March 7, concerned members of the White Hill community in Sandys wrote a letter to the executive board of the White Hill community club.
The letter began by stressing the importance that community clubs have been throughout Bermuda’s history in terms of bringing a sense of unity to their respective neighborhoods.
According to the letter, however, this sense of unity and community collaboration is currently not
felt within the White Hill community.
“ [Us area residents] have been noticing over many years the reluctance to be included in the community and outright attempts [by the club] to shut the community out,” the letter read.
“ We are now lacking in democracy, elected leaders and accountability, [which resulted in] a club run by the few to the exclusion of the many.”
According to the letter, one of the main decisions that have excluded members of the community was the decision to annex the center and club, which has shut out the majority of the
community.
“ However well-intended it might be, we do not believe that the current method and philosophy controlling our community center and club is suited for a task of creating a unified community or fostering the growth of the White Hill area,” the letter continued. “ From the lack of a physical building to the performance of our sports teams, it is clear that the current [leadership] approach has failed and the state of our organization has become an embarrassment to our community.”
Members of the club currently see no way to freely choose their president, vice-president and treasurer, nor do they see an easy way for community members to obtain membership.
“ We have a failing football team, cricket team and club-community relationship,” the letter states. “ So today, we are demanding an immediate meeting with unelected persons to whom this letter is addressed.”
Members of the White Hill community are calling on the unelected E-board at the club to do the following: present a clear and simple process for members of the White Hill community to receive club membership, to immediately resign from their respective posts and hold a free and fair democratic process for new E-Board members and to allow residents and community stakeholders to bring some fresh ideas to the table while creating a process to prevent what is currently happening behind the scenes at the club from ever happening again.
“ The state of our club and community has been allowed to deteriorate for far too long, and although we do not seek to place blame on a select few individuals, it is clear that any coordinated effort to take back our community requires an institution which allows all residents an equal voice and where we can move in one direction with elected leadership who guide, empower and lead members of this community only with their consent,” the letter continued. “
Any club or community where key community assets, programs and institutions are ruled only
by a select-few is unsustainable and cannot succeed.”
According to the letter, the community has given the E-Board one week to communicate an action plan with them regarding moving forward.
In addition to the letter, a petition to “restore democracy to the club” has been circulating both online and within the community. As of 5 p.m. on Thursday evening ( March 17), the online petition has 131 signatures and, as of Tuesday afternoon, the handheld petition had over 100
signatures.
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