This is the personal blog of Ian Ker, who was Councillor for the South Ward of the Town of Vincent from 1995 to 2009. I have been a resident of this area since 1985. This blog was originally conceived as a way of letting residents of Vincent know what I have been doing and sharing thoughts on important issues. I can now use it to sound off about things that concern me.

If you want to contact me, my e-mail is still ian_ker@hotmail.com or post a comment on this blog.

To post a comment on this blog, select the individual post on which you wish to comment, by clicking on the title in the post or in the list to the left of the blog, and scroll down to the 'Post a Comment' box at the foot.

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Thursday, August 6, 2015

Rocks In Their Heads

That's what the majority of WA local Councils seem to have.

Faced with a hostile Premier intent on revenge for his defeat on local government so-called reform (which was really nothing more that forced amalgamations) and a Minister who just the previous day flagged a range of punitive measures against local government, WALGA's AGM voted 172-46 against claiming the high moral ground through taking the initiative to develop a range of reforms covering such matters as transparency, travel, gifts, hospitality and contact with developers.

Mind you, watching Simpson deliver his speech, I got the distinct impression he was reading Barnett's words and didn't put much energy into them. Delivery was very wooden, even for him, and the way he left the podium very much gave the impression of "thank God that's over".

If this motion went through the normal WALGA process, delegates would have had opportunity to have it discussed at Council - but how many, I wonder, did so.

Delegates to the WALGA AGM are delegates - and must vote as their Council determines. So do we presume that the vast majority of Councils feel they have something to hide - or are they simply too unconcerned with how they are perceived to think about it.

The Barnett so-called reform was entirely wrong-headed if real reform, as distinct from larger, more-politicised councils, was the objective. But if Councils persist in this head-in-the-sand attitude, they might not find their communities so supportive next time Col wields his big stick.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousAugust 8, 2015 at 11:28 AM

    Ian, this guy (Barnett) has got to be illiterate and thick. He does not know the difference between the words ‘reform’ and ‘amalgamation’.
    He tried to use ‘amalgamation’ as a vehicle to get ‘reform’. Now he turns around and says councils had the opportunity to do the ‘reform’ themselves but they changed their mind. Councils were never asked to ‘reform’ themselves.
    He has got to be crackers. Barnett knew he would not be able to push any ‘reforms’...too hard so he tried the ‘amalgamation’, and he failed.
    Yes we could do with some reform but we need to identify what needs to be fixed and I think we all could come up with a few things to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately the Vincent Mayor lost in his quest for a suite of reform measures sadly confirming there is something rotten in the ‘State of Denmark’.

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