ELECTED BY LOT

Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 1933, Page 16

ELECTED BY LOT

NAMES DRAWN FROM BOX. TRANSPORT BOARD CHAIRMAN. Auckland, May 9. Tile election of chairman of the Auckland Transport Board was decided yesterday by lot. The preliminary voting gave five votes to the sitting chairman, Mr. J. A. C. Allum, and five tm Mr. G. Grey Campbell. The names of. the two candidates were then shaken in a box. and the selection was made by chance. Mr. Allum was the lucky choice and he was duly declared elected. On the. secretary, Mr. W. St. J. Clarke, calling for nominations, Mr. Campbell was nominated by Mr. E. H. Potter and Mr. Allum by. Mr. G. R. Hutchinson. Mr. Hutchinson asked for a ruling whether . Mr. Grey Campbell was eligible, seeing he was a director of a bus company. The chairman of the Transport Board, he said, became ipso facto chairman of the Metropolitan Licensing Authority and it would surely be illegal for a person financially interested in a bus company to hold such a position. Mr. Grey Campbell said he was a director of the Marine Bus Company as the nominee of Trucks, Limited, a company which was now in liquidation. Mr. Allum said he wished to make a statement in justice to Mr. Grey Campbell and suggested that the board should go into committee for a few minutes. The suggestion was adopted on the casting vote of the secretary. On the board resuming, the secretary said he would accept Mr. Campbell s norp.ination, but would reserve the question of its legality. A show of hands was called for and tile voting resulted as follows: —For Mr. Allum: Five votes (Messi’s Hutchinson, Blood worth, Bartram, Mason, Allum. For Mr. Campbell: Five votes (Messrs Nagle, Potter, Morton, Clark, Campbell). The secretary then read the section of the Transport Board Act stating that “in the event of equality of votes election shall be determined by lot.” The names of the two candidates were accordingly placed in a cardboard box and shaken up. The secretary made the choice at random and the name drawn was that of Mr. Allum.

On returning to the chair, Mr. Allum received the congratulations of Messrs Campbell, Clark, Morton and Nagle, all of whom promised him their co-opera-tion.

Mr. Potter was elected deputy-chair-man.