IS THE PRESIDENT PLAYING MUM?

No! we are not talking about the warmth, caring and love associated with motherhood. ‘MUM’ in this instance means being uncommunicative, tight lipped and secretive about shire affairs to the detriment of other Shire of York Councillors, ratepayers and the community in general. If this is so then the President should go! There are disturbing rumours that the current President of the Shire of York, David Wallace, is being less than forthcoming with his colleagues regarding important information that he should be required to divulge to fellow councillors.

Apparently there are regular weekly meetings between himself and the Chief Executive Officer. How much of the content of these soirees is communicated to the other council members, singularly or as a group, is not known, and is a potentially contentious issue?

The only legitimate quorum on any vote on shire business at any Council Meeting is when it consists of Members who are fully au fait with all relevant details, proposed actions and after due deliberation -what could be the required, reasonable outcomes- before the meeting takes place.

This allows for an Absolute Majority vote by fully informed , fully cognizant Councillors- or a no vote or abstention if individual councillors are dissatisfied with any part of any Resolution.

It is a major part of the democratic process that allegedly exists in all Local Government Councils. Failure to do so turns ‘Democracy’ into a ‘Mockery’!

Mr. Wallace should be of the understanding that his status is as the titular head of Council answerable to Council.

His authority should be  limited to speaking on behalf of Council, when required to- when approved by Council by an Absolute Majority of fellow Councillors. Otherwise, the community can have their monthly viewing of the indefatigable Presidents Column that is more than likely authored by the Chief-Executive-Officer, Paul Martin, than by anybody else.

I am sure that Councillors are aware that  comments made to a very senior journalist, Mr. Tony Barrass, former Western Australian Editor of the prestigious The Australian Newspaper seriously backfired to the point that the President should rely on providing Press Statements created by others and not make unsolicited verbal comments to the Press. Putting it plainly and simply so everyone comprehends- Mr. Barrass misquotes no one!

As a result of these quotes- the case of Whitegum Air Park versus the Shire of York has now taken on a new dimension accompanied by far greater public scrutiny where York may once again be perceived as the historic, iconic idiot village.

It also includes the possibility of far reaching changes being made to the future independence of Local Government Areas in creating and enforcing local laws, principles and guidelines that could be challenged as being a travesty, a triviality, an inanity and arguably unlawful-all being of extreme detriment to individuals, businesses and 99.999 percent of the whole community.

What President Wallace had to say to someone who is a judge of the prestigious’ Walkley Awards’ the pinnacle of journalistic achievement, the only Australian reporter to have been jailed for refusing to give up his source of information and who has covered hundreds of major news events including the Port Arthur Massacre beggars logical belief.

President Wallace should have known that public comments made just prior to proceedings commencing at the State Administrative Tribunal could be prejudicial to the Shire of York’s case through regurgitating its past.

The Shire of York’s past serious disfunction was totally irrelevant to the article.

I am sure the members of the SAT had already read the article in the Sunday Times Newspaper, including President Wallace’s imprudent comments, when hearing the plaintiffs and defendants arguments from 10AM Tuesday June 12, 2018 and drew some conclusions regarding the validity of the Shire of York’s objections- but probably not in a positive way.

The Shire could also stand accused of acting on behalf of an incredibly small minority.

The President may need to be reminded that he is not ‘The Council’, there are six others also representing ratepayers and their hands-on engagement in reviewing, approving or rejecting all socio-economic development planning, and their correct interpretation of equitable Principles and Guidelines is of paramount importance to those who voted them into office.

Another timely reminder would be that, as a President, you were chosen to fulfil this role by your fellow councillors’ not through any specific endorsement by the ratepayers who voted. Also that numerous ratepayers are of the opinion that you represent the farming and sporting communities and little else.

Councillors should realize that if they are not appropriately informed, they become more vulnerable to accusations of individual malfeasance if they make a decision that is later found to be injudicious, improper, in breach of appropriate rules and regulations, based on false and misleading information or based on no information at all.

Ignorance is rarely if ever considered to be an adequate defence so this rule of law could be magnified in any new, strengthened and/or refurbished Breach Clauses within the Local Government Act, 2018.The principles that all Local Government Councillors, including York’s 7 councillors, should abide by is avoiding The Seven Deadly Local Government Sector Sins. It is as simple as that!

Sloth- is being too lazy or disinterested to understand your duties as councillor and perform them to a acceptable level of conciensciousness and accountability on behalf of those who put their trust in you.

Pride-should only be the desire to perform to the best of your ability as a council member for the overall betterment of the entire community. Pride is in your personal achievements on behalf of many others.

Wrath-is an unacceptable verbal or written potentially libellous reaction to those who question your ability as a councillor or threaten any authority you have as a member of council. To call members of the community drunks, idiots, stupid, vexatious and terrorists, as has occurred in the past, is impermissible behaviour that, in future, could see individual councillors removed from office in disgrace- without recourse to civil court action.

WALGA admits that much of this deplorable, offensive , vindictive counterproductive behaviour occurs between councillors themselves. It is suggested that for any councillor to impugn the character of a member of the public in their capacity as councillor is an exceptionally dangerous game to play as the Shire of York has found out for itself.

Gluttony-in this instance has nothing to do with binge eating or obesity, it means an insatiable appetite to use the position of Councillor for personal advantage. This can  be through use of privileged knowledge of requests to council regarding future mining, business and real estate developments for financial gain and/or act on behalf of third parties in Council without declaring any real or perceived Conflict of Interest.

Greed- can be to use your credibility as a member of Council to actively seek paid positions on other boards of management without declaring any financial, or any other interest when there is a necessity to do so. 

Or use your position to actively financially support  areas of personal interest when it could be considered not to be in the best interest of the majority of the community.

Lust and Envy- are sins that are up to individual councillors to refrain from engaging in when representing ratepayers and the community.

Now- as an intellectual exercise all ratepayers may wish to sit back and contemplate on how much they love York and whether they wish it to remain as it is or move forward for the better.

Part of this exercise is to remember each Councillor elected since Ray Hooper first became Chief-Executive Officer and rate them on their achievements and whether they could have been considered to be prideful, greedy, envious, lustful, wrathful, slothful or gluttons to the detriment of York?

Currently York’s longest serving Members of  Councillor are the President, David Wallace, and his former Deputy- Councillor Denese Smythe, who are the only two to remain from the Ray Hooper era.

Rumours abound that, because of extremely serious circumstances, an Executive Manager will end his employment with the Shire of York, probably by the end of next week.  If this occurs- two will have left in the past 9 months without any adequate explanation being granted to ratepayers by the Shire-which they should be entitled to.

Unconfirmed reasons allegedly bear some direct relationship to the actions of the Chief Executive Officer over the past two years which need to be correctly identified, examined and analysed to the satisfaction of ratepayers.

The CEO of the Town of Cambridge, Jason Buckley, was forced to step aside by Council pending an investigation in April of this year.

If they do not already understand this, an Absolute Majority of the Shire of York Council can demand that the Chief Executive Officer of the Shire of York must step aside should there be sufficient grounds to require, and launch, an investigation.

An Absolute Majority of the Shire of York can also demand that the President of the Shire of York step down from this position should they believe there are sufficient grounds to do so- as being in the best interest of ratepayers and the community.

The time may have come where 6 Councillors need to stand up and be counted to  ensure that the Shire of York’s reputation and that of the community is not continuously tarnished.

David Taylor