Hello and welcome to the blog...and a very balmy 13C (55F) and rainy for today in Mt Gambier, and I love it...cold, wet and windy matches my mood on any given day, and apparently I'm also a Water sign, so this weather suits me just fine...and I reckon that they just said that it's currently 9C (48F) at 1430hrs...lets get into some local politics...after...
I cut crook about bloody Liberal Treasurer Joe Hockey referring to the currently infamous Audit of Review and the various recommendations there-in as "a call to arms"...I have previously posted my concerns about the rank militarism of the language being increasingly used by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Mr Hockey, et al, and this is a perfect example...also, just recently Tony Abbott scalded Opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten across the floor of parliament, reminding him that he (Bill) was "Her Majesty's Opposition", having also recently re-instated 'Knights and Dames'.
I was therefore very surprised when Mr Abbott made the comments on ANZAC Day about how we're not servile to Britain and more like family and then more like siblings than a parent/child relationship, etc...(well that's just rot, Tony's mad up for the Monarchy and the Pomp and Ceremony of it all, we all know that, it's no secret-Ed)...exactly...(ya' know I saw a show about all the special changes they make to the Royal limos ,eg, armor-plating, plush new interiors, etc-Ed)...yeah?...(yeah, Pomp My Ride-Ed)...moving on...
Plenty to CEO Here: I covered this in a recent post...at the February 18th 2014 Mt Gambier City Council meeting the CEO Mark McShane was absent, his name simply removed from the Agenda, and Grant Humphries sat in the CEO chair for the entire meeting until a Motion Without Notice...(that didn't appear at the front of the Agenda but was mentioned in Mayor Steve Perryman's 'report' at the start of the meeting-Ed)...indeed...a MWN to appoint him as Acting Chief Executive Officer was moved and voted on at the end of the evenings proceedings.
This Motion was recorded in the Minutes which, though, still have Mr Humphries as Director Corporate Services...then, according to the Agenda and Minutes for the March 18th meeting that I missed, CEO Mark McShane was back in da' house and in da' Chair...then last meeting 15th April 2014 'Acting CEO' Grant Humphries was back...and in between I've seen various Council notices and interviews in The Border Watch that have these 2 apparently co-operating or rather co-functioning as dual CEOs...
It appears that Mr McShenanigans name is on all of Council's recent 'Public Notices', eg, re the Budget Process, since his 'Leave Of Absence" as of Wednesday 19th February 2014 and as voted on in Council the evening before, and then he is repeatedly identified as CEO, eg, in TBW on Friday April 11th re the 2014/15 Budget and again on Thursday April 24th re the Old Laundry.
And in the same TBW article April 11th, Grant Humphries is referred to as "corporate and community services director"...(but he was in the CEO Chair 4 days later-Ed)...exactly...and on Tuesday April 22nd Mr Humphries is reported (TBW) as attending a meeting the previous week with Labor Minister Leon Bignell and Mayor Perryman in his (Humphries') position as "city council acting chief executive officer".
Perhaps it's alright to vote in an 'Acting CEO' whilst the current CEO is on a 'Leave of Absence' and then have them operating simultaneously, but I'm assuming that given there needed to be a Motion and a vote to get Mr Humphries into the 'Acting' position, that then it would require another Motion and vote to get McShane back in as CEO...I am not aware of said vote (but I'll have to go back and check)...perhaps it's alright for them to have dual powers despite a vote that seemed to transfer that power to Mr Humphries.
(Yeah, look I'll give ya' the 2 CEOs, that's pretty much what it looks like...but you said 3 CEOs, who's the third?-Ed)...well I include former Council CEO and resultant 'Consultant' to Council, Mr Greg Muller as my third player remaining always at the centre of operations albeit unofficially...(damn, I'm gunna' give ya' that one too, 3 CEOs it is-Ed)...so 3 CEOs it is...and I guess that makes me the Wookie, the big hairy shambley thing that wanders about going NNGRAA NGGRRRAAAAAAAAA at everyone...
I remember a meeting where Cr 'Swervin' Merv White twice declared then immediately dismissed as unimportant 'Conflict Of Interests' with items Council had just voted on...(it's in the blog, somewhere-Ed)...and that meeting where Cr Des Mutton only left the room...(due to a massive 'COI' re The Main Corner-Ed)...after I spoke out from the gallery...(yeah yeah, and they'd been laughing about how they wouldn't have a quorum because so many of them had a 'COI' and had to leave, then when Cr Mutton left they actually didn't have their quorum and the vote had to be held over until the next meeting, classic-Ed)...
And of course the quintessentially Mt Gambier City Council meeting September 2013 where the Old Hospital Demolition and associated Old Laundry contracts were voted on but weren't even in the Agenda...and where Mayor Steve Perryman declared an "Accommodation agreement" COI with one of the Tender companies whilst shuffling out of the room, ultimately triggering the notoriously pointless Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation...(yay-Ed)...
I've just bundled all this together as a montaged example of the shambolic conduct of Council, and there's plenty of other examples of Councillors not leaving the Chamber when they have a 'COI', or as Cr Biddie Tietz (Shearing) did in October 2013 (?) and leave for one vote re The Main Corner early in the proceedings, but not for another held during 'Public Excluded' time at the end of the evening...(they are like so random-Ed)...like totally...
(Just A Snort Break: from campaigning to be returned as Toronto Mayor for my main man Rob Ford as he temporarily withdraws from the race to go address his substantive 'substance issues'-GTS)...heyyy Giant Talking Squirrel, good to have you back...so what's Bobby up to now?...(well there's apparently been some more 'embarassing' drug revelations, so he's in re-hab for a few weeks before hopefully resuming his bid to be re-elected...yeah I have his itinerary here...looks like he's spending 3 weeks at the Rastafarian Health Spa in Colorado-GST)...oh excellent, how could that possibly go wrong...
And when he's done there is he going to have another crack?...(no of course not, that's why he's in re-hab to start with, to give that shit up-GTS)...no no, sorry, poor choice of words, when he's done re-hab is he going to have another go at politics, another crack at being mayor?...(oh right, I see, yes, that's what I said...he's running for mayor still and is just having a bit of 'him' time right now-GTS)...fascinating...what else you got goin' on?...(just the usual, you know what it's like...looking for nuts, gathering nuts, hoarding nuts...it's all about the nuts-GTS)...even on Sundays?...(especially on sundaes-GTS)...super...
To Kill A Mocking Hippy: or at least the lesser known second novel of the trilogy, the somewhat also classic 'To Kill A Mockingbird' was being discussed on the radio this afternoon...and a caller stated that they called their child Atticus after the main character because it was a story about doing the right thing just because it's the right thing to do...and I admit feeling a little like the accused in 'Mockingbird', attacked and condemned for that which my accusers know to be wrong, but rather sacrifice a stupid ol' hippy than face truths like these what is 'ere in this blog...and simultaneously feeling like his defender lawyer Atticus who tries relentlessly with no hope of success...
(And you said there's a trilogy, what's the third novel?-Ed)...indeed, but in a logical progression it's a cookbook not a novel...(do tell, do tell-Ed)...yeah, it's called 'To Grill a Mockingbird'...(nice-Ed)...
And I've had the pleasure of the company of Premier Jay Weatherill all day via the media...(damn you media-Ed)...pontificating his way through a good hard whinge about the Federal Liberal government, and then coming out of COAG furiously posturing about the Fed/state agreement to sell public assets and how how he (Jay) won't privatise anything in South Australia, 'as per his election promise'...whatta' crock...more tomorrow...but as though on cue he's right now getting a mention on the ABC/BBC Radio.
Tomorrow: Wind Turbine Stuff and Politique Federale
Thanks for your patronage again today, look forward to your company on the morrow...and on this cold wet weekend ahead, do yourself a favour and seek out some Mighty Boosh (BBC TV), have a couple of whatever ya' poison is, and tune in then tune out for a ludicrous giggle...very cathartic...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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