Hello Spain, Netherlands, China, and all my homies here in the great land of Oz...word up mofos...mild apologies for straying off topic yesterday but the issue of Violence Against Women unfortunately but rightly continues to dominate the media with the release of new and bewildering figures...nearly one woman per week in Australia is killed by her partner or ex-partner, and more and more often these 'perpetrators' are attacking the children as 'revenge targets'.
Again I can only express support for any efforts to address this violence, but also my concerns that we talk up a great game not backed quite so thoroughly by actions...and I do apologise because today's post was done late after a day with my child/person...but I digress...
And a special shout-out to blog availees in Ukraine as your country continues to be squeezed between the international agendas of it's immediate neighbour Russia and the Western bloc headed largely by the USofA and the European Community...we do get a somewhat 'Westernised' news service anyway, but it is simply not my place to tell you how to run your own country, and like many others, I truly hope that the tensions can be diffused and a consensus reached.
I am surprised that this here blog has regular availees from Ukraine and I greatly appreciate your patronage, particularly given the immediate issues confronting you as a nation...is there a place for and the possibility of a Ukraine that calls Russia a sibling not a parent, and the 'West' an equal not an ally?...in light of what is happening in places like Egypt, Ukraine, Thailand, etc, in the name of simply exercising a chance at democracy, I was bewildered when the West Australian Senate Election re-run a few weeks ago had a $20 'default fine' ...(deadset?-Ed)...yep...
Sure, it was a bit if a debacle to lose 1300 sumthin' votes forcing the re-election, but it happened...and with the re-run election, if it was all a bit too difficult for you to have to vote again, you could pay a $20 default fine...(is that a special dispensation fine for that specific WA Senate re-run, or the general fine for failing to vote in a federal election?-Ed)...great question, don't know...(I'll check it out and be back in a minute...yeah, looks like it was a specially low fine for that specific election, with Court ordered fines usually up to about $170-Ed)...super...
Anyway, just jumping straight in, Council's meeting on Tuesday 15th of April 2014 was a relatively uneventful occasion compared to some other meetings I've covered previously in the blog. There was the usual round of reports from Mayor Steve Perryman and various Councillors, including reference to the information session for Main Street retailers which was described as a "good engagement".
This was accompanied by the tabling of a 648 signature petition dated 7th April 2014, requesting they do not remove the 8 car parks as planned by Council who want to have their nodes protruding along the Main... "the CEO advised that the substance of the petition has now been referred to the Operational Services Committee for consideration"...I understand Council has every intention of just plowing ahead with removing those car parks.
The rest of the Main Street and Ferrers Street re-paving works have hit a bit of a hurdle with Council having to apply for tenders for both the supply and laying of concrete pavers. There were four companies invited re supplying concrete pavers, but no tenders were received for laying them, so that work will have to be re-tendered. Build-Pro won the supply contract at a rate of $67.70 per metre squared for a project of 1600 square metres...you do the math.
I still don't understand why Council have done all of the supply and labour thus far on the horrid grey pavers along The Main but are now Tendering for pavers and laying...and I will re-state the many comments I have heard about the terrible 'greyness' along the Main now and the stained planter boxes, cracked seating, etc, because it has been a disastrous waste of money that detracts from the streetscape.
Council also reports that the Old Hospital demolition has come in almost exactly on budget, leaving them precisely the $100,000 they intend to use from the 2013/14 budget to re-vamp the Old Laundry Building that was saved from the demolition...Budget allocation for the project was "$2.55million", and current expenditure to date is approximately "$2.35", which includes the demolition and additional asbestos removal.
Excuse my cynicism, but as I've described in previous posts I find it fundamentally impossible to believe a single word and/or figure that Council provides, they have a proven capacity for grossly distorting truths and/or simply making shizzle up, pushing costs around the page and/or into other areas of Council expenditure, etc, eg, aspects of the Main Corner Project that were 'billed' under various Council departments...
It is my personal experience that Council just makes shizzle up as they go along, as suits them in the moment...they know they can do this, because there's absolutely nobody holding them to account...again I offer my personal experience which is also an undeniable reality off the front page of The Border Watch, eg, the $350,000 that former CEO Greg Muller misappropriated from the Main Corner project, a misappropriation/defrauding/theft, call it what you like, that has been 1) supposedly scrutinised by Council's Auditor, who either cleared Mr Muller or failed to discover this massive anomaly in Council's accounts, and 2) allegedly investigated by the ICAC, again without any resultant action against Mr Muller.
I am very sorely tempted to drop in here a number of other instances of employees defrauding employers that I am aware of in Mount Gambier that for some strange reason have not been reported to the police or other relevant authorities...again though it is not possible to do so without just dropping some other people right in it...
Council apparently won an award for their 'Lifelong Learning Project' display at the Local Government Association meeting recently...or rather shared first prize for something about 'Best Council Display'...I don't have a problem with the idea that some Council employees put in a half decent effort with some of these things...almost...sometimes...
Council has also won an award for the 'Biomass Furnace at the swimming pool', but I am at a complete loss to explain why this has happened, this medieval burning wood chips technology is a retrograde step that appears more about helping a local mill owner get dollars for their waste product than it is a responsible expenditure of ratepayers money...it's a simple solution really; if the bloody pool had a shrekking roof over it, there would hopefully already be a solar heating unit that does not require any fuel...it is after all, the modern technology.
In fact I reckon the current building probably has the roof space to accommodate a half decent solar heater set-up that has no running costs and is absolutely zero emissions...(don't come here with ya' practical solutions ya' young whipper-snapper-Ed)...yes, anyhoos, enough for today...
Tomorrow: The Rest Of The Meeting Stuff
Just rounding out the stuff that's left from last Tuesday, like the Rail Lands for example...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
No comments:
Post a Comment