In My Defense: what I call a bad day is probably the equivalent of someone else's life-changing nervous breakdown...as put to me by a social worker in 2006, I presented with a 'raft of issues any one of which could effectively cripple someone's life'...I have had to become somewhat accustomed to existing in a state of perpetual stress and pressure that would render others catatonic...to the other extreme I enjoy the financial support of a 'poverty-wage' DSP, and partly-supported Social Housing...
On that issue, I consider the $63,000 plus allowances for the Mayorship to be a crass extravagance, an extravagance exacerbated by the spasmodic no-show attitude of Mayor Steve Perryman...it is a perfectly appropriate observation for any Mt Gambier Mayoral aspirant to make, namely, 'I only have to show up for the things a Mayor should...(and not lie when you're there-Ed)...okay, 'and not lie when I'm there', show up and not lie, to be a better Mayor than Mr Perryman...
This is clearly not a politically expedient criticism on my part and is indeed a frequent public criticism of Mr Perryman...and this is a problem now with doing the blog and effectively second-guessing what might be deemed to be inappropriate by authorities re the Local Government Election...but this stuff about Mayor Perryman ain't new news in this 'ere blog...(that and his shipload of 'Conflict Of Interests'-Ed)...absolutely...people are not happy to learn that, for example, minutes before voting to contract the Old Hospital Demolition, in itself a terrible decision, that minutes before that went to Adelaide based McMahons, Mayor Perryman left the Chamber citing a COI with McMahons...
(Ah yeah, I'd forgotten...owns a Motel and has an "Accommodation Agreement" with the 'outta-towners' what done get the contract...and apparently that's just fine-Ed)...just fine...(oh, and his contract with Beach Energy...and all the acts that the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre's Frank Morello pushes to Mr Perryman's Motel-Ed)...and that would be all the acts that go to the Helpmann...and this specific claim has been made to me by several business operators in Mt Gambier, and I'd be more than happy to line up the Helpmann's books with Mayor Perryman's Motel guest list...
I note that both Mr Perryman and Mr Frank Morello are candidates for Councillor...
I think it says pretty much everything about Health services provision and particularly Mental Health care provision in Mt Gambier, when during Mental Health Week, our Medicare Local has declared a month long moratorium on Mental Health referrals because of "a backlog" of cases that they need to catch-up on...(but if there's a backlog now, and they 'shut' for a month, doesn't that just mean there'll be even more people waiting when they 're-open' and it'll be even more backed-up?-Ed)...and there you have it, I mean, for gourd's sake, between us Ed we're mentals enough for one man, yet we can both see the fundamental flaw in this 'defer-a-mental' plan...
(So you're suggesting that it's fundamentally detrimental to defer-a-mental?-Ed)...it's absolutely disastrous...and then there's the lingering fear that closure for now means closure for good...(oo oo, while I remember, the demise of Dimmey's store in Mt Gambier is not just greatly exaggerated but wrong, they're not closing as recently reported-Ed)...ummm, thanks for that, I think...(well it's a rare piece of good news I thought-Ed)...yeah, but it says a lot that a store not closing is the good news...(fair enough-Ed)...anyhoos...
Whilst I do not have a problem with Candidates appearing in The Border Watch when they acknowledge that candidacy and put their name, etc, I did raise an eyebrow when TBW ran a full page 'magaziney feature' about Mayoral candidate Karen Bracken, her husband, and their vintage car collection last Tuesday 23rd September, a story that doesn't mention Ms Bracken is a candidate...I also note that our fellow Mayoral candidate Bob Sandow has been on the ABC Local Radio several times, doing long interviews in his capacity as RSL (Returned and Services League) President, again without acknowledgement...
It has been commented to me that there has been a notable silence from current Councillors and yet more Mayoral aspirants Andrew Lee and Allen 'Is The Key' Smith...don't know what's happening there exactly...(probably the low visibility, small target, pray to god they don't hold us to account for the reality of our decisions and behaviours strategy-Ed)...ahh, clever...and as others have observed, the good news is at least one of them, possibly both, are now officially off Council...
I'm fascinated but no means surprised by the sudden flurry of things that Council can do when there's a Local Government Election on the horizon...finally display the Aboriginal/Torres St Islander flags in the Council Chamber after voting only 2 years ago to not do it, suddenly they're all over advocating for Mentals when, again, they voted against doing this a coupla' years back...(and they thought it was End of Days at the Vietnam Veterans Day when a plague of solemn Councillor zombies unexpectedly shambled onto the scene...unexpected in that apparently it hasn't happened previous-Ed)...indeed...
And I don't know who was there in previous years, but as explained to me and as Mayor Perryman himself confirmed that evening at Council's August meeting, he'd not been before...and it was very much noticed and not appreciated...and it has been further alleged to me that Council CEO Mighty Marky Mark Mc Shenanigans (Mark McShane) was overheard stating that Council 'wanted' to bulldoze/remove/whatevs the empty log cabin touristy kiosk thingy at Umpherston Cave...apparently the thinking is that empty ground looks better than an empty building...
(Wow, Council just loves bulldozing viable buildings don't they-Ed)...they certainly give that impression...(one in the Main St, the Old Hospital, what used to be where the Library carpark is now-Ed)...sweet baby cheeses...and don't be a healthy flowering native plant...(might as well chop ya'self down-Ed)...indeed...and then there's the Men's Suicide group and the Men's Shed opened this week and it all seems to be coming together for Council quite nicely...(and of course they've come up with the Children's Charter-Ed)...indeed, and they're going to have an official launch in October...
(Aren't they also having a big party on the Rail Lands before the November election so that they can, and I paraphrase, congratulate themselves for all the t'riffic work they've done there?-Ed)...you almost typed that with a straight face...yes Ed indeed they are planning a series of self-congratulatory events between now and November...and then there's the various contracts/decisions/whatevs they've finalised in the last few weeks, and of course the Financial Plan to be ratified next month...more on these...
Tomorrow: She Of The Nanigans
And I just about fell over Tuesday when I saw a Bedford Industries man cleaning this graffiti off the bus stop just up the road from me...just so happens I have some photos of it as it has been for 6-7-8 years...that white strip is where I went up there 2 years ago to spray over some f***in' c***in'...it was the third time I've done that (possibly 4th, can't remember exactly) because I used to ring Council but nuthin' happened so I just started to do it myself...it was vaguely hilarious to watch him, across 2 days, scrub his way through this stuff to the paint I sprayed over the graffiti he thusly found under that...(layer upon layer-Ed)...
Tell me this isn't a farcical last minute attempt by Council to pretend they give a damn...(alright, this isn't a far...-Ed)...yes, alright, thankyou...(maybe Bedford's had this on their 'to do list' and just got round to it-Ed)...after 8 years?...(nah, fair enough-Ed)...I have covered at length in previous posts Council's abject failure to engage with basic social services, including and exemplified by the Public Transport issue...this is naturally a large plank in my raft of issues re Me4Mayor...more laters...
Written and Authorised by Nick Fletcher, 16 Kooringa St, Mt Gambier...cheers and laters...
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