The TRRA Inc. Management Committee have been discussing the coming Council Elections in September.
We are compiling a list of questions that TRRA would like the prospective Candidates to answer in a forum we are proposing to hold at the August General Meeting. We will be asking for your help and input into compiling these questions and you can contribute to the discussion on this at the June meeting, or through the ‘comments’ section of our website up until the August Meeting.
This is your opportunity to participate in the debate that must occur before the first popular election of our Mayor and the Councillors who will be making the decisions about the future prosperity of Port Stephens for the next four years.
We look forward to you ‘Having your say!’
Apart from our psuedo independents I think its worth examining the cozy little preference swap deals. In the same vein as the Federal Senate Election there is possibly a case that the complexity of preference voting is being used to distort the results in a way not anticipated by electors
I am concerned that candidates who stand as independents are truly independent.
Therefore I would like all candidates to disclose if they have been a member of any political organisation within the past 2 year & if so which party.
It is about time we all start thinking about the fact that we will have only 3 councillors per Ward and an elected Mayor. If the community doesn’t get motivated we run the chance of many of the same time servers getting back and making the usual contribution to what is probably one of the worst managed Council’s in NSW.
Many Councils would kill to have been given the “land bank” this lot have had but they show no propensity to manage anything that looks like anything commercial. If we sit on our hands we deserve everything we get and more for the next 4 years. A good Council with a new GM is the solution not an Administrator as he/she doesn’t have to consult with anyone and will set about just balancing the books no matter how much rates and fees are increased. The ballot box is the solution!
It is about time we all start thinking about the fact that we will have only 3 conouillcrs per Ward and an elected Mayor. If the community doesn’t get motivated we run the chance of many of the same time servers getting back and making the usual contribution to what is probably one of the worst managed Council’s in NSW.Many Councils would kill to have been given the land bank this lot have had but they show no propensity to manage anything that looks like anything commercial. If we sit on our hands we deserve everything we get and more for the next 4 years. A good Council with a new GM is the solution not an Administrator as he/she doesn’t have to consult with anyone and will set about just balancing the books no matter how much rates and fees are increased. The ballot box is the solution!
I have recently had the opportunity to present to Council at the Public Forum. I was, and still am, concerned that we will get the same partisan groups at the next Council Election. Pecuniary interests seems to rear its head regularly.
I would like all candidates to answer this questions;
“Have you ever been the subject of a Local Government Pecuniary Interest Tribunal review, if so, what was the outcome?
Colin and others concerned with “pecuniary Interest” at Council ….
Sadly, whilst a lot has been said about this issue by all sides of party politics the ongoing changes to the rules seems to let those who should be caught out, right off the hook; leaving the “rules” to be used to bludgeon or bully others at times.
All should read the DLG report on PSC as to how badly they handle these rules to see how we are “served” by many who have very direct interest in outcomes they achieve at meetings but they literally stand there and state that they will NOT make honest and open declarations. It happens at nearly every meeting but no improvement occurs.
Colin and Peter, PSC is at the crossroads. Volumes of talk emeinate from Council officials about savings that have been made to TRRA, that eat into the $5m+ deficit.
We have a group of Councillors totally unable or disinterested in forcing management decisions to pull millions of dollars out of Council excesses.
Simply we as a Council are living beyond our means and it isn’t getting better.
Like all of us we would have to sell off assets to be able to survive. Now is the time to sell off the property portfolio to reduce debt down to manageable levels and rip at least one million out of staff wages by either compulsory redundancies or agreed wage cuts and conditions.
When it comes to the September elections I bet we see no candidate running on this platform. They will all be offerring more services and no rate increases and we know where that has taken us!