TFTIM Mayor Steve Perryman

It was only a few weeks after the June 2002 removal of Glyn Dorling from St Martins Lutheran School that I was introduced to Mr Perryman by another father at something at the Civic Centre...can't remember what...it might have been a Council meeting.

For that conversation I basically stood back and let Steve, the father, and a couple of others I didn't know discuss what had happened, and of course Steve already knew because his mother works at the school.

I would normally consider having a swipe at someone's mum to be entirely in-appropriate, but Mrs Perryman Snr has been a senior St Martins employee for 15+ years, and one of several 'Lutherans' who have seen fit to abuse me in public.

I genuinely believe that it was this repeated public abuse through late 2002, 2003, and into 2004, that at least contributed to and even possibly created my 'Agorophobia'.

But I digress; what Mr Perryman did not know before that conversation was explained to him during it. If anything at that stage I felt mildly sorry for both Steve and his mother, because I considered that we were all effectively on the same side of the fence, that we had all been deceived by Glyn Dorling.

Unfortunately we parents always considered that because the St Martins matter was being dealt with by SAPol, and then the Teachers Registration Board, etc, we have never really pursued the issue with Council to the degree we have with those authorities that could/should do something about it.

The fact remains that I and other parents have repeatedly discussed St Martins with Mayor Perryman, former CEO Greg Muller, new CEO Mark McShane (Tomorrow's TFTIM) and numerous Councillors.

It is not an exaggeration to suggest that all Councillors know; even if I haven't told them it has been in the local media often enough.

As Mayor, Steve Perryman always remained 'adjacent' to the St Martins issue, sort of compromised because of his mother's involvement but not really sort of 'legally' responsible; that situation entirely changed though when he won Liberal pre-selection for the 2010 state election. 

As Liberal candidate he made himself fundamentally responsible for what was happening; the fact that they completely cocked-up the election is irrelevent.

As per previous blog, what ever had or hadn't happened up to the March 2010 Election Forum at the Sir Helpmann Theatre, Mr Perryman's behaviour at that forum showed him for what he is.

When a near weeping parent falteringly raised the St Martins Issue as the last question, Mr Perryman was snidely mouthing off in my left ear "is there a question in this (father's name)?"; to me, who he knows is one of the fathers involved....it was pretty much the whole reason I was on that stage.

And then, having had so much to say during the question, Mr Perryman just sat there with fellow candidates Viv Maher, Don Pegler, and Henk Bruins; all with hands crossed, all heads bowed, all staring at the desk...all silent...all complicit...all beneath contempt.

Mr Perryman's personal political aspirations have been pursued to the greater detriment of Mt Gambier; see any of my posts re development issues, eg, the Main Corner, the Rail Lands, or Bunnings/Penola Rd, etc, really where-ever you care to look.

Those aspirations have been encouraged by other Liberal members like former City Councillor Tony Pasin, but Mr Perryman has clearly outlived his usefulness there as well with Mr Troy Bell winning/ being offered pre-selection for the 2014 election....not that that's a bad thing as best I can tell.

Mr Perryman will feature frequently in many future blogs, eg, for his in-excusable comments dismissing as irrelevent the loss of the International Tennis Tournament; but not always as you might think. For example, most people struggle to believe that I lodged a complaint with the Australian Press Council in March 2010 asking the APC to investigate and address the massive anti-Perryman bias in Election reporting in The Border Watch.

Which leads nicely to...

Tomorrow: The Australian Press Council - Why Bother?