Letter to Minister Simpson and kindly copied to us from Mrs Saint
Hon
Minister Simpson MLA
Minister for Local Government;
Community Services; Seniors and Volunteering; Youth
8th
Floor
Dumas House
2 Havelock Street
West Perth WA 6005 9 January 2015
Dumas House
2 Havelock Street
West Perth WA 6005 9 January 2015
Dear
Minister Simpson,
PAST LETTERS OF CONCERN AND COMPLAINTS RELATING TO THE SHIRE
OF YORK
I would
have written to you earlier but I was otherwise occupied, I remain troubled by
the statements you made in the following article dated 17 April 2014:
Wheatbelt shire to probe credit card records after CEO Ray Hooper steps down By Sarah Taillier
No complaints received by Department about Mr Hooper
The Department of Local Government and Communities said it has not received any complaints about Mr
Hooper's alleged misuse of his shire credit card, and therefore was not
investigating his resignation.
Q. WHO ON
BEHALF OF The Department of Local
Government and Communities MADE THIS STATEMENT TO YOU , ARE THEY ABSOLUTELY
SURE AND WOULD THEY REPEAT THIS STATEMENT AGAIN TO THE MEDIA IF ASKED TO DO SO?
(I would refer you to just one of the letters, that
being a letter dated November 2008
to your predecessor Minister Castrilli questioning concern about use of the Shire
Credit Card and other finances, as identified to 'the Department' in 'a report'.
I would
also refer you to the content of the attachment which identifies responses to a
small selection of letters sent to your Department's spread across a period of 4 years from 2009 - 2012 relating to similar
concerns. These are responses which included statements of 'the Departments'
intentions; 'scheduled visits to the
Shire relating to compliance and governance issues', 'a strong monitoring focus
on the Shire' and 'my Department is continuing to
monitor the Shire of York'.)
Local Government Minister Tony Simpson said a report would come out of
the council's investigation, which would identify how it went forward.
Q. MR FITZ GERALD CARRIED OUT AN
INVESTIGATION, A REPORT WAS PREPARED BUT
IT NEVER 'CAME OUT' - WHAT WAS IDENTIFIED AND HOW HAS IT GONE FORWARD?
"To have Ray resign, it's going to put a bit of a hole in York at a
time when there's a bit of community pressure on a number of issues," he
said.
Q. REFERENCE 'bit
of community pressure on a number of issues' PLEASE CLARIFY WHAT THESE ISSUES ARE AND
WHETHER 'it's going to put a bit of a hole in York' REFERS TO THE SITA LANDFILL SITE?
"The department can seek... some legal advice on how they can
process this along."
Q. HAS THE DEPARTMENT DONE THIS?
"I'm aware that there are
questions being asked about it and those complaints and concerns will be handed
to Mr Keeble when he takes his position," he said. "So it will be up
to him to pursue whatever actions are required in that regard.
Q. AND SO MR KEEBLE DID - THERE WAS AN AGENDA
ITEM AND A COUNCIL RESOLUTION TO EMPLOY FITZ GERALD STRATEGIES TO REPORT ON THE
COMPLAINTS AND CONCERNS, AS PAID FOR BY
THE RATEPAYERS - WHEN WILL WE SEE THIS
REPORT?
"I'm sure if there are any concerns, the new CEO will look into all
actions current and past of the shire."
Q. YOU STATE CURRENT AND PAST
ACTIONS OF THE SHIRE - PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY THE 'INVESTIGATIONS' BY YOUR
DEPARTMENT ONLY CONCENTRATED ON 'CURRENT' ACTIONS OF THE SHIRE?
Q. Based on the obvious and blatant failure to inform you of the facts as they exist, would
you consider a probity enquiry into your own Department of Local Government and
Communities ?
Q. Why did you as Minister 'Take carriage of the
Fitz Gerald Report ' when Ms Jenni Law from the Department of Local Government
& Communities stated and I quote, "The complaint falls squarely of the
shoulders of the Shire of York and as such, they must deal with it"
Q. On 17 September 2014 you complied with the
wishes of the EX CEO Ray Hooper and allowed a recommendation for the CCC to
become involved in the alleged leaking of the Fitz Gerald report yet, only
weeks later, you ignored the contents of a letter from the York Shire President,
with factual supporting documents, identifying (alleged) fraud by the same EX
CEO and you refused to recommend referral to the same agency, Please explain?
Whilst
this letter refers mainly to comments made by you in the above press release, there
are numerous documents to support that your Department have had many dealings
with the Shire of York concerning governance issues over many years.
I
have purposely avoided other areas of concern to include financials, SEAVROC
and SEARTG amalgamation matters, the Recreation & Convention Centre and compliance
issues as I would prefer to keep it brief in order to receive a timely response
to this letter. However, I will send separate correspondence and documents
regarding these in due course.
As
a matter of courtesy, I hereby inform you that it is my intention to offer this
letter, past correspondence and all
supporting FACTUAL documents in my possession available for public viewing on
the York blog page.
I am hopeful of a response by June,
Yours in
anticipation,
Heather Saint
__________________________________________________________________
ATTACHMENT
In the meantime, here are some of the closing
statements in a small selection of letters of response from the Minister,
Minister's office and DLG to York
ratepayers' letters of concern....
Letter addressed to Minister Castrilli
Response 29 January 2009
In addition,
the Department has scheduled a visit to
the Shire to assess a range of
compliance and other governance issues.
Thank you for bringing your concerns to the
Minister's attention.
Quentin Harrington,
Director Governance and
Statutory Support
__________________________________________________________________
Letter addressed to Minister Castrilli
Response 30
July 2010
I have requested that the
Department undertake a strong monitoring focus on the Shire in relation to the
matters raised. To facilitate this, your concerns and views have been noted and will be retained for future reference by the Department. The Department may
intervene and address issues affecting local governments, as and when
necessary, in the interest of good governance.
Thank you for
bringing your concerns to the Minister's attention.
Gary Brennan
Chief of Staff
__________________________________________________________________
Letter (on behalf of the ratepayer) was sent from a Shadow Minister addressed to Minister
Castrilli
Response 19 May 2011
My Department of Local Government has notes the issues raised by
XXXXXX, is available to continue providing XXXXXX with ongoing advice and
assistance, and is continuing to monitor
the Shire of York.
G M (John)
Castrilli MLA
Minister for Local Government; Heritage; Citizenship and
Multicultural Interests
__________________________________________________________________
A letter of complaint was sent from a ratepayer in January
2012 addressed to Jennifer Matthews, Director General. This mail was unanswered by May 20J2. The ratepayer contacted John Hyde MLA, Shadow Minister for Local Government to
request assistance in obtaining a response.
A letter (on behalf of the ratepayer) was sent from John Hyde MLA, Shadow Minister for Local Government to Minister Castrilli asking for intervention
with the outstanding Department.
Response sent to
ratepayer 25 May 2012
Whilst you may feel
that the information you have provided is evidence of illegal activity,
the matters you raised fall into the low
risk and/or minor non-compliance category under the Compliance Framework
and have been progressed accordingly.
I believe that the Department has provided adequate
advice on these and related matters and any further correspondence relating to
these matters will be noted and placed
on the file but may not be responded to.
Brad Jolly
Executive
Director Governance and Legislation
amazing isn't it
ReplyDeleteGood on you Heather Saint.
DeleteRef. 25th May 2012
So let me get this straight, 'some one' provided the DLG with evidence of illegal activity committed by ???? and Mr. Jolly changed hats and became a Judge, then handed down a ruling that it MAY just have been 'a feeling'.
God give me strength!
May God give us all strength, Bernice, because under the new dispensation imposed by the Minister we're surely going to need it.
DeleteYes, it is amazing - but sadly, not surprising.
ReplyDeleteThat final response from our friend Brad Jolly translates into English as follows: 'Even though your complaints refer to activities that are illegal and quite possibly criminal, they are too trivial for us to bother about, so we've binned them. Now get stuffed and don't complain to us again, peasant, because we'll just ignore you if you do'.
And the sub-text: 'Besides, we have to look out for our mates, as well as cover our own backsides because we know we've been giving aid and comfort to a parcel of rogues and had better keep mum about it'.
Well done, Heather, for posting this material. I can't wait to see the Minister's - or more likely Mr Jolly's - reply.
Yes, congratulations from me, too, Heather. 'They' didn't realise how much truth was going to be revealed to the public, did they!
DeleteThankyou James, I love your analysis, especially 'Now get stuffed ....peasant' etc., Had I received a response such as that I would have belly laughed at their great sense of humour, alas reality prevails.
DeleteThe expectation of a formal response by June is somewhat 'tongue in cheek' as I doubt I will receive the courtesy of a simple reply.
We can but hope!
People who write in the ponderous, opaque style affected by Mr Jolly and his ilk tend not to have a sense of humour, or if they ever had one, have strangled it. Having a sense of humour would hinder their ascent of the corporate or bureaucratic ladder.
DeleteCome on James, you cannot have a sense of humour if you are a Public Servant. IF it is NOT listed in their Duty Statement they simply are not permitted to have one - simple as that.
DeleteWell my comment is if your reading the Blog Minister how about doing something about the corruption that is blatantly obvious.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that the Minister reads this blog, but I bet he has it 'monitored'. Let's make sure he gets a strong dose of popular opinion, the castor oil of politics, every day.
DeleteMinister Simpson I have emailed you 17/9/2013, 17/8/2013, I also have written to Minister Castrilli countless times one being November 2012 which I sent to you for clarification. you agreed with his statement. 16 November 2012 talked to Andrew Borrett countless more emails I have, not only to and from me but from other members of the community that came to me for help.what do you mean you have had no complaints about the Shire of York?
ReplyDeleteRay Hooper (with previous Councillors knowledge) targeted 4 widowed women in York all in their 70's
ReplyDeleteBy the way - the Valuation certificate used for the Tender Process for the sale of the convent was illegal! The law states the valuation certificate used must be not more than 6 months old at the time of the Tender. The valuation certificate used by Ray Hooper was 4 years old.
ReplyDeleteSome people get by nicely with just a little help from their friends.
DeleteThe rest of us are left looking forlorn.
Well, some of us have had 'interim' letters from the Minister's Office which state, among other things "Please be assured your correspondence will be actioned as appropriate. Should it be required, a formal response will be sent to you in due course."
ReplyDeleteDoes "as appropriate" mean "if we feel like it", "if we are in a mood to assume you might have something credible to say, and if it doesn't conflict with what we and our friends want to hear"? And what does "should it be required" mean? Wouldn't ask for information or for a complaint to be taken seriously if we didn't want action and a response!!!!!
How unbelievably arrogant of the Minister. But it shows we are starting to make inroads into their defences. This tactic of not responding is because they can't respond without either giving away the truth, or blatantly telling porkies (lies) so the DLG have devised a new tactic of ignoring the problem in the vain hope that it will just go away.
ReplyDeleteWell they have misjudged the mood of the people and this fight has just started. The more people that write demanding answers the harder it will become for them to ignore, particularly if the letters seeking answers are coming from others as well as residents. Local member Mia is elected to represent her electors and her office has a role to demand answers from the Minister.
The attack has to be multi pronged with letters demanding answers to a wide variety of issues coming from multi sources and to a variety of targets such as the Premier, Minister, local MP's, DLGC and the media.
It would be interesting for example to hear what the Ombudsman has to say about the tactic of "should it be required".
It will be interesting to see who the scapegoat will be in the end. The record is the record and we are now developing the record.