York is now a rarity in all levels of government, having a plenum of women councillors who, by the quality of who they are, and their majority
within council chambers, have the mandated
power to run the Local Government
Area of York, the Council itself and its administration.
In October 2015, four were individually endorsed by the electorate gaining nearly 100 votes more than their nearest rival and collectively, as 1/3rd of the candidates, they received well over half the total vote. One was later elected unopposed.
Singularly, these five women are from more diverse backgrounds, with some- a greater range of required accomplishments, than any previous York Council. Collectively, they have no known self-interest, have a thorough knowledge of the York psyche and the ability to do what is necessary to re-invigorate their community.
The overall problems they face is that York has an ageing population, the second highest, per-capita in Western Australia. This contributes to the fact that York’s average annual income is half the Australian average and, in individual circumstances, is defined as being below the so-called ‘Poverty Line”. Neither of these two facts provides the foundation for positive future growth dynamics for attracting new business investment and a significant additional population.
Unlike Northam and Toodyay, York does not have a relatively inexpensive, regular public transport system to create a peri-urban community with a commuter-based population. So it cannot provide a significant workforce to the metropolitan area. (Its main access road from the metropolitan area, the Great Southern Highway is a ‘highway’ in name only.)
York cannot provide inexpensive commercial utility services, (electricity, water and Liquefied Natural Gas) to attract small to medium sized manufacturing industries away from the metropolitan area, nor does it have a ready-made skilled workforce to compliment this relocation.
York, currently, does not have co-ordinated economic support groups such as a Chamber of Commerce or Local Business Association to assist in advising Council on how to attract new retail, manufacturing and tourism businesses to the community, for the overall benefit of the community.
One of the main economic indicators, the local housing market value is static at best and given that WA’s economy is now close to that of the ‘rust bucket’ states of South Australia and Tasmania, is unlikely to improve. There is also the impost of excessive, unacceptable commercial and domestic Council Rates.
What York does have is ‘five wise women’ who must soon start to show their metal, by assuring the community they have senior Local Government Administrative Staff that can be relied on to assist Council to deliver York a positive economic future in what could be adverse, state economic conditions.
One matter that must be redressed is the continuous adverse publicity and adverse public perception, within and without the York Community.
Since December 2015, in the online public forums ‘The Real voice of York’ and shireofyork6302 blogspot.com’ there have been 500 public comments, many regarding disturbing allegations about the past employment activities of the Shire of York’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Ms. Tyhscha Cochrane.
This must be addressed – and hopefully cease- in the best interest of the community and the person involved. It is unfair and inequitable to all parties concerned for this to continue!
Here is a letter regarding this matter sent to Shire President, David Wallace that I am hoping you have received a copy of, have discussed and now intend to make a public statement about.
In October 2015, four were individually endorsed by the electorate gaining nearly 100 votes more than their nearest rival and collectively, as 1/3rd of the candidates, they received well over half the total vote. One was later elected unopposed.
Singularly, these five women are from more diverse backgrounds, with some- a greater range of required accomplishments, than any previous York Council. Collectively, they have no known self-interest, have a thorough knowledge of the York psyche and the ability to do what is necessary to re-invigorate their community.
The overall problems they face is that York has an ageing population, the second highest, per-capita in Western Australia. This contributes to the fact that York’s average annual income is half the Australian average and, in individual circumstances, is defined as being below the so-called ‘Poverty Line”. Neither of these two facts provides the foundation for positive future growth dynamics for attracting new business investment and a significant additional population.
Unlike Northam and Toodyay, York does not have a relatively inexpensive, regular public transport system to create a peri-urban community with a commuter-based population. So it cannot provide a significant workforce to the metropolitan area. (Its main access road from the metropolitan area, the Great Southern Highway is a ‘highway’ in name only.)
York cannot provide inexpensive commercial utility services, (electricity, water and Liquefied Natural Gas) to attract small to medium sized manufacturing industries away from the metropolitan area, nor does it have a ready-made skilled workforce to compliment this relocation.
York, currently, does not have co-ordinated economic support groups such as a Chamber of Commerce or Local Business Association to assist in advising Council on how to attract new retail, manufacturing and tourism businesses to the community, for the overall benefit of the community.
One of the main economic indicators, the local housing market value is static at best and given that WA’s economy is now close to that of the ‘rust bucket’ states of South Australia and Tasmania, is unlikely to improve. There is also the impost of excessive, unacceptable commercial and domestic Council Rates.
What York does have is ‘five wise women’ who must soon start to show their metal, by assuring the community they have senior Local Government Administrative Staff that can be relied on to assist Council to deliver York a positive economic future in what could be adverse, state economic conditions.
One matter that must be redressed is the continuous adverse publicity and adverse public perception, within and without the York Community.
Since December 2015, in the online public forums ‘The Real voice of York’ and shireofyork6302 blogspot.com’ there have been 500 public comments, many regarding disturbing allegations about the past employment activities of the Shire of York’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Ms. Tyhscha Cochrane.
This must be addressed – and hopefully cease- in the best interest of the community and the person involved. It is unfair and inequitable to all parties concerned for this to continue!
Here is a letter regarding this matter sent to Shire President, David Wallace that I am hoping you have received a copy of, have discussed and now intend to make a public statement about.
************
LETTER
TO SHIRE PRESIDENT WALLACEDate January 21, 2016.
Mr. David Wallace,
President
Shire of York Council
1 Joaquina Street
YORK, 6302.
Dear Sir,
Your Ref: - DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER POSITION.
As you would be aware the City of Perth’s Lord Mayor, Ms. Lisa Scaffidi, has arbitrarily terminated the contract of the city’s Chief Executive Officer, Gary Stephenson.
In her recent press statement, Ms. Scaffidi, claimed that it was the unanimous decision of Council that was ‘completely mutually exclusive’ to the Corruption and Crime Commissions investigations into her alleged travel rorts. (‘Completely Mutually Exclusive’- which also means ‘Absolutely, Commonly, Absolute’, is a bemusing attempt at tautology that should see the Public Relations Officer, who created it, leaving the building at the same time as Gary Stephenson.
Its inference is that Mr. Stephenson’s departure bears no relationship what-so-ever to the CCC’s upgraded investigation into further possible breaches of conduct by other Councillors, and also staff, based on information provided by him to the CCC. (If Mr Stephenson was requested by the CCC to provide this information, he would have no option but to do so.)
Putting all of Ms. Scaffidi’s very basic, uninformative, quaint rhetoric aside regarding’ new directions,’ ‘a new executive team, and ‘there has been a lot going on, probably more going on in the past 12 months than might have gone on in many years’- Mr. Stephenson was sacked because he ‘pimped’.
Will Mr. Stephenson, personally, take the City of Perth Council to court for wrongful dismissal, or in conjunction with Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA)? It may occur, but it is unlikely.
What has been reinforced here is the ability of a Local Government Council to investigate the performance of Senior Public Service Officers in its employ and take punitive action against them should Councillors agree to do so. (This is without providing substantive evidence of any wrongdoing.)
York should now be in the early stages of a renaissance that also requires ‘new directions’ and ‘a new executive team’ to bring this to fruition.
It is now very much in the community interest that the position held by Ms. Tyhscha Cochrane, as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Shire of York, is either unequivocally reconfirmed by the Shire of York Council, she is allocated another position- or her contract is terminated.
Given the serious content of allegations made against Ms. Cochrane that is in the public domain, it is only fair to Ms. Cochrane that this should occur and be considered as a matter of urgency by Council.
The Shire of York Council must evaluate Ms. Cochrane’s past performance regarding her compliance with the all the terms of her contract and equate this to her value to the community should she continue in her current position. It should include an appropriate risk-management assessment.
Should Council not have the ability to undertake such a process then it should acquire an independent arbiter who can.
If Council is unaware of the disparaging and disturbing melange of accusations against Ms. Cochrane, it should rapidly proceed to acquire this information to determine the truth. Otherwise there is the potential for a negative impact on the overall morale of the community and its perception of Council’s future ability to adequately handle its affairs.
Yours sincerely
David Taylor.
The million dollar question is what does she even do? Everything is contracted out, she has refused more than once to step up as CEO (not tha5t shes's capable) and yet earns about $100k a year. There's no way her KPI'S would have been met when the idiotic Best and Simpson duo renewed her contract. Time to look at her role closely, set her some deliverables or kick her to the curb. Failing that drug test her.
ReplyDeleteExactly right David. Many people say what a great place York is to live. It was 15 years ago, but alas no more. I don't care what anyone says that's down to what the Council and administration did, or should I say didn't do in that 15 years.
ReplyDeleteNow we're all stuck here with the economic downturn in WA and can't sell. York's property prices are particularly bad for obvious reasons.
This town is going to die out if its putting all its eggs into the farming and aged population basket. Don't even get me started on the decaying infrastructure, lack of facilities, lack of planning and lack of willing community leaders.
CEO'S have come and gone, Commissioners have come and gone along with investors, shire staff, businesses etc. One common denomination remains Ms Cochrane!
Excerpt from the ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2015
ReplyDeleteEmployee Remuneration 2014/15
In the 2014/15 financial year the Shire of York had four (4) employees entitled to an annual cash salary of $100,000 or more in the following bands:
Bands # Employees
$100,000 - 109,999 1
$110,000 - 119,999 0
$120,000 - 129,999 1
$130,000 - 139,999 0
$140,000 - 149,999 0
$160,000 - 169,999 0
$170,000 - 179,999 1
$180,000 – 189,000 1
WOW! Who are the two big ones?
We have a CEO, or at least and Acting CEO who seems to be working pretty hard to sort out things. Does anyone know what Ms. Cochrane does?
ReplyDeleteGreat that you’re acknowledging the contributions and new directions in Council, David, especially with the newly elected ladies. I have no doubt the 3 who were renowned for the questions they raised at Public Question Time at council meetings are having an impact on the ‘inside’ by virtue of the changes taking place, even if this isn’t evident yet to everyone. They would have played a part in hiring the new ACEO, Mark Dacombe, the advertised requirements for a new CEO, and the content of the new policies adopted at the Council Meeting on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteMany historical issues are also being dealt with, and the indications are that more is to come. So it appears they are still very vocal and expressing their opinions by shaping the direction of the Shire as they work to rectify the situations that needed to be addressed.
Yes John S, considering the 'new' Council has only been installed a little over three months they appear to have gelled and understood that the base line for good governance was previously set at an all-time low.
DeleteThe first hurdle to overcome was/is the antediluvian mindset of senior staff , sadly, as pointed out in many forums, the difficulty is the rot is deep-rooted and not easy to eliminate.
If some of the habitual wingers trolling on other social media were to pay a little more attention to what's going on outside cyberspace, they needn't waste time entering into meaningless cyber chatter, or maybe they have nothing else to do in their twilight years?
The half-cock information sharing, based mostly on gossip from internet trolls serves no other purpose than to misinform readers, or maybe that's the whole point. dissention for dissention sake.
I for one, would rather read a balanced researched article than read the rants from people with significant cerebral disorders and severely impaired social skills.
Keep up the good work.
One way to eliminate the rot is to combine duties of two positions, make one position redundant. No need for a payout -if any leave is owing they take it and on their return, the Shire provides the redundant employee mundane work with no responsibilities until her contract expires.
DeleteRe- advertise the newly amalgamated position insisting on Tertiary qualifications. Of course both staff members are encouraged to apply, however, they MUST meet the criteria.
That is how it is done in the public service if they want to eliminant rot!
Are KPI's being used on those senior staff?
All the CEO has to do is announce a Staff shakeup - re-classify DCEO's position to incorporate the HR Manager (or what the hell Gail's position is) and bingo.
DeleteInsist on Tertiary qualifications.
Applications are open to all those who qualify.
Get Mike Fitz Gerald to do the short list and interviews.
All fixed!
Not sure if Mike FitzGerlald would be the right man for the job. The FGR did identify matters but was poorly authored with no reference to any legislative contraventions, that's why it has to be investigated further but not by MFG.
DeleteYour right John S. However, the senior staff need to be changed if they have any chance of success.
ReplyDeleteAlthough things appear to be rosy on the outside, things don't change much in the corridors of power, or the hallway outside the dunny in our own City Hall. 'Things' are being kept quiet, hushed up and suppressed, why, to save reputations and preserve the status quo.
ReplyDeleteSome corporate captains do very nicely, with generous pay offs, subtlety different to pay outs, but the poor stokers are so busy shoveling coal they don't notice.
What's become routinely normal behavior for senior public servants and the odd elected official, is, to any 'reasonable' thinking person, corrupt behavior.
Inexplicably, when one government department identifies that corrupt behavior has occurred, another government department will choose to ignore it. This may have something to do with who is appointed and who appointed 'him'. For instance, if an appointee was in a position of supreme power within a certain district, 'he' would naturally want to look after the man who bestowed him with great riches, after all that's what mates do for each other.
Time goes by and the diversionary tactics become more transparent, so blatantly obvious, you want to kick yourself for not noticing earlier. Big brother's focused your attention on other matters that prima facie appear to be important but, in reality and with hindsight, could be evaluated as good old fashioned indoctrination.
Luckily, not everyone is susceptible to the forced imposition of big brothers preordained philosophies.
A classic example was the appointment of J. Best by the Minister. Best could do no wrong. Minister Simpson will never admit he employed a loose cannon with a bloody huge ego.
DeleteBest renewed the DCEO contract for FIVE years just days before the return of the Council to ensure we were stuck with her - until the truth catches up with her that is.
He stitched up ratepayers for a debt for a structurally 'unsafe building' for $625,000 (or what ever it cost) against the advise of a Civil Engineer who alerted him of the buildings faults and dangers. Now our Council is left to sort that out.
Best even went so far as to bring in a team of security guards and police for a Shire meeting to make it appear the people of York were 'likely to attack him' - how pathetic!
What did Minister Simpson do - nothing! He deserves to lose his position in the reshuffle.
The only positive, this blog serves as a warning to any other person considering employing Best.
Tertiary qualifications are not everything. I have sat in many a board room with highly qualified people who have no clue.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous1031 January 2016 at 23:19, I completely agree with you about Tertiary qualifications not necessarily ensuring the roof is completely tiled.
DeleteThere's legal and cost effective ways to dispense with Cockrane and Maziuk.
It comes down to the determination and internal fortitude of the CEO combined with clever negotiations by our Shire President when appointing the new CEO. Make one of his/her KPI's - reduce staff numbers and salary costs!
Sow the seed with the new CEO to Reclassify the DCEO position by upping the level and incorporate Mazuik's HR duties, then do away with the HR Manager position all together. Huge $ savings.
By including Tertiary qualifications under the heading of 'essential' on the selection criteria and removing the 'and/or experience' option would eliminate both Cockrane and Maziuk from application eligibility.
Neither would make the short list. One puff and they are gone!
No good using WALGA. They will protect those two till hell freezes over.
Which one is Gordon Tester I wonder? His position is an unbudgeted one, which was not advertised and is a classic case of nepotism.
ReplyDeleteUnless GT is related by birth or marriage to the people who gave him his job, his good fortune, if undeserved, results from patronage, not nepotism. Point taken, though, and both behaviours are forbidden under the L G Act.
DeleteGordon is the big bloke who looks like Shrek except he isn't green.
Gordon does a good but so lets not kill him off the staff list we can benefit from his input I think he may have matured since he was last here
ReplyDeleteAnonymous2 February 2016 at 16:50 Tester was not a child when he was employed by the Shire previously, he was a mature male and he knew exactly what he was doing when he followed instructions from Hooper.
DeleteAre you saying we are supposed to forgive and forget all Tester was involved in?
I have rarely seen adverts for positions at the Shire of York.
ReplyDeleteIt is who you know and if your face fits and you are prepared to turn a blind eye, you are in.