After watching Armidale Regional Council's debate about opening the Mall to traffic from 5.30pm to 8am, I was completely bewildered by the Mayor's extraordinary response in The Armidale Express on 30 April.
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There was absolutely no suggestion that the Mall be closed to all traffic (e.g. deliveries and Markets in the Mall).
A subsequent article on May 1 'councillors request extraordinary meeting about CEO Susan Law's contract' suggests that Mayor Murray really is 'in the dark' and unable to understand why so many of Armidale's residents endorse the actions of the majority of councillors.
Here are some of many reasons:
- Inverell received millions of dollars of funding originally earmarked for Armidale (see Inverell Times, 'Copeton Dam's Northern Foreshore set for a $5million development', 21 October 2019);
- The 'Competitive Dialogue' process for ownership and management of the airport did not go to a council meeting. Councillors first saw the details in a tender document provided to them by the Ratepayers Association;
- There has been no report to council concerning a trip made by two councillors to Melbourne for discussions with Costas; when will council consider any (tentative) agreements made during this visit?;
- ARC has experienced a major loss of expertise with 63 resignations and redundancies since 1 November 2018, including a highly experienced Librarian and a water engineer made redundant in the midst of a water crisis (total redundancy costs of $1.53 million);
- Setting up a working group took from 23 October 2019 to 30 March 2020 (with the expectation that the group would write a comprehensive report by 2 April);
- The Mayor's unfounded claims that our internet facilities were too poor to hold online meetings damaged our region's reputation as a business and tourism hub;
- A confidential motion calling for an extraordinary council meeting should remain confidential - not be used as the mayor has tried to do in this latest 'leak' to The Express.
These concerns are reinforced by USU's Mark Hughes saying "employees are significantly concerned by the continual waste of ratepayer's money by the management team, including by continually undertaking restructures that have resulted in the skilled people exiting the organisation and the loss of expertise.
A significant loss of morale within the organisation was highlighted, with the workforce suffering as the result of the current turmoil engulfing the management of the council" (Armidale Express, March 9).
Mayor Murray must be aware of clause 10.5 of council's Code of Meeting Practice: "It is the duty of the chairperson at a meeting of the council to receive and put to the meeting any lawful motion that is brought before the meeting."
He was duty bound to do this at the (interrupted) Special Meeting. There is a sense of déjà vu.
BBC News reported in an article last updated 1 February 2007 'Council MD quits after two years' that Susan Law left her position in Doncaster with a payout of £120,000 and 'no admission of fault or liability on either side' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/6322017.stm).
The total costs (including legal bills) were £300,000 (almost A$600,000)). The radical restructuring of Doncaster Council services undertaken in 2004 and 2005, when Ms Law was Managing Director, is examined in 'Council was warned children would die' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/7923188.stm and https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/watchdog-acts-over-threat-public-confidence-doncaster-after-tortured-boys-case-1990730
A Climate Action Present for Mother's Day
Mother's day is a time for reflection of those moments you hold dear in your heart.
It is a time for gratitude for the warm hugs, the beaming smiles and that you get to share the wonder of each new world discovery. And yet this year Mother's day it is filled with sadness and anger.
That the future I had hoped for my children may never be. The prediction is for a life filled with hardship, longer, drier droughts, soaring temperatures, the collapse of ecosystems, continued extinction of the treasured wildlife that we read about in our storybooks and a world with no Great Barrier Reef.
That's why this Mother's Day aside from cuddles and giggles I want strong action on climate change. I want the government whom has heeded the science in facing the crisis of COVID-19 to show the same courage and bravery in the mitigating the risks of the climate crisis that still looms. To commit to rebuilding our economy with a climate lens and ensure that every measure we take is a positive step for the climate.
That we transition ourselves to be the renewable energy powerhouse we could be and decisively transition from coal, oil and gas as is asked of us by the science.
Only then can I hold my babies knowing we have done everything to give them a clean and safer future.
Helen Cameron, Tamworth
