HOW TO READ A SOCIAL MEDIA COLUMN AND UNDERSTAND IT PROPERLY.

It is usually enough to learn to read to the skill level you require for your employment, your family, your friendships, lifestyle and interests.

To fully comprehend everything you read demands a possible higher level of prowess and/or improved tuition.

One easy archaic example is ‘the Archaeans the Trojans shall conquer’. Now sit down and work out who conquers who? Depending on inflection it is either.

Now let us get something very, very straight here because I do not respond to comments unless they come from some asteroid left of Uranus.

No-one is bagging the CEO, Paul Martin. The past he has been reported on is entirely a problem of his own creation and ‘yes’ he is actually a public servant not an entrepreneurial genius.

And yes-he would be highly unlikely to get such highly-paid, full-time employment in the private sector.

This is not denigrating his specific public service career - this is a fact.

Those who interviewed him for the position of Chief-Executive-Officer for the Shire of York had a duty-of-care to ensure Mr. Martin had all the credentials and the capacity to take on the role, as well as having no skeletons in the cupboard.

He has gone from a senior position as CEO of Port Hedland with an estimated, 2012, population of close to 20,000, and one of the world’s largest iron-ore shipping ports, to be the Deputy CEO of Broome with a population of 15,000 that expands to 45,000 in the tourist season.

It would be a fact that to change Local Government Areas and reduce the community expectations and his authority would have resulted in a reduction in his salary package

Half way through his career, Mr Martin, has now chosen to take over the reins of an inland town with little industry other than farming, a huge public debt, dud assets, a defunct tourist industry and a dwindling, rapidly aging population that is one fifth the size of those previous shires. It is called YORK!

This should have once again placed him in a lower public service salary band. It would not be inconceivable that Mr. Martin’s annual salary and accompanying entitlements would have been reduced by $120,000, or more, over the past four years.

As an exercise in comprehension can you put forward a logical explanation for this career move by Mr. Martin?  Then hypothesize on why this will give him the ideal opportunity to move on to ‘much bigger things’ such as becoming the CEO of Joondalup?

I am waiting in anticipation for dozens of logical answers. It is a question that requires half-decent responses.

What Mr. Martin may, or may not have achieved in the past twelve months is not known but will be revealed to some when his KPI’s are reviewed in March. Then we may see if he has been ‘champing at the bit’ as one commentator put it, licking his lips or just chewing to relieve the boredom.

Now here is another highly contentious perception. No- Councillors are NOT solely responsible for the Budget! The CEO with the assistance of the appropriate staff prepares and compiles the budget then presents it to Council for their approval-or rejection.

Some councillors may demand that the CEO provides a budget forecast for a capital works program, or similar, but as the WA Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) makes it quite clear, too many rural councillors do not know their budget governance and compliance arse from their elbow.
(This is why CEO jailbirds like Dowerin’s Dacre Alcock appear in local government, then in the penal system.)

I will be ecstatic when I am proved wrong by dozens of lucid, erudite and faultless counterstatements delivered by rural local government council experts.

Mr. Martin should be extremely careful whom he hires in the near future to fill any void he, and his current staff, is not able to. Maybe he should be delving more deeply into the possible future of the Avon Region of Councils (AROC) and the possibility of sharing specialist expertise at less cost.

Tourism has not been high on the agenda since Miss Krakatoa, 2009, also known as Katrina Nicole Watts blew up the positive Tourism Events schedule.

As we know her trial transcript made interesting reading with former CEO, Ray Hooper, begging the court for leniency  by claiming  Watts’ was ‘enticed to take funds’ and trying to lay the blame on the then Tourism Office Manager, Tanya Richardson and others.

This gave Watts’ council the underlying ability to insinuate that she suffered from a psychotic impulse control disorder, commonly referred to as kleptomania and she received a sentence that in no way compensated for the enormous tourism marketing and promotion damage she had done.
(Or factored in the other years she had spent in jail for the same crimes.)

Now Tourism must change and expand or the only facility open on a daily basis, five days a week, will be the Shire Council Offices.

I have corresponded with the Shire President, David Wallace, on a confidential basis, on a number of occasions and we respect each other’s opinions and, more often than not, agree on matters relevant to the town’s future development and its best interests. Although- from slightly differing perspectives.

It is not a mutual admiration society, it is the realization of the complexities that have arisen through decades of absolute, local government bastardry, rampant connivance and councillors who should not be there!

When you lazily flick through the YRCC Report in the near future you may think the finances have been accounted for by a bookkeeper suffering from a psychotic impulse control disorder who no longer takes their medication.

There is $577,000 in alleged employee costs for something or other. However the amount designated as being for wages, $42,500, appears to have a $27,000 employer superannuation payment component.

At the standard rate of employee contributions, being normally 9.5 %, paid on wage and salary earnings, then super paid on $42,000 is $4,000, leaving $22,000 floating around.

A figure of $27,000 as an employer superannuation contribution is based on a salary such as Paul Martins’, being in the vicinity of $250,000.

This is the sort of creative accountancy that attracts the attention of the WA Corruption and Crime Commission and a possible sunbaking session at Acacia.

It is also alleged that for every meal transaction at the YRCC of $100.00 all ratepayers contribute for the entrée and sweets to the tune of $30.00 each. This should mean a regular Friday night musical contribution from ‘Pat & Tony’s Gastric Band’ so they both sing and pay for their own supper.

If I ever hear of another York Local Government Public Servant mouthing off that any form of private enterprise is a threat to the shires commercial operations we will be having a possibly extremely unpleasant ‘one-on-one’ conversation, you should consider getting yourself a very good lawyer and wish you had believed in Competitive Neutrality !

More than enough erudite, anonymous local commentators have said it is high time everyone forgot the past and moved on. These are great sentiments indeed.

Next time you have nothing better to do have a read of the Shire of York Websites sacred message ‘Building on our History to create our Future’. It makes you tear up and grab for the Kleenex.

Then you discover that ‘history’ means ‘the past’. So why don’t you ask the Shire to change it to ‘Remember our Ancestors who built our Future’.  Then that nasty five-letter word disappears and you can all live happily ever after- with the past passing into history.

David Taylor.

Dear David

Welcome back. I hope you had a relaxing holiday.

I am sure you are aware that prior to your absence a coterie of disgruntled, neglected Councillors had developed who are none too pleased about being left in ineffectual darkness with little authority.

These councillors, who are the elected representatives of the ratepayers of York, exactly the same as you, must all be included in any dialogue regarding Shire of York management and procedural and development practices.

You should remember it was your fellow councillors who elected you President, not the electors and your credentials to hold the position are no better than some of your peers.

The prevailing substantive rumour is that the relationship between you and the CEO has developed into an undemocratic duopoly where the other councillors are excluded from most of the decision making processes. Maybe it is best described as an overconfident local government authoritative ‘bromance’

Please try not rely too heavily on the abilities of Paul Martin. He is after all a bureaucrat, not a professional  entrepreneur, business development expert or a great communicator.

His ability Is in providing the necessities for running a Local Government Area without breaching DLGC guidelines and protocols. To the best of my knowledge there is no definitive examples where he, personally, has been responsible for any extensive commercial and industrial development under his previous local government employment contracts.

In his two years at Port. Hedland, as CEO, he assisted in creating the council’s biggest budget . Budget does not mean profit, nor is it mandatory that this money was allocated to be spent in improving local business opportunities or meet community needs.

Improved budgets can actually be directly proportional to the number of previous cost-cutting measures undertaken.

On December 24, 2011, in Pilbara Your Voice. com.au a letter was published regarding Paul Martin’s activities as CEO in his relationship with mining giant BHP Billiton claiming ‘the CEO’s objectives is to make a name for himself before he moves on to bigger things and to hell with the mess he leaves behind.”

January 10, 2012 saw Mr. Martin deny that the Port. Hedland Council was being  probed by the Corruption & Crime Commission (CCC) regarding Council’s involvement with BHP Billiton. Mr. Martin was wrong. The CCC was engaged in a serious preliminary investigation into this matter that he was fully aware of- that carried on into 2013.

For what ever reason, in an extraordinary short space of time, March 28, 2012, to be exact- Mr. Martin had quit his job as CEO at Port Hedland to become the Deputy CEO of the Shire of Broome. This was a major reduction in status!

On April 16, 2013, the CCC Commissioner released a Report on The Capacity of Local Government in the Pilbara to Prevent, Identify an Deal with Misconduct. In some parts it is damning and has certain similarities to the Dacre Alcock, Dowerin CCC Report. However it was published three years earlier.

By that time Paul Martin was well ensconced in the Kimberley- not the Pilbara.

As the current CEO of the Shire of York, the Pilbara Your Voice prediction of a potential meteoric rise to fame of Paul Martin could hardly be described as ‘making a name for himself’ or ‘moving on to bigger things’.

I have not bothered to check if Mr. Martin ‘left a hell of a mess’ in Broome as Deputy CEO only, but he will not be leaving a mess in York! 

AD 2017, is probably not going to be a particularly good year for any Local Government Area no matter who wins government. The West Australian State Budget is the worst in Australia with a burgeoning mountain of debt that will take years to reduce.

It may be the very least of the Shire of York’s problems unless it starts to be seen to perform to reasonable community expectations.

Since January 2016, 91 articles  have appeared on the two York Social Media Websites and associated Google news feature posts. Most, but not all were critical of  various aspects of shire governance, firstly in the past but now as disappointment sets in- the present.

For much of the time both the council members and the new CEO were given a licence to be ‘newbies’ and treated with a reasonable degree of respect.

Attitudes of York’s Body Politic are now changing and as three councillors prepare to face the electorate near the end of the year, it may be in their best interest to reflect on this.

There have been 3,298 individual comments on these websites. This should increase exponentially to around 5,000 by the Local Government Election date.

If only 10 % are continuous respondents to the articles there are 500 local community members who are probably disappointed with both the President and the CEO.

Putting this into perspective the difference between the most votes received by an elected councillor in 2015 was 336 more than the candidate who came last and was not elected.

The average difference between those elected and those who were not was just 64 votes. Had 500 people not voted for any candidate then the only person who would have been elected would have got just 44 votes.

These should be statistics that should be observed closely and reasons for the messages heeded.

Kind regards
David Taylor.

YORKS DEGUSTATION MENU

(a small sample of the tiny portions of inedible local government governance delights that have been some of the signature noncompliance dishes served up by the Shire of York.)

Tasteless Tasting Plates

1. MOCK TURTLE SOUP
To mock is to treat people with disrespect and/or to make statements that could be considered to be false. It is arguably part of a recent recipe served up by Executive Chef, Manager Corporate & Community Services, Suzie Haslehurst, in response to numerous questions on the financial status of the YRCC and its fascinatingly rebadged Forrest Bar & Café.

It is not entirely her fault because such evasive equivocations are endemic and systemic in WA’s local government culture. All caused by the State Government that has no faith in the quality and ability of Councillors and Senior Public Service Officers in the rural regions to provide properly audited accounts, commercial transparency, good governance and not to put their communicative foot in their mouths, and hands deep in ratepayer’s wallets.

To the current DLGC hierarchy rural ratepayers are ‘mushrooms’- to be kept in the dark and fed lots of local government rhetoric shit. What the DLGC has failed to realize is that some mushrooms are deadly poisonous.

Evidentiary financial documentation of the Shire of York, in 2013, states the projected revenue return from the $7million capital investment, the YRCC, in that year was $2,268,163. The actual revenue return was estimated to be $745,710.

The enormous disparity in figures showed the distinct possibility of a future financial disaster in the making. A disaster exacerbated by the initial major financial assistance of Royalty for Regions funds that allowed for an unfortunate, narcissistic pipe dream to become an exorbitantly overpriced reality and a recurring nightmare.

To add insult to injury a former senior executive of the Shire of York’s coy comment when asked about the lack of the other $1,522.453 was that ‘the assumptions were at least optimistic’

Should the EMC&C have known about these unpalatable figures regarding the YRCC from four years ago? YES- as it was well documented and placed in the public domain at that time but she chose to ignore them when responding to public questioning.

Regrettably -the chance of a vast improvement between the debts to asset ratio of the YRCC in this time period and into the future only appears if you believe in Superman, the Easter Bunny or Suzie Haslehurst.

The economic modelling for any business enterprise is that it should be financially viable within 5 years. This means it is covering each and every running and maintenance cost and debt, including loan repayments, while producing an acceptable profit. Otherwise you tend to go broke.

The excuse made by shire councils’ is that community assets are built for the common good not to make a profit. This is not a carte blanch to build a semi-derelict, mad-masterpiece that could turn York ratepayers into the new poor. You can only hope that the Australian Taxation Office realizes the asset is falling apart and is extremely generous in its asset depreciation assessment allowance.

The Shire of York’s official name for part of the daily full reconciliation of the YRCC financials is called the ‘Z Report’. This is hardly an auspicious name.

What they reveal is still almost unknown to ratepayers, but they should contain the volume and cost of alcoholic beverages and meals consumed on a daily basis, between opening and closing time, as registered in till takings that can be compared to the costs of supply, staff and utilities used- reconciled as gross, then net profit-or as a loss.

And, of course, the list of names of those who approved all purchases for all facilities on behalf of the YRCC, by whose authority, for what reason and last, but not least, what accounts were these purchases made through?

Ms Haslehurst’s responses to questions on YRCC finances, recently put to her by Dr. James Plumridge, had the consistency of most soups, thick, non-transparent and then turtle-like in the length of time taken to come up with an ambiguous reply.

2. YORK RACECLUB TOUGH STEAKS
In mid, 2014, I was invited by the then Acting CEO, Michael Keeble, to meet with him at the Coffee Club, Midland.

A broad spectrum of subjects, concerning York, was to be discussed at Mr. Keeble’s discretion. (The meeting was arranged by Ms. Helen D’Arcy Walker and should be listed in her appointment register for that month in 2014.) 

Mr. Keeble chose two main contentious issues to discuss that were totally at his instigation.

Keeble confided to me that he had serious concerns that Councillor, Tony Boyle, may have been acting improperly by attempting to unilaterally waive $136,000 worth of Shire Council Rates owed to it by York Racing Inc. of which Councillor Boyle was a member- and also Vice Chairman.

Keeble was of the opinion that this could be considered a serious Conflict-of-Interest even though Councillor Boyle claimed impartiality regarding this matter when it was planned that the ’Shire of York (was) to meet the costs of future rates as an ongoing commitment to the operations of the racecourse lands and facilities’ and also waive the unpaid $136,000. The supporters included Pat Hooper and other usual suspects.

Keeble suggested that Minister for Local Government, Tony Simpson, had the power and a possible reason to request that Mr. Boyle stand aside from his position as Councillor because of his past and present actions regarding York Racing Inc. while the matter was placed under external review. He also mentioned the name, Pat Hooper, in similar circumstances.

Obviously a greasy spoon went straight through to the dishwasher!

However- the York race track and its facilities must be retained, maintained and improved for generations to come as an historic, iconic, early settlement, social sacred site that predates the running of the first Melbourne Cup by two decades. It is a real asset, amid so few!


3. CHARRED FLAMBE de TYHSCHA
Mr Keeble took it upon himself to state that it was his personal opinion that the Deputy CEO, Tyhscha Cochrane was not particularly good at her job and that it was his intention to move her sideways. He added to the best of his knowledge that Ms. Cochrane had no formal qualifications relating to the official position that she held.

In fact it was his opinion that not one current senior staff member had any suitable tertiary qualifications of any kind and he believed that it showed in the quality of the services provided.

The terms of this official meeting was that the matters discussed were strictly Private & Confidential unless it was agreed between the parties that any third party be included.

Keeble deliberately breached this condition. I was informed of this and told him it was the biggest mistake he had ever made.

Caught with his pants down Keeble verbally abused and insulted the wrong person, the then Shire President, Matthew Reid, in front of Councillors Boyle, Hooper and Duperouzle and a meeting was called to show confidence in the Acting CEO and, by inference, lack of confidence in the Shire President, Matthew Reid.

Mr. Keeble’s opinion of Ms. Cochrane was revealed in the meeting, which was one cause that led to his resignation on September 24, 2014. It also, eventually, had a bearing on Ms. Cochrane’s resignation.

Keeble’s vacuous public statement to explain his resignation was because of ‘the lack of council cohesion’

This is rather surprising when he was supported by senior councillors Tony Boyle, Pat Hooper and Mark Duperouzal in a desperate attempt to rid Council of its extremely popular President- and failed.

Keeble should have been sacked when he uttered his first derogatory ‘F’ word’ with Hooper, Boyle and Duperouzel following him right out the door- if they had a modicum of decency.

These three took an unseemly and personally demeaning length of time to finally discover that they were persona-non-grata and had lost any respect they once had with the majority of ratepayers, prior to leaving the Council Chambers forever.

Keeble also blamed some local ratepayers because ‘he and his staff were challenged rather vigorously that was out of proportion to normal common decency”.

That argument fell rather flat as Keeble himself had insinuated that a least one of his senior staff’ was not particularly good at her job’ and that was the nicest thing he said.

Also, personally, he had not even been granted an interview for his previous local government employment application with the Shire of Denmark which is testimony to his own capacity to achieve success.


4. THE CHEESEY-BOARD
In ‘The Real Voice of York Western Australia’ there is a comment beneath the article “Loser Pays 3 ’’ by Bitahistory, dated February 5, 2017, relating to Tony Boyle and Michael Keeble and two dishes on the menu.

As a witness I can say that what is written here is substantially correct as defined above.

What is the most important issue is that salient information has gone to many sources, read by many important people and is still there to be remembered two years on- and referred to for many years to come as what local government should not be.

Those senior officers that have left the Shire of York during and after the Ray Hooper era are Deputy CEO’s Graham Stanley and Tyhscha Cochrane , Health and Building Services Manager’s Peter Stevens, Judith Anderson and Gordon Tester, Managers of Planning Services Patrick Reujettes, Brook Newman and Jacky Jurmann, Building Inspectors Les Oakley, George Johnson and Tim Jurmann, Works Managers Simon Patterson, Geoff Crossing, Glen Jones and Graham Lanske, Gail Maziuk ( who held a number of improbable positions) and Acting CEO’s Michael, Keeble, Graeme Simpson and Mark Dacombe.

Former Shire Presidents Pat Hooper, Tony Boyle and Deputy Presidents Roy Scott and Mark Duperouzal all joined the exodus. Sadly, Commissioner James Best actually served his allotted time.

Twenty-five senior employees and councillors have left the building over the past few years, with no final performance and no encores other than the Minority Report and an empty dilapidated school. At least thirteen of these will not be missed- and there maybe more.

Those who made this low-rent list are the ‘People’s Choice’ after their bad behaviour and lack of ability was continuously exposed on York’s social media sites. There is no apology from me for this and no guarantee it will not happen again!
I would assume that Dr. Plumridge has similar sentiments.

The CEO, Paul Martin, has completed a full twelve-month term in office.

He is now due for a complete Performance Review encompassing everything he has accomplished successfully, or not, over the past year.

Mr. Martin is ultimately responsible for everything from ensuring Council directions are followed-to making sure all his staff delivers the results of good governance.

Then there should be the extensive list of quality community outcomes achieved by him that are clearly defined and enunciated for local community approval, acclamation and eternal gratitude.

The Performance Review Panel must consist of ALL CURRENT COUNCILLORS.
President, David Wallace, Vice President Denese Smythe and Councillors Saint, Heaton, Ferro, Walters and Randell- no more, no less!

A Motion of Confidence in the performance of the CEO, Paul Martin, must be included in the February, 2017, Minutes of the Shire of York Ordinary Council Meeting with a unanimous vote of confidence by Councillors in the actions and directions taken by its CEO.

Then York can really move forward without severe indigestion and uncontrollable flatulence.

David Taylor.

THE SHIRE OF YORK, 2017, COMMUNITY SCORECARD

(Coming to a PC, laptop, IPad or Smartphone near you.)

To fill in a scorecard like this, when the community has insufficient information to make reasoned judgements and informed comment, is up to the individual in whether they believe they can give an accurate response to the questions.

For the Shire of York to undertake such a survey is because it has no idea of how its 2016-2017 performance is viewed by a majority of the community with particular reference to the unknown achievements of Paul Martin, Suzie Haslehurst and Paul Crewe.

To complete a survey when it appears there will be no public recognition and release of the result should make the respondent feel there is little point to engage in the process because there is no stipulation that the information will be used to provide a positive result for York.

As the Shire does not communicate its intentions to the community, whatever clear vision and direction it has is clouded by a lack of factual information and any known actions being taken.

Whatever direction it has taken over the past 12 months is a mystery to everyone but itself and applicable community consultation regarding these directions is mainly a figment of the Shire’s imagination.

So its explanation for the reasons for these decisions comes down to what decisions is it talking about?

Do the Elected Members have a good understanding of community needs?

It is impossible to say because it now appears that councillors are not being advised by, or allowed to fully participate in, decision making processes- by the Shire President.

Does the Shire staff have a good understanding of the needs of the community?

As there is currently no measure to gauge its response to community needs, the answer is that it is unknown.

Does the Shire listen to and respect the resident’s views?

Based on its response to legitimate questions regarding the finances of the YRCC it neither listens nor shows respect.


However its response has placed the competence of an Executive officer, Suzie Haslehurst, under question.

Has the Shire shown community leadership qualities, undertaken advocacy and lobbying on behalf of the community and has kept the community informed on local issues?

What is known regarding advocacy is that it has handed over a serious legal matter to its lawyers then stuck its fingers in its ears. Its insurance policy could be null and void and this is something we can all look forward to.

Lobbying has been restricted to being nice to the current Member for Central Wheatbelt, Mia Davies that may well accomplish nothing.

Keeping the community informed on local issues can best be illustrated by a newspaper advertisement regarding the new Forrest Bar &Café. This kind of secretive behaviour will not be tolerated or allowed to occur again without dire consequences that could include external authority investigations being launched into any perceived breaches of its community responsibilities and obligations.

Economic development, attracting investment and business and its retention is best described as spatial emptiness with businesses closing not opening and a population in decline. It shows how much the Shire is out of touch with reality to the point of being economically inept and commercially ridiculous.

Local community access to improved delivery of goods and services will rely on Aldi opening in Northam.

Festivals, events and cultural activities, for the Month of February 2017, is extremely reliant on the
continuous opening of The Salvation Army Op Shop that suggests the community of York requires access to low cost, second-hand goods because of the state of the local economy.

Road maintenance will be a continuing multi-million dollar drain on the Shire’s financial resources for years to come.

Conservation and environmental management has seen the Shire reluctantly enforce regulations to remove a pile of old tyres from the business district. It was acknowledge recently that a spraying regime for the control of mosquitos and other pests does not exist.

Noise pollution Statutes is something that the Shire is proud to acknowledge that it fully enforces, assisted by its own guidelines, requiring the closure of the only nationally recognized and lauded tourist business in York, Laurelville.

The lowest rating the Shire of York allows for its respondents to give for its performances on behalf of the community is TERRIBLE! This is rather restrictive preventing the use of appalling, horrific, atrocious and sickening and the colloquialism ‘worse than shithouse’.

David Taylor.




A copy of the survey is available to complete online by using the following link: 

https://qau1.au1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9oZHsktDfxK9NVX.