The sign in Avon Terrace said
it all, Perth Jazz Festival, and that
was exactly where it stayed.
A cavalcade of caravans-du-cuisine descended on Avon Terrace, blocking the sunlight from local businesses as they hunted for the ravenous hordes of tourists, both carnivores and vegans. They found very few famished- indeed even to feed.
Disgruntled and angry, many food vendors slunk back to Perth, looking for the real festival and vowing never to return. They had hardly made enough to pay for the petrol used in their 190k return dash-for-cash.
Drift back a decade to a far different, euphoric story of the famous, magical York Jazz Festival.
Even the tourist memorabilia was not shlock. The celebratory Tee-Shirts were iconic collectables, the promotional posters magnificent, modernist art-nouveau creations that were proudly hung on walls as a memory of a wonderful weekend.
There was the delicious smell of a barbeque in the beer- garden at Settlers House, accompanied by horns, saxophones, clarinets, symbols, drums, guitars, bass and banjos beating out the syncopated rhythm of ‘Trad Jazz’.
In Settler’s courtyard, athletic dancers flung themselves around in a traditional, New Orleans’, style salute to the music.
Across the street young acapella angels tested their vocal chords on ‘Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B’, sounding just as good as the Andrew Sisters.
The place was packed – yet totally laid-back.
That WAS the York Jazz Festival- popular, fun and mostly FREE.
This Shire of York has failed to recognize and compensate for a profound change and long memories.
A theft of thousands of dollars from York Tourist bureau Inc. destroyed the festival, its reputation and any confidence the community had in the Shire of York CEO, Ray Hooper and Shire President Pat Hooper.
The Hooper’s were persona-non-grata with those who bothered to find out why- and the underlying angst remains to this day.
Lies, nepotism, cronyism, non-existent auditing, and dastardly finger-pointing were the order of that day. It included the all-time classic statement, by Ray Hooper, that the thief ‘was enticed to take funds’ in a maniacal attempt to absolve himself, Pat Hooper and the Shire of any blame for the loss of ratepayer’s money.
A cavalcade of caravans-du-cuisine descended on Avon Terrace, blocking the sunlight from local businesses as they hunted for the ravenous hordes of tourists, both carnivores and vegans. They found very few famished- indeed even to feed.
Disgruntled and angry, many food vendors slunk back to Perth, looking for the real festival and vowing never to return. They had hardly made enough to pay for the petrol used in their 190k return dash-for-cash.
Drift back a decade to a far different, euphoric story of the famous, magical York Jazz Festival.
Even the tourist memorabilia was not shlock. The celebratory Tee-Shirts were iconic collectables, the promotional posters magnificent, modernist art-nouveau creations that were proudly hung on walls as a memory of a wonderful weekend.
There was the delicious smell of a barbeque in the beer- garden at Settlers House, accompanied by horns, saxophones, clarinets, symbols, drums, guitars, bass and banjos beating out the syncopated rhythm of ‘Trad Jazz’.
In Settler’s courtyard, athletic dancers flung themselves around in a traditional, New Orleans’, style salute to the music.
Across the street young acapella angels tested their vocal chords on ‘Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B’, sounding just as good as the Andrew Sisters.
The place was packed – yet totally laid-back.
That WAS the York Jazz Festival- popular, fun and mostly FREE.
This Shire of York has failed to recognize and compensate for a profound change and long memories.
A theft of thousands of dollars from York Tourist bureau Inc. destroyed the festival, its reputation and any confidence the community had in the Shire of York CEO, Ray Hooper and Shire President Pat Hooper.
The Hooper’s were persona-non-grata with those who bothered to find out why- and the underlying angst remains to this day.
Lies, nepotism, cronyism, non-existent auditing, and dastardly finger-pointing were the order of that day. It included the all-time classic statement, by Ray Hooper, that the thief ‘was enticed to take funds’ in a maniacal attempt to absolve himself, Pat Hooper and the Shire of any blame for the loss of ratepayer’s money.
Like Elvis, the York Jazz Festival, in its most popular form, had
left the building, never to return.
The Shire of York has not learned from the past and made three huge mistakes.
It believed it could ride on the back of others to make a new, not York- but combined jazz festival work without any ideas and real effort of its own.
It failed to realize that a successful encore was highly unlikely, when the audience had left years ago.
It is also failed to comprehend that the once beautiful face (and atmosphere) of York has decayed dramatically, it has little to offer for the tourist dollar and many feel that they far prefer ‘the water to the Wheatbelt’ -if they are going to get ripped-off.
Apparently the Shire of York’s ideation effort consisted of assisting competitors of the Forrest Bar & CafĂ© as venues for the festival, with $23,000 of ratepayers ‘hard earned’. For what positive reason- is hard to understand?
An odd fact is that the theft of money raised from the York Jazz Festival could only be proven to be around $12,000.
The severe damage was in the detail, unpaid taxes and no long service leave accrual, caused by a recidivist bookkeeper-thief who had already spent two years in jail. The effect on York’s reputation at that time was inestimably, but immense.
This time round, everything at York’s end was decidedly amateurish. Inadequate self-promotion and marketing, not enough artists and even less ‘headline artists’, some claustrophobic venues with no proper facilities for stage lighting, and an overall mismanagement malaise.
There are many that feel that the Shire of York, Local Government Officer Hierarchy is running out of time- as the community is running out of patience. There are no runs on the board with no fundamental, innovative and functional development strategy.
These shire employees should realize they can be considered ‘only as good as their last effort’ and there is no job for life in York.
Their nexus (and plexus) could come as early as October’s WA Local Government Elections- and they should make themselves aware of this, and react accordingly.
Otherwise it may be time to think outside the square and hire private experts in the necessary fields of expertise, not career local government public servants, protected from the pressure to perform.
The other option is to hire local government officers from states like Victoria and South Australia where there is a vibrant and financially successful, historic town, tourism industry.
David Taylor.
The Shire of York has not learned from the past and made three huge mistakes.
It believed it could ride on the back of others to make a new, not York- but combined jazz festival work without any ideas and real effort of its own.
It failed to realize that a successful encore was highly unlikely, when the audience had left years ago.
It is also failed to comprehend that the once beautiful face (and atmosphere) of York has decayed dramatically, it has little to offer for the tourist dollar and many feel that they far prefer ‘the water to the Wheatbelt’ -if they are going to get ripped-off.
Apparently the Shire of York’s ideation effort consisted of assisting competitors of the Forrest Bar & CafĂ© as venues for the festival, with $23,000 of ratepayers ‘hard earned’. For what positive reason- is hard to understand?
An odd fact is that the theft of money raised from the York Jazz Festival could only be proven to be around $12,000.
The severe damage was in the detail, unpaid taxes and no long service leave accrual, caused by a recidivist bookkeeper-thief who had already spent two years in jail. The effect on York’s reputation at that time was inestimably, but immense.
This time round, everything at York’s end was decidedly amateurish. Inadequate self-promotion and marketing, not enough artists and even less ‘headline artists’, some claustrophobic venues with no proper facilities for stage lighting, and an overall mismanagement malaise.
There are many that feel that the Shire of York, Local Government Officer Hierarchy is running out of time- as the community is running out of patience. There are no runs on the board with no fundamental, innovative and functional development strategy.
These shire employees should realize they can be considered ‘only as good as their last effort’ and there is no job for life in York.
Their nexus (and plexus) could come as early as October’s WA Local Government Elections- and they should make themselves aware of this, and react accordingly.
Otherwise it may be time to think outside the square and hire private experts in the necessary fields of expertise, not career local government public servants, protected from the pressure to perform.
The other option is to hire local government officers from states like Victoria and South Australia where there is a vibrant and financially successful, historic town, tourism industry.
David Taylor.
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