WHEN WILL
IT ALL END?
Following the issue of the recent show cause notice I would
agree that the DLGC have made some very poor judgements but, I would I also state the same of the current
and past York Council.
Past CEO Ray Hooper, Councillors and the senior administration were despicable in
their behaviour towards the York Community, which is well known and certainly
needed (and still needs) addressing.Some current Councillors have done everything possible to cover their own 'proverbial arse'. They have, on occasion, appeared to play in a 'one man band'. It has become evident that the instigation of the 'Fitzgerald report' was but a mere excuse to clean the slate and wipe the board but, ready for a new start - for what and who's benefit?
I am disgusted at the level of self absorbed arrogance that is and has been shown regarding this whole Fitzgerald Report and the Show Cause notice and rebuttal fiasco.
More than slightly sick of hearing about poor Councillors and their damaged reputations.....
What about the residents / ratepayers mentioned in the Fitzgerald report who bothered to step forward and put their names on record? What about their feelings, what about their families, what about their future? Who from the York Council, DLGC or the Ministers Officers has actually shown a care about them?
The past problem belongs to York - it should not have been
passed to the Minister, it should not have been handed over the DLGC, it should
not have been passed to Lawyers and Insurance Companies. It should have been
dealt with IMMEDIATELY by those responsible and, forgive me for asking what I
believe to be an obvious questions...
"What prevented and is still preventing this Council
going through the list of complaints and concerns as reported, starting with
the easiest to resolve first and offering a simple APOLOGY or other means of resolution
to those affected"? Not possible? too easy? .. NO...because basically that's only what decent people and grown up's do!
The entire York Shire Council have let this community down and they should hang their heads in shame!
These people are so tied up in a political tussle and personal gratification that they forget who put them where they are and for what purpose.
A sincere apology has three parts:
"I'm sorry" - is a statement
"I won't do it again" - is a promise"How do I make it up to you?" - is a responsibility
VERITAS
On 27th December, I got a sincere and abject apology from someone who had (under the influence of social pressure) done me a severe wrong 55 years ago. It turns out that even to today he despises his own weakness in doing me this wrong. This man is to be admired, because when an opportunity arose to make a meaningful apology he did. He had lived in various other places, as had I, and others who do not know me first-hand had also misinformed him about my life in the interim. But when he discovered who I am and how I can be contacted, and hence had the chance to apologise he did so, unsolicited. A friendship is rebuilding.
ReplyDeleteHere in York we are all within cooee of each other. How much easier it should be for those who have done wrong to each other to apologise. They might even become friends and allies if it were clear they meant it.
I hope the apology owed to us by the ex Crs. and CEO does not take 55 years.
DeleteI think there may be a different 'calibre of man' involved in your apology.
It seems to me unfair to tar all councillors, past and present, with the same brush. It could be that by putting Cr Reid and his supporters under what appears to have been almost unendurable pressure, the old guard and their allies in the DLG have forced them to take their eyes off the Fitz Gerald ball and focus on what amounts to an existential crisis.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Veritas, I share your frustration as I believe do most of our fellow citizens. The Fitz Gerald Report raised many issues, financial and otherwise, that appear to have been shelved for the time being. For example, when will we know the truth about the sale of the old convent and what happened to the proceeds of sale? When will the DLG be forced to explain its failure to respond to the many letters of complaint it received about previous shire administrations? What's to be done about the whiff of corruption rising from the York Rec Centre, the town's most conspicuous white elephant? And when will the whole truth about alleged credit card mismanagement make it into the public domain?
Above all, when will Council files be submitted for review by the Fraud Squad?
Please don't expect an apology from any source. Crs Reid, Smythe and Wallace don't owe us one, and the old guard seem wedded to the time-honoured maxim in Australian public life, 'Never apologise, never explain', to which we can now add, 'Blame everything on "perpetual agitators".
Thanks for reminding us that there's a lot of work left to do.
So for those who wait with bated breath and from a light hearted philosophical viewpoint, maybe everyday life in York becomes easier when you learn to accept the apology you never got!
DeleteAs one who came forward and provided evidence to Fitz Gerald, I would be more than happy to hear and have recorded in the Shire Minutes a genuine "I am Sorry".
ReplyDeleteI have concluded none of our Councillors actually give a dam about those who suffered at the hands of the previous CEO, senior admin staff and some Councillors.
We were all used as pawns for your own benefit.
It is high time our Shire President and Councillors found the guts to call together all those who were interviewed and start talking to us.
You all wanted the evidence, we put our necks on the line and gave it to you and now you have pushed us all aside and discarded us.
VERITAS - the Greek Goddess of truth - good to read your logical comments.
ReplyDeleteYes it would be so easy for our Councillors to sort this mess out - all it would take is COMMUNICATION with those who helped identify the issues for them.
Seems we have served their purpose - thanks guys!
Sorry to be pedantic, but the Greek goddess of truth was Pallas Athena. 'Veritas' is the Latin for 'truth' - as in the Roman saying 'In vino veritas', 'truth in wine'.
DeleteI think nothing short of a judicial enquiry with the powers of a royal commission will bring truth to the surface and closure to the town.
Amen, quod ad fratrem suum!
DeleteNot pedantic at all, it is good to see someone knows their Latin - I failed it at School.
ReplyDeleteThe impact of a sincere apology, offered early in the process, should not be underestimated. Even where an apology may not appear to be warranted, it is worthwhile expressing regret or sympathy in a way that does not accept blame; for example “I’m sorry that this situation has left you feeling disappointed”. It will often avoid the escalation of a dispute and the significant cost in time and resources that can be involved. Apologising should not be seen as a sign of organisational weakness. To the contrary, it is a sign of organisational strength and maturity.
ReplyDelete"I'm sorry that this situation has left you feeling disappointed" would not cut it with me if I knew that the apology was warranted, if the person had tarnished my reputation in the eyes of the town or many in it, or in the eyes of people whose friendship and mutual respect I cherish. It is too easy an escape route, meant to mollify rather than take responsibility for carelessness of word, deliberate harm-doing, gossip for the sake of joining with the unscrupulous or people one wants on one's side, etc.....
DeleteIt also smacks of insincerity to anyone with good antennae for recognising it.
It is a way out that is formally recommended within guidelines of some government departmental and business situations, as the first line of response to help avert a potential lawsuit, compensation, investigation, etc.....
However, also, I think there may also be merit in Veritas' idea (tongue-in-cheek or not) "maybe everyday life in York becomes easier when you learn to accept the apology you never got". There are some situations at least in which we can still walk with head held high because we ourselves know that we have nothing to be ashamed of.
Or another thought: eventually our character will shine through or our image lose it shine, depending on what is coming from within — a comfort for some, and a potential downfall for others.
I believe in the old adage, When you've done something wrong, admit it and be sorry. No one in history has ever choked to death from swallowing their pride.
DeleteOn the flip side it is said that one should 'Forgive and forget' I am not so sure, I am neither Jesus nor do I have Alzheimer's!
P.S Happy New Year to you all!
I do so love this response.
DeleteVERITAS, I also love your response, would you consider standing at the next election?
DeleteWe already have had one (or three) Councillors who thought they WERE Jesus. Another was wrongly (and cruelly) accused by the 'boys club' of having Alzheimer's.
Just for a change, lets have someone who has a bloody good sense of humour.
Love the first part of the 16:38 response. And as for the second, the cruelty is what is so incomprehensible. How can such cruel people (as at least one was in this regard) dare to set themselves up as our leaders and somehow think they have some integrity? (And that we should think they have.)
DeleteOur previous Council, ex CEO Ray Hooper and Senior Administration Staff were all devoid of organisational strength and maturity - hence the problems.
ReplyDeleteI cannot see any apology being sincere, not until those responsible have the guts to admit they were so very wrong in what they did to a number of York residents.
Only those who were subjected to the relentless vicious bullying know the damage done. The bullying not only impacted on the selected target, it also impacted on their families and friends.
In at least one case there needs to be more than "I'm sorry that this situation has left you feeling disappointed". These people were not just left feeling disappointed, they were crucified then crushed and their business destroyed. These people are fully justified in demanding those responsible be held accountable for their actions.
The most sickening thing is, the silent majority stood by at watched this bullying happen and did nothing.
The persecution tentacles spread further than that reported in the Fitzgerald Report, with tormentors using (abusing) their position in York with the belief their name would protect them.
Yes, we were a silent majority. Some of us were frightened by the yelling that happened in Council when people spoke up — particularly when women did. Even our one female Councillor at the time got soundly yelled at by the then Shire President. Some of us gave up attending Council because we could not hack the politics, the fury and the impoliteness. When we gave up we lost contact with what was going on.
DeleteThe majority of town never even attended meetings and so were insulated from the facts.
We owe several of the persecuted a debt of thanks for having the courage to speak up. Council persons should have communicated in a rational and adult-to-adult way with them in the first place, but also went on to persecute them when they had the courage to speak up. They were already crushed, but might have been irrevocably crushed if they had not used their remaining strength to push through and expose to the world what was being done to them.
None of our well-intentioned citizens deserve to be crushed — not in little ways, not in bigger ways. They definitely do not deserve to be totally destroyed.
It was not just that family. There are others who have been pursued and suffered severe losses — even to the extent of house and home. The lady who announces herself as "of no fixed abode" has enormous courage. Thank goodness she has supportive friends. She has not run away never to be seen again. She continues to contribute to York and wellbeing of its citizens.
Then there are other business people who have suffered knocks and indignities from the Shire, false rumours impingeing on people's reputations, and so on and so on.
Yes, it was allowed to go on too, too long.
A huge thank you to the person or persons who started this blog, because it is an instrument for helping people debrief on what has happened, an instrument for informing some local people of things they did not know, and instrument through which we can support each other, and an instrument which some outside our town might read and learn from.
I hope it is also an instrument which may inform our ongoing Council (if allowed by the Minister to go on and 'regroup'), giving them some idea of how we feel and what we see as right and what we expect 'good governance' and care for the community to work towards — redress in some cases, and healing in all. (Utopia, maybe, but keeping those goals in mind and dealing with us in an 'adult-to-adult' way in care and compassion would be a start.)
Thank you.
DeleteYes you are right, this blog site has given us (those who became targets for the cowards) the opportunity to let the people of York and indeed the wider community understand how soul destroying this whole mess has been. .
I was bullied at primary school by children and nothing I was subjected to back then compares to the vicious, relentless attacks I was subjected to here in York by adults who profess to be 'upstanding members of our community'.
This blog site should serve as a warning to other Local Gov. bodies thinking of employing Ray Hooper or other Staff named in the Fitz Gerald Report.
I have concluded: I now feel sorry for the York bullies. They are being exposed for the cowards they were (and probably still are).
To become a bully as an adult, they must have serious issues with repressed anger somewhere in their lives, perhaps even as far back as their childhood.
I recently attended a primary school re-union and 65 years on, one of 'the child bullies' came up to me with tears streaming down her face and in front of my old class mates asked me to forgive her for what she had done to me all those years ago.
That poor Women said she had had her life destroyed by living with the guilt of what she had done to me. We hugged for a long time.
Foot note: I am not sure if I will ever be 'big enough' to forgive the Boyles and the Hoopers.
I believe theirs was unadulterated premeditated bullying and that will take some forgiving. I am working on it though, because I know it will set me free of their evil energy.
There we go. Another apology and the powerful effect it had.
DeleteThe previous Council - with the blessing/guidance of the ex bulldozer operator - turned York into a School playground full of bullies.
ReplyDeleteShame on your all.
In some cases the person suffering damage will have a legal right to redress, and in this situation where possible, the agency should provide appropriate redress that avoids the need for that person to pursue a legal remedy. While concerns about legal accountability are an important consideration, such concerns should not be the sole or even prime consideration in assessing whether to offer redress. Agencies have a duty to put right problems arising from maladministration for which they are responsible. Agencies should make sensible decisions to reach out of court settlements, or better still, to prevent the need for legal proceedings at all. Redress can be offered without admission of liability, an ex gratia payment for example. If offering an ex gratia payment it is possible for the agency to enter into a deed with the complainant by which they release the agency from any liability related to the complaint.
ReplyDeleteEveryone lives happily ever after.
Alas, not in York!
Trouble is those who caused the suffering are the ones who illegally blocked the process of addressing the maladministration.
DeleteWhy? Because they are the guilty parties!
In my opinion, out of court settlements that offer redress without admission of liability are a sham — particularly if the victim is gagged in the process. Gagging amounts to causing 'secondary trauma', because suppressing the truth always does psychological damage. It also gives the person in power who has 'negotiated' the deal the chance to kid himself of herself (and any relevant organisation) that justice has been done. Apparent justice based on a lie is a lie, and tends to prevent the truth being revealed in not only that case, but in subsequent like cases.
DeleteContrary to what John K said on 31 Dec at 21:01 (at least as showing above as I write), in such deals everyone does not live happily ever after. Witness instances that are revealed long after the deals done, when someone feels the truth has to finally be revealed.
Majority of out of court settlements include gagging. They make it sound professional by calling it a confidentiality clause.
DeleteThose who suffered deserve to have the truth recorded in State records. Those responsible for the suffering made the decision to pervert the course of justice by illegally blocking the report, then chose to hide behind the veil of silence in the hope this would all go away.
They abused their positions in the worst possible way and have done immense damage to our community.
They destroyed the trust they were given by the people.
The abusers are attempting to blame others for destroying their reputations. They destroyed their own reputations by what they did.
DeleteHere, here!
Delete