As per usual, please refer previous posts.
The first time I actually spoke to Greg Muller was outside City Council's February 2006 Rail Lands meeting, held in the Old Town Hall, when he came up behind me after the meeting, slapped me on the back, thrust his hand out, and said 'hi, I'm Greg Muller...who are you?' (paraphrase)
The first time I actually met Mr Muller was earlier at the meeting when he presented Council's three very expensive and identical plans for the complete Retail Development of the Rail lands site...and our eyes met across a crowded room and there was an undeniable electricity in the air as Mr Muller glared furiously at me for one Mississippi...two Mississippi....anyway, for several seconds.
And my crime? Putting my hand up and politely asking where the plan for a Parkland was because a number of people had requested that the site be used for parkland.
Mr Muller was so consumed by his rage that his face was knotted with fury and he was literally unable to speak; he just sat there glaring at me....ooooo, hit a nerve me thinks.
Apart from that, Mr Mullers undisguised rage was a reflection of how he conducts himself in general, and the fact that he is clearly not used to being held to account with problematic questions, and these two things combined led him to believe that staring angrily at me, right at me, was somehow an appropriate and wise thing to do.
I continued to ask the same question and Mr Muller, once he recovered his voice, stated that there had not been any public interest in a Parkland, and numerous people in the crowd commented that yes there was.
I further endeared myself to Mr Muller by asking 'where is the bus terminal'? He was thrilled....but apparently he/Council "were not aware of the need for a terminal'. That was and is a lie; just look at Council's ongoing disasterous handling of the Bus Terminal issue.
At one point, Cr Merv White stood up and stated that perhaps other people could say a few things, "we're tired of hearing from the same people"...bless you Merv...and a couple of people asked 'on message' questions, ie, 'Dorothy Dixers' that allowed Mr Muller to provaricate about how super the Retail plans were, and then there were no more hands...30 seconds...and up went my hand. ('DDs' are questions asked to set up a prepared response, eg, in Question Time the Labor back-bencher asks the Labor minister to explain the benefits of a Labor program.)
Directly behind me two 'little old ladies' were chuckling away to themselves at Mr Muller's un-disguised displeasure as my questions moved to....where are all the carparks you'll need?...where is the Rail line on those plans?...and so on.
Toward the end, the LOLs were quietly cheering me on.....goading me even to go just a little bit harder...it was genuinely, warmly hilarious.
I note that todays' The Border Watch review of previous news items, states that it was one year ago that Councillor Richardson raised concerns in Council that Mr Muller had ...spent without authorisation? mis-appropriated? de-frauded? stolen?...I call it stolen... $344,000.
Even then The Border Watch describes this theft as;
"Mount Gambier's Main Corner development is again embroiled in controversy following
revelations elected members have not authorised a $344,000 blow-out in costs."
"Not authorised"...that is fraud...or theft....
In The Border Watch this "blow-out " was attributed to unexpected costs associated with fire-rating, window insurance, etc...absolute nonsense that even then only added up to 1/3 of the missing $344,000.
All of these things would have been included, and I suggest with issues like fire-rating must have been included in the original costs as an essential pre-requisite to gaining building approvals.
Mr Muller is one of the driving forces behind the Rail Lands Retail Agenda that has directed Mt Gambier planning and development since 2005; and most particularly the Main Corner obsession, including his own personal baby, the outrageously self-indulgent $650,000 Volcano 'movie' that will never recover one cent...it is a frivolous extravagance that Mt Gambier did not need and could not afford.
What about public transport Greg? Proper bus shelters? A covered pool? Proper tennis courts? Proper service maintenance? Reclaiming the Rail Lands for Parkland? etc, etc.
Mount Gambier is falling apart at the seams, and still Council spends like a drunken sailor on stupid, pointless projects like paving the Main St....and chopping down all the native trees...etc.
Does Mr Muller continue as a payed 'consultant' to Council? It would explain recent sightings of him regularly "skulking" (their words not mine) into Council Chambers.
Again, there must be a thorough and genuinely independent Inquiry into the Main Corner Project, with a focus on addressing all of the mistakes Council have made (where has all the missing money gone?, etc) before they can be allowed to frivolously splurge millions of your money on other ludicrous projects.
Tomorrow: More Wind Turbine Propaganda - All The Sick People Are Crazy - Simon Chapman
and post 2.....The First Time I Met: Wattle Range Mayor Peter Gandolfi
No comments:
Post a Comment