IF ONE thing is for certain, we haven't heard the last of this events levy.
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It's a spicy topic and the recent rejection from the state's rate-raising referee ensures it will be controversial if the council decides to pursue it in the future.
While the IPART determination didn't cast a cloud over the amount of money Tamworth Regional Council wanted to raise, its communication was called into question.
But communication goes both ways.
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You've got to be willing to listen, because there is no pride in ignorance.
Simply stepping away from a debate doesn't mean you're the winner.
The mayor first floated a new levy to attract new events to town in December 2017 in the council business papers, which are freely available to everyone with internet access.
Since then, there have been countless articles online, in print, on television and radio, as well as advertising and publicity through traditional outlets and on social media.
This is on top of the in-person community consultation events.
If you have a social media profile, your brain is overloaded every day with memes, comments and articles designed purely for a conflagration of chest-beating and finger-pointing, otherwise known as engagement.
It is hard to hear over all that jabbering.
But you have to be discerning.
A number of submissions to IPART on Tamworth's proposal articulated a deep sense of ignorance in this city.
"Traditional news media is no longer relevant or capable of reaching affected people," one said.
"The local papers where TRC claims it advertised have lost most of their circulation and very few read them," said another.
We remain relevant and capable only if we are empowered by our community of readers, who have the choice to be and stay informed. If the fourth estate is undermined by unabashed ignorance, power in all levels of government can be wielded, unchecked and unfettered.
If you're not listening, those in power can act like no one is looking.