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.
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.
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.
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.
David Taylor.
Humm...‘making a name for himself moving on to bigger things’. I certainly wouldn't say York was a 'bigger thing', all the same, I think the journo had a valid point.
ReplyDeleteReading between the lines in the current council meeting agenda, it appears that Mr Martin is dipping his toe in the water by gauging reaction to employing yet another member of staff as Community Development Officer.
Ray Hooper had nothing on this man when it came to 'empire building'.
All those salaries paid to support his 'Empire Building' is being siphoned out of the pockets of ratepayers and out of the community.
DeleteIf he has the need for so many support staff he may be lacking what it takes to be a CEO.
What does he himself actually do for the salary he is being paid, apart from having a regular meeting with the SP?
I thought we already had a community development officer - Esmeralda?
DeleteI think it is time 'the people' rallied - enough is enough.
No, she the 'Economic Development Officer', before you ask, I have no idea what the difference is.
DeleteI would be surprised if there is enough work for one 'Development Officer' let alone two, but I guess it looks better on a CV to have headed an organisation with hundreds of employees!
Esmeralda lists herself as the Community Economic Development Officer - whats the difference?
DeleteShe is EDO/CDO. He wants to split the role. A CDO is abount developing the community i.e. not for profits. An EDO develops the economy i.e. nutures and attracts business and industry
DeleteSounds a good idea to me, particularly if we are going to retrieve all the festivals York was well known for.
DeleteWe have to show a bit of faith and not judge the new CEO by traumatic experiences of the past.
As a new comer to the lovely town of York : actually it is not the CEO who is empire building but the councillors who are solely responsible for the budget and money spent even on new positions. It appears the councillors do not have a clue what their responsibilities are. It is useless just blaming the Mayor or Shire President
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 20 February 2017 at 18.20
DeleteYou are so right it is useless just blaming the Shire President, he also happens to be one of the elected councillors. The CEO would have had to have put up his case and reason/s for the requirement for more Administration staff not the Shire President or Councillors. It is hoped one day soon the Shire President and Councillors will come to grips with and see how they have been manipulated at the ratepayers expense. Anonymous 20 February at 14.07 is so correct the CEO is the Empire builder.
Good letter David, but will Wallace take any notice?
ReplyDeleteLike all past Shire Presidents, Wallace quickly forgot he was given the honour by his fellow councillors.
At least one of those councillors was clearly more suited to the position with unlimited free time to take on the role. Good communications skills, good financial skills and knowledge. Trouble was Wallace is from that 'old school way of thinking' and he couldn't see himself working with a female at the helm. BTW, I am not referring to Cr. Smythe.
The information about Port Hedland and the CCC is very disturbing, how come we are just finding this out now? Did our Councillors know about this when they interviewed him? If not, why not?
Yes, the councillors are solely responsible for the budget. Unfortunately the councillors are no longer in the loop - the Shire president is running the show on his own.
Councillors should have instructed the CEO to reduce staff numbers and cap it as part of his KPI's. Trouble is majority of councillors have no clue about their responsibilities.
I agree with the new comer that the the councillors are solely responsible for the budget which can be duly amended/revised by the council. if the shire president is running the show on his own and presumably making expenditure decisions then he is in serious contravention of the Act. what are the councillors doing about this. if nothing then they are individually culpable. what exactly is the Shire President keeping from the councillors. and what is the CEO doing without the authority of the Council that seems to concern so many people. I would like to know
ReplyDeleteThe CEO put his case to council for a CDO/EDO ages ago and they agreed. The CDO role was in the budget for several years but never filled.
DeleteIt was always the CEO's intention to split the role and council were aware of this.
Let's not invent reasons to bury the CEO. He's not perfect, but no one is and what might his replacement look like? A James Best, Ray Hooper, Graham Simpson, Mark Dacombe or the like?
He will likely move on to bigger things at the end of his 5yrs. Most youngish CEO's do.
York needs both CDO/EDO if it is ever to recover/progress. The key is to get the correct type of personality for it.
Maybe you can explain what the EDO does now and what the hell a CDO would do if the CEO has his own way.
DeleteWhile we're on the subject of roles, you seem to be fully au fait on whats going on, exactly what is the 'EDO' doing for economic development, every second week a business closes down.
Sounds like some councilors,the ceo,senior admin staff ought to remember/realize why their here in the first place (to lead honestly and repair ailing assets.)You can all think it's too hard or pretend it's not your fault (high rates,low standards) Generally speaking the people of York aren't wanting to make drama's or give anyone a hard time,but everyone wants value for money,and a fair go.We don't need grandeur. Keep it simple, stop the games,pull your fingers out,stop trying to prove yourselves, be humble,roll up your sleaves and show us why your here.
DeleteAnonymous 21 February 2017 at 01:33
DeleteThe position was advertised for all to see.
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.york.wa.gov.au/Profiles/york/Assets/ClientData/Documents/Content/Employment/CEDO_-_PD_final.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwiH7svoxaHSAhXJTbwKHYJADisQFggwMAU&usg=AFQjCNHNZwVpfT7H4iHhWGe21JOPx-7L0A
We need businesses, we don't need sanctimonious bureaucrats telling us that. If the pious pricks were that bright they wouldn't be working for LG. The fact they work for LG speaks volumes, they wouldn't last five minutes in the private sector.
ReplyDeleteWhat were council thinking approving the CDO,EDO, as well as the AM,MWI,MCCS,CCH or whatever there called .Sure the original idea behind this new management structure had some merit but with all those salary's and associated costs can we afford it. I guess they can just shuffle some more money around,(rob Peter to pay ????) Or just take some more funds earmarked for maintaince or repairs.
ReplyDeleteShould council go back to the drawing board or maybe back to the people and re evaluate the 10 year plan based on what they feel is most realistic?
ReplyDeleteHang on everyone. At least we don't have Ray Hooper and the two females running the Town.
ReplyDeleteLets give the CEO a fair go. He has come into a Town full of anger because we have had huge rate increases and there's a bigger mess than anyone realised. He also inherited angry staff that would probably shaft him given half a chance.
Cadre, thanks for explaining the two albeit eventually split roles.
Lets remember the administration was run by a bunch of fools for so long, we really have never experienced a well run administration.
Had we had decent councillors prepared to listen to those trying to warn them, we may not be in this situation.
I am not too happy with some of David's letter. Some of the things about the CEO seem a bit unfair and over the top.
I do wish everyone would stop bagging the CEO. Give him a chance to sort out the incredible mess that Ray Hooper, Tyscha Cochrane & Gordon Tester and cohorts left. Give him some encouragement and leave the past in the past. He seems to be doing a great job and he is also very accessible. I was one of Hooper & Associates victims & now just want to leave it where it should be in the past.
ReplyDeleteThe CEO Mr Martin was given the job and is paid a salary to sort out what is referred to as a mess. It appears he is not done anything to reduce the costs of running the Shire Administration in fact he has increased the/his executive staff who are not being paid from his salary but from the pockets of the ratepayers.
DeleteBut 'the costs of running the Shire Administration' weren't part of the mess. The mess was the toxic relationship between staff and the community, monumentally stupid decisions involving YRCC/FOB&G, persecution of local business and dodgy office practices.
DeleteOf course the mess is going to cost money to fix. The staff causing all the problems were widely lauded as being unqualified. Of course it's going to cost more to get qualified staff. What do you want? Magic - and for free?
Anonymous21 February 2017 at 15:56 - Yes CEO Martin was given the job and the salary to sort out the mess. How about letting him do that, it is not going to be fixed over night.
DeleteWhy not have a go at Boyle and Hooper, they were the Shire Presidents who stood by and allowed York to fall into the sink hole. Boyle has the cheek to call himself a 'local' while all along he was condoning the actions of the worst CEO this Town has ever had. It was the 'newcomers' who fought to expose the truth!
York was brainwashed to believe the CEO ran the Town. SP Boyle and Hooper were too naive, inexperienced and unqualified to realise they and their councillors had the responsibility to direct CEO Hooper.
CEO Martin can only do what the Shire President and councillors allow him to do.
Perhaps you should consider attending a council meeting and directing your concerns to Shire president Wallace.
David's letter puts the spotlight into the Shire Administration under the CEO Mr Martin's administration, ratepayers have the right to know what is is going on and what it is costing them since he took over.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous21 February 2017 at 15:36 - Yes Ratepayers do have the right to know what is going on. Have you considered making an appointment with CEO Martin? Why not meet him face to face and ask him how much of the mess he has already sorted through.
DeleteGive it a go and please let us know how you get on.
I too am one of Ray Hoopers and councillors victims and I ask people to give CEO Martin a chance. He has an enormous mess to sort through, probably far bigger than even he imagined.
ReplyDeletePeople need to remember the mess we are in took well over a decade to create and it is unfair of people to expect it to have been repaired in the 10 months the CEO has been here.
If you are unhappy with things as the truth is uncovered, why not direct questions to those elected members during the time Ray Hooper was here. They failed to listen to the warnings they were given, they need to accept responsibility for allowing our Town to get into such an awful mess.
We may not like all the decisions the new CEO makes, but at least now we can have our say without the risk of being targeted.
Those who have issues, please make an appointment with CEO Martin and give him a chance to sort things out. You will find him a pleasant and open person to deal with.
Could it be that this is how a Local Government should be run? Could the problem go way back further than the Hooper's, after all, they picked up where the Marwick,s and Gregory's left off?
ReplyDeleteCompared to other Shires I've lived in, York is backwardly parochial in its thinking. Currently we have a situation where we have a CEO chomping at the bit to move by bringing York into the 21st century and a Shire President who's firmly rooted in the traditions of the establishment.
York has been so badly managed over the years, the ratepayers have almost become conditioned to accept poor governance as the norm. The problems have been highlighted over the past two decades with the influx of tree-changers, or as the establishment preferes to call them, 'new-comers'.
These 'new-comers' bring with them fresh ideas, enthusiasm and energy, it's this which scares the living shit out of the parochial masters.
We have all witnessed how the establishment treat these 'new-comers'.
Anonymous21 February 2017 at 18:07 - you are right, the problems do go back to the Marwick days.
DeleteReaders, go and have a look at the photos of the councillors York has had over the years. Only then will you realise the lack of quality elected members voters entrusted to make decisions on their behalf.
Didn't take Ray Hooper long to realise he could convince elected members he was an expert in LG and they believed him - they were a pushover. Now, we are all reaping the consequences of their stupidity.
The past two decades of new-comers bringing with them new ideas etc. etc. The Saints tried and did their best but were attacked at every turn by the by the Shire Administration staff. Enterprises and shops have closed in recent years. Evidently the living shit has been scared out of the new-comers too.
DeleteToday Tonight (Channel 7) filmed the destruction of the beautiful Salmon Gums along the Quairading Road.
ReplyDeleteAll that is left - piles of mulch!
I travelled out to join this mornings peaceful protest on the Quairading Road in the hope we could save some of the majestic Salmon Gums. Unfortunately only a small number were still standing and I fear they too will be gone within days.
ReplyDeleteFor miles along both sides of the Quairading Road are piles of mulch.
Cree Indian Prophecy
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.