Crowning achievement
As the current term for Eurobodalla Shire councillors comes to an end it seems opportune to sit back and reflect on the past four years of the outgoing group. Sure we got a rates increase in excess of 20 per cent over three years and we now are the proud owners of the ageing Batemans Bay Bowling Club to name a few, but the crowning achievement of the current group of councillors rarely gets mentioned. The ban on the sale of ‘soft drinks’ at all council-owned and run facilities throughout the shire. This has to be the ‘Holy Grail’ of this group. Yes the Eurobodalla Shire commenced social engineering and now we are regulated by a council policy telling us what we can and can’t drink at council owned or run facilities. Picture this, Australia Day celebrations in the Eurobodalla. One can eat as many cream cakes, pies, sausages and lamingtons as on desires…nice I say. Then one can wash it all down with some nice wine, or perhaps a few cold beers or indeed a cup of tea with multiple teaspoons of sugar…excellent. But don’t think about asking or bringing a can of lemonade for the kids a can of ‘diet Coke’ if you are diabetic. Sorry, not allowed in this shire…not in the Eurobodalla. That folks was the crowning achievement of the current group of councillors. Maybe it’s time for nine newbies this Saturday.
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Neil Mumme
Narooma
Election reform failure
The state government failed the community when it reformed local government by also not reforming the voting system. We, the community cannot vote for a complete council as we only have one vote for eight vacant councillor seats. Do not be fooled by the hype of groups advertising their “team” for the future when in fact only the number one on the ticket will be successful with the exception of the successfully elected mayor, whose vote automatically flows to their second on the ticket. In fact most if not all candidates do not want to be elected with even a Mayoral candidate not being in the state and only there to carry a preference to another candidate. Councillors need a quota to be elected (around 2300 votes) and the preference votes do not get counted until that number is reached. At the last election only three councillors reached quota with the other five elected without reaching quota therefore most preference votes are not followed particularly when you vote above the line. What we should have is the right and ability to select all councillors and a full valued vote for all. We should have in Eurobodalla’s case eight primary votes and councillors with the eight highest votes elected (first past the post) and no need for preference votes with the exception of the mayoral vote. The other reform should be a full postal vote with all information mailed to the elector as is done in Victoria. This would get rid of the farce of two weeks of pre-poll voting and election day in your face fiasco of how to vote pamphlets shoved down our throats. The public would appreciate this as would future prospective councillors. This would reduce the cost of elections and the anger of the voting community. Such reform needs to happen before amalgamated council elections due September 2017.
Keith Dance
Moruya
Strong Leadership?
Since 2013 the Eurobodalla community has demonstrated its opposition to HuntFest in a barrage of letters, rallies, petitions, presentations to council and submissions to state parliament, but all have been ignored or treated with contempt, most recently when the licence to hold the event was extended five further years in an decision made behind closed doors. Only a change of council will prevent further escalation of this event. A new mayor and council committed to respecting the wishes of the community clearly needs to be united when it takes on the might of the hunting lobby. Local decision making has ramifications far beyond Roads, Rates and Rubbish”, when incremental decisions on vital issues made at local council level could be the way that the American gun culture is spread in Australia. If re-elected will Councillor Brown’s “conflict of interest” prevent him from taking the necessary strong leadership role? So far Councillor Brown has not voiced any strong opinion on this issue, although in 2014, ignoring submissions from the 81 per cent of locals who opposed the sale of guns at HuntFest, he appeared to hesitate as he gave his mayoral casting vote. Councillor Brown has no grounds for complaints when it comes to the removal of his purple “Vote for Me” posters from telegraph poles as they are the property of Essential Energy, while the electoral posters on display on council land contravene the rulings of the Electoral Commission’s handbook for local government candidates. A mere oversight, or a further example of the council’s disregard for correct procedure?
Susan Cruttenden
Dalmeny
Price of Preferences?
Apparently, anything goes in the race to align with the Green, Anti–HuntFest, and Animal Justice consortiums, that dominate the ballot papers for Saturday’s council elections. I am told that the first order of business, if these consortiums are elected, is the cancellation of the Huntfest lease agreement. Will these groups pay the millions of dollars in compensation that the HuntFest organisers will demand? I think not. It is you, the ratepayer, who will pay the bill for their ideological causes. Understand what the local candidates stand for, and make your vote count on Saturday.
Ian Hitchcock
Eurobodalla Business and Community Forum