Council's Budget Consultation

I went to the circus today and saw the clowns and the...(hang on, what?-Ed)...I went to the circus and...(the circus?-Ed)...yeah, and they had clowns and a puppet show and...(a what?...a puppet show?...what the hell do you mean a puppet show?-Ed)...you know...a puppet show...and very good too, you couldn't see the strings or anything...(sorry, what?...what the heck are you talking about?-Ed)

I'll say it very slowly for you...I went to the circus, yes?...(ahh, yeah-Ed)...and there were clowns...(yeah-Ed)...and a puppet show...ok?...(ok...but I thought you went to City Council's 'Budget Consultation Meeting' at the library-Ed)...yes, that's what I said...(ahhh, slowly dawning mega-bazinga...nice-Ed)...

Just got back in after earlier today attending Mt Gambier City Council's third of five alleged 'Consultation Meetings' re their 'Proposed Budget', which is in no uncertain terms an absolute circus where the clowns run the show as well as being the stars...(and the puppet show?-Ed)...I'll get to that...promise...

Present were CEO Mark McShane, Operations Manager Darryl Sexton, and Councillors Andrew Lee and Ian Von Stanke and a fifth person I don't know (possibly Council's accountant or Financial Officer, whatevs).

When I got there at 11am I was the second person, and the other chap was almost 80 not out and deaf as a post but he still showed up...bless him. (I'll come back to his very pointed and emotional address to Council. Fortunately 4 more people showed up over the next 1/2 hour.)

I hadn't been there literally 2 minutes, hadn't even sat down, and found myself explaining a couple of things to CEO McShenanigans, much to his displeasure - it's all the motivation I need...just to watch these bastards squirm...(mmm, not a very Christian attitude-Ed)...ahhh, actually it is...'to bear witness'...because somebody has to...(fair enough...I'll give you that one-Ed)...gee, thanks...

Can't even remember what exactly it was I said, something about my blog, but he laughed at me and waved me away with his right hand (he was sitting and I was standing in front of him) saying "Nobody's reading your blog, Nick."

I just lent forward, smiled, and said "Yes they are, and you know they are."  His empty, affected laugh broke, he flushed crimson, and the Fear ran in his eyes as the bleak reality washed across his face...teach you to laugh at me you f(whoa, whoa, whoa...come on...we've spoken about this...I know you're upset...but...-Ed)...yes, you're right...sorry...sorry everyone...

And it wasn't that I tried to physically intimidate him or anything like that, it was just the truth of what I said slamming him like a fist...he feebly waved his derision and scorn at me with false bravado, and in but a moment it turned, gathered, and crashed back onto him in a furious foaming torrent that pounded him into the jagged reef of reality.

No longer the stoic Marky Mark of the Inscrutable Visage...more of a Metaphoric Skid Mark...(see, there you go...you can be incredibly scathing and offensive without swearing-Ed)....I know...let's move on...

The Elderly gentleman went first and said almost exactly the same thing I've heard over and over at the 3 meetings...conservative people who have lived their entire lives in Mt Gambier and never complained about anything with Council or attended any meeting, stating that they are so concerned with the massive rates rises and 'proposed spending regime', particularly in the current financial climate, that they had to attend and say something...and that something is please, please, please...don't do it.

Not the lunatic fringe...(fringe?...you wear your hair pulled back-Ed)...hilarious...it was the 'conservative set' who were so concerned that they turned out in relative droves. Many meetings I've been to had almost no-one, eg, I attended all 5 Main Corner 'We've Built It Now What Do we Do With It' Meetings where a total of only 30 people showed up, most of whom were Councillors or media and supported the Project.

(Now its Sunday-NF) - The Thursday meeting - 20 people, 4 specific 'never been to meetings before', etc, all saying please don't do it, shelve the projects, please don't raise rates, etc, all conservative people. (When I summarised/synopsised this near the end of the meeting, one man pointed at me and said "I don't know who this bloke is, but he's right." and there was a chorus of murmurs "who's that"..."oh, that's Nick Fletcher"...damn straight it is...)

The elderly gentleman (above) was critical of Council for not maintaining basic services like footpaths and described how there is no footpath in his street, and how he recently saw a young mum pushing her pram up the road in the gutter in the rain; and how the non-native street trees drop so much stuff in Autumn that cars skid on the litter on the road and drains get blocked. (One person said his "place" gets flooded in heavy rains)

He described at length his efforts to get Council to make the Sheperdson Rd/White Ave intersection properly aligned to make it safer, but was told by Council that there had been no accidents there. He then described three accidents resulting in "...3 cars written off, including Don Pegler's wife's...".

"That bloody monument at the Main Corner..." Apparently when the RSL first mooted their (now demolished) building there, Council tried to stop it, wanting instead a Rose Garden..."...thousands of dollars in glass and then cover it up with wire...it makes no sense..."

"...White Elephant..." and "...the mental attitude of the designer..." were the kick off point for his criticism (but I won't go into it all again; cost to build, cost to run, why, looks horrid, etc, please see previous posts) and he said much the same of the Lady Nelson Bus Shelter, "...should be in the middle of town..."

He repeatedly criticised Council for it's recent form, behaviour, decisions, and for not listening to people, and closed with the observation/question, ' Why do Councillors and the Mayor treat people as though though they were our "Old Colonial Masters"?'...(slight paraphrase, but OCM is the exact term he used...twice-NF)

Topics then raised by others included the financial stresses in the rural community that of course affects commerce in and around Mt Gambier, the pavers (why?..ugly...how much?), Mt G used to be a cheap place to live, house prices plummeting, one builder said (at Thursday's meeting) that he was packing up and leaving after 30 something years, the bus shelter, etc, etc. There was not a lot of optimism at Saturday's or Thursday's meetings.

When the issue was raised of Council already passing the decision to double their debt limit the repeated response was "yes we have, but we don't have to spend that money".

I re-iterate that at Tuesday evening's Council meeting, this doubling was rationalised with the argument that they would need that money to do the projects, the projects that they are allegedly doing consultation on now; and that this decision ensures the continuing massive rate rises that people are just starting to realise are cumulative, not a total.

This has been said over and over at the meetings; people basically thought that their rates were going up 7% over 5-10 years, not 7% every year, accumulating as you go, resulting in a near 100% increase at the 10 year mark.

This is starting to blow out so I'll finish here and...(hey, what about the clowns and the puppet show and stuff?..I was really looking forward to that-Ed)...if you'll let me finish...2 posts today; This Arvo - CBC Part II...(sorry-Ed) and the closing observation...

Forget about me, the next post is all about me...literally all bar one of the 50+ people who have attended the 3 meetings thus far have said exactly the same thing...don't borrow, don't spend, focus on what you should be doing around town but aren't, and for shrek sake Mt Gambier en masse is copping it left, right and centre (Forestry Sale, job losses, sky-rocketing utility costs, plummeting land values, etc), and we/It cannot take this...even those who were saying "I'll personally be alright, but I'm concerned about others and the town" were almost pleading...please don't do it.

One Note of Extreme Optimism - (are you sure you're on the right blog?-Ed)...hilarious..again...I feel that there is enormous optimism to be drawn from the fact that people are going to meetings and making the above statement "I'll be alright, but..."; so often it's just "I'll be alright."...full stop...no buts about it...

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...laters..