Howdy dear availees in Senegal, Greece, Turkey, and Ukraine...today's post is gunna' do a lot of question asking, 'cos although I'm absolutely certain of what I'm lookin' at as a broader issue, as described in the title, I still find it hard to believe that even the rancidly corrupt Mt Gambier City Council could be so callously corrupt as to do what they're apparently doing...also, I readily admit that I've struggled to traverse the entire length and breadth of the multiple facets of this one main issue, and in the detail that it requires, because 1) I don't know Local Government Association legislation anywhere near well enough, and 2) I haven't been attending MGCC Meetings...(yeah, 'cos you're banned, it's hardly your fault that the rancidly corrupt Magistrate Ian White deliberately and specifically and unilaterally banned you from attending any MGCC meetings with his reprehensibly vile politicised mis-use of Final Intervention Orders-Ed)...sure, but it's a reality, and I haven't even been following Agendas and/or Minutes, etc...(fair enough-Ed)...but those failings aside, these seizures/evictions are such a fundamentally important issue 'cos it 1) affects all Ratepayers, and 2) it's a symptom of the broader attitude of the MGCC Councillors...
Disclaimer:...I'm also going to be deliberately vague at certain junctures, 'cos, given some of the very specific information that I have been alerted to, I don't want to be exactly that specific 'cos it would likely 'expose' and therefore potentially cause 'repercussions' for others...so whilst I am not aware of any particular relevant legal issues with anything I've been provided and/or directed to, and therefore it's perfectly appropriate to produce/reference this stuff here-in, this is purely an act of 'erring on the side of caution' out of respect for others involved...and I wouldn't usually ask dear availees to 'just trust me', but I do believe that TMGI has established a reputation for being factually accurate, and I genuinely believe that these issues/incidents are unfortunately very real...I'm sure I'll hear all about it if I'm wrong...
So, having said all that, I am absolutely confident that the broader issues discussed here-in have actually happened and in certain cases are still happening...and my 'confusion' is not helped by the fact that Council have allegedly lied about their conduct, and/or redacted and/or modified and/or censored and/or deleted the related Minutes and other documentation...(and also tried to retrospectively alter documents and/or hide them in 'late' Confidentiality Clauses-Ed)...yep, and whilst all of these behaviours are fairly standard fare from MGCC, they are critical indicators of Council knowing exactly what they are doing, and that it's conduct is immoral and/or unlawful...(and therefore knowing that they need to lie about it, etc-Ed)...exactly all of that...and that is itself part of what I was saying about how I feel I've let the side down, 'cos if I'd been in some of those meetings, I'd have witnessed what was actually said as opposed to what was recorded/reported...(yeah, but, how much of this stuff does Council do 'In Confidence' anyway?-Ed)...that's a very valid observation Ed...(and you are banned-Ed)...sure, but those FIOs have technically lapsed and I haven't been bothered to get them reviewed and (hopefully) revoked...(yeah, but again mate, nobody's sayin' that you have to do this, you sure as shreck ain't gettin' paid for it, etc-Ed)...I know, but I've personally experienced so much MGCC Corruption, and particularly Institutionalised Pro-Paedophile Corruption, etc, that I feel it's become incumbent of me to try and address it all, and if I'm gunna' get amongst it, I ain't doin' anyone any favours by being literally outside of the Chamber...
Note To Self:...Evil flourishes in the inaction of good men, or some shizzle like that...(yeah yeah, all that stuff about how if you witness, for example, the St Martins Lutheran School Child Abuse Cover-up and you do nothing, you therefore condone that abuse-Ed)...a perfect example...(and further to that, you enable and embolden abusers-Ed)...absolutely, willingly complicit conspirators aside, mere silence is absolute consent, mere silence screams consent...and that of course applies to more 'vanilla' corruption like the relentless Nepotism, Insider Trading, and Conflict of Interest issues that define the day-to-day operations of MGCC, the more they get away with, the more they commit...(and even for a Council so fundamentally and definably corrupt as MGCC, this seizure/eviction stuff is a staggering new low-Ed)...yep, even for MGCC...
So the first point is, whilst I have been hearing plenty of accusations/allegations about this outrageous and egregious conduct from Council, and some peeps have helped direct me to certain documents, etc, everything I refer to here is extracted from said documents, the vast majority of which are Council's own documents...(you mean like Minutes of meetings and stuff, Local Government guidelines-Ed)...yeah, all of that, and therefore most of these are on the public record, etc, but I'll just refer to them today 'cos it's gunna' be a long-ish post anyhoos...I'll do further posts about this and include specific documents, etc, a bit 'ron...("'ron"?-Ed)...later on, 'ron...(ah-Ed)...there's also some other stuff that I'll refer to but not specifically identify...('cos you'll get into trouble?-Ed)...well, I won't, no, but like I said, others might and I'm always concerned about how my re-production of stuff might impact on those peeps...(are you suggesting that some of this stuff is comin' from within Council, and that whoevs could get into trouble for exposing/sharing it?-Ed)...I ain't sayin' boo about squat, other than, 1) I've seen more than enough to convince me that what follows here-in is factually correct, and 2) I am unaware of any 'legal restrictions' on me reproducing it...
Today's title asks the question about MGCC's conduct, but I'm gunna' call it-out as being an actual factual happening...in the past 12-18 months Council has done at least 6 repossessions/seizures of private residences, and that's the ones I know of...("at least 6"? "the ones I know of"?-Ed)...well I'm sure that at least 6 properties have been sold-out from under their owners, but I cannot be certain there's not more...(and why's that?-Ed)...'cos Council has effectively fessed-up to 3, they're on the public record, but there's still at least 3 hidden behind/under Council's much-beloved 'Confidentiality' stuff...(they do love a good 'Confidentiality' don't they-Ed)...well it's such a great way of hiding their relentless Institutionalised Corruption, which is in and of itself a whole 'nother series of posts, but anyhoos, we digress...(and why have these homes been seized?-Ed)...well that's exactly where I was headed...the apparent 'justification' is Non-Payment of Rates, but in several of these cases the amounts appear to be so miniscule, even as little as a single years Rates...(and do those amounts include Council's legal costs as being part of the total debt?-Ed)...well I did ask myself that, but I cannot say 'cos if that info exists, I couldn't find it...what I can say is that several of these 'debts' are only in the low thousands, with one apparently as low as $3,000-$4,000...(wow, that is a relative pittance-Ed)..indeed it is...(and if that 'debt' does include Council's legal costs, etc, those 'costs' could be half or even more of the total-Ed)...which is why that's yet another critical point...
Now this is where it gets a bit complicated for me, but to put it basically, there's a whole raft of regulations and related protections for homeowners/Ratepayers who are facing/threatened with seizure of their properties, and that includes Appeal processes, including involving the Minister, etc...it also appears that Council is under some obligation to alert/notify Homeowners as to those potential processes, and is aware of that, but has failed to do so...(and lied about that?-Ed)...that's what I'm lookin' at, yep, were fully aware of their obligations, and have lied about it, etc, but I'm not sure which is the cart and which is the horse, ie, were Council aware and lied about that, or were they ignorant of their own actions, found out, and then lied about that, ahhhh...(well call me a cynic, but I'm going with option (a), Council knew/knows exactly what they're doing, and has subsequently lied about it-Ed)...and I concur, I reckon the conduct is deliberately and knowingly unlawful/illegal, and that the denials, etc, are lies...(or even all of it is lies, 'cos when you're dealing with chronically corrupt serial liars, it's often the truths that come to look like the anomalies-Ed)...another excellent point Ed...
For example, and we'll go into further detail about this critical point, but were the relevant Council documents signed correctly?...'cos I've been lookin' at a raft of official MGCC documents that don't appear to have been appropriately signed and therefore officially ratified, etc...and if they weren't/aren't signed appropriately, then they aren't 'legal' and...(and therefore have those homes have been seized unlawfully/illegally?-Ed)...exactly, have these homes been seized illegally/unlawfully by Council, and does this relate to Council's apparent failures/deceits about notifying Homeowners/Ratepayers as to their rights of Appeal, etc...(I see what you mean about how the one issue has so many facets/related issues, there's about 4 things happening at once here-Ed)...indeed, but again, whilst I'm confident that what I'm identifying/reporting is an accurate representation of the facts/truths, obviously it needs someone far more knowledgeable and forensic than myself to really burrow down into this massive pile a' bureaucratic turd...
I'm also a bit confused about the status of those homes, 'cos it appears that some may have been sold already, but the related sums/prices seem to be potentially well below Market Value, but what's happened with those others remains hidden in 'Confidentiality', etc...apologies for being so vague, but I'm just being careful not to read into this more than I genuinely understand...(so, to your understanding, given what you've seen in documentation, etc, what's happened?-Ed)...well, it does appear that at least one property has been sold for well below Market Value, and that is my genuine opinion/understanding, and as based on the relevant public/Council documents...however, I am the first to admit that my original concerns about this were greatly exacerbated by the knowledge of whom is apparently handling these sales...
What really got my 'How Corrupt Is This?' radar pingin' was the real estate agent allegedly involved...(oh no, don't say it-Ed)...yep, Herberts...(ohhh you said it-Ed)...regular availees will be well aware of Herbert's involvement in numerous dodgy contract dealings...(like selling the old SERDE building to Bill DeGaris-Ed)...yep...(and trying to flog-off a slab a' the Show Grounds to ALDI with no valuation, etc-Ed)...an absolute classic...(and most recently the highly questionable sale of the old WIN TV building to Gazzards and James Morrison-Ed)...in almost identical fashion to the DeGaris shenanigans, yes, and a host of other 'involvements'...so when I saw Herbert's name in the mix, naturally I got a bit toey...(do we know who those houses were sold to?-Ed)...nope, not yet, but for me the whole set-up is reminiscent of the FEDS group a few years back...(ah yeah, that group of lawyers and real estate agents, etc, who were ripping-off deceased estates, etc, by under-pricing properties, etc, and then selling them cheaply to their own relatives/mates, etc, etc-Ed)...that be they...I have no direct evidence that that's what's happened here, but I sure as shreck ain't the only person who has these concerns...quickest way to resolve this issue would simply be for Council/Herberts to publish those details and remove any doubts/confusion about the legitimacy of these sales...
But the biggest part of this involves literally everyone in Mt Gambier and potentially everything that MGCC has done, and going back at least 12 months, maybe longer...(and at some stage in this process Council have been made aware of this?-Ed)...that's my understanding, and have tried to deny it's an issue, then may have tried to act retrospectively to address the problem...(and then it seems to disappear under 'Confidentiality'?-Ed)...well certainly parts of it appear to, but again, it's such a convoluted conflagration of Denials, Lies and Confidentiality Clauses and the like, that I simply cannot say with certainty what exactly are the exact chronology of events, ie, what did Council know and when? and when did they act?...(and then how did they act? etc-Ed)...yep, it just goes 'round and 'round ...(mate, it's so convoluted that I'm not actually sure what we're talking about anymore-Ed)...yes, many a true word spoken in jest, let's try to clarify this one particular turgid swamp of MGCC corruption...
A Non-Signing Of The Times:...as identified above, a potentially huge side-issue raised with these seizures/evictions, is
the apparent failure of MGCC to lawfully/legally ratify certain critical
documents...I'm looking at very important 'official' documents that have, for example, 'Andrew Meddle' typed on them, but no actual signature...(well anybody could type that on there mate, how do you know it was him 'signing' it at all?-Ed)..my point exactly Ed, as a layperson that's precisely how I look at it, typing a name on a document is not a signature 'cos literally anyone within Council could have produced those documents....(and it opens-up the bizarre question, does Andrew 'Peddle To The' Meddle even know about those documents?-Ed)...indeed, or is it his incompetence...(or does he know and deliberately didn't sign it correctly so as to avoid direct legal responsibility/repercussions when the fan cops a feocal battering?-Ed)...so poetically put Ed, but yes, again, any and all options are in play until someone does a forensic investigation to establish the facts...
Now the Local Government Association provides very specific guidelines, which are available for y'all to peruse at this here link...(I see what you mean about a lot of documents-Ed)...yep, again this is just the tip of a massive iceberg of apparently deliberate unlawful dysfunction by MGCC...
https://www.lga.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/567320/Advice_Electronic-Signature-1.pdf
...so it's perfectly appropriate to do 'electronic signatures' and in rare circumstances even verbal ones, etc, but as I understand it, none of this applies to the specific legal documents involved here with the very serious issue of Ratepayers/Homeowners being chucked-out of their properties...this must be investigated, and not by MGCC, are these seizures/evictions lawful/legal?...but the even bigger issue revealed with these failures to correctly sign documents, is that Council/Meddle have potentially failed to correctly sign many if not all documents for the past 12-18 months...(ooops-Ed)...yes, oops indeed, 'cos if this is the case, it could render unlawful/illegal much if not all of what Council has done in that time...if this is the case, it's absolutely huge, and this too must be thoroughly, professionally investigated and resolved...
All of this also relates to the recent passing of Council's 'Unreasonable Conduct Policy'...whilst there's undoubtedly many issues motivating Council to want to 'ban' people from contacting them...(like the corrupt eviction of the Turners from their Aquifer Cafe/Tours businesses?-Ed)...for one...(the relentless devious deceits and outright lies of the (minimum) $64million Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre?-Ed)...yep, and the Main Corner Fiasco, and the Old Hospital Demolition and related Rail Lands Corruption, and Boundary Adjustment Corruptions, etc, etc, all that too, but it's the potential 'totalness' of failure that has been exposed by this particular issue that really promotes it ahead of all others, and for the one very basic but critical issue as discussed above...(the potential that everything Council has done is fundamentally illegal 'cos it hasn't been properly 'signed'?-Ed)...spot on...(and this also illustrates how the UCP could be wielded against Ratepayers, eg, someone under threat of losing their home and who is getting royally shafted by the corrupt MGCC, etc, that person repeatedly contacts Council, likely in a highly emotive state, etc, and Council bans them, but all of it is about Council's unlawful actions!-Ed)...yep, those people and anyone who might try to act on their behalf...(or just try to address the issue 'cos it's so corrupted and must be challenged-Ed)...exactly, anyone and everyone whom Council chooses to 'ban'...
Dear Availee, You Are Now An Opinion Passenger:...'cos there's no question that MGCC has been seizing people's homes, and in several instances, it appears to be for quite miniscule debts, and then those houses are being sold-on via Herberts, potentially below retail value, etc, etc, but why? why would MGCC act like this?...and this is where we go from document-supported reportage of actual facts, as above, and into the world of opinion...in my opinion, there's more than one potential motivation, and possibly several that are concurrent...(so you're 'raisin' concurrent issues, get it? 'raisin', con-current, as in currant?-Ed)...mate , the fact that you felt it necessary to explain that horrific pun is self-quantifying...(just saying-Ed)...well just don't...anyways, I reckon a prime motivation is that Council is absolutely desperate for funds, 'cos despite all their protestations otherwise, they are hemorrhaging money with the FARC, and their general 'accounts' are shot-to-heck, etc, etc...(but that doesn't necessarily exclude the possibility that these houses are gettin' sold-off to mates/relatives for below market value-Ed)..absolutely, and given what I've witnessed of years of MGCC's chronic Nepotistic Corruption, I'd be genuinely surprised if that weren't happening...(it'd be the classic win/win for Councillors, raking in some cash whilst their relatives/mates profit nicely-Ed)...indeed...so whilst these are merely my opinions as to why Council is doing these seizures/evictions, they are opinions based on facts both current and historical...
And again, with all of this, I believe that I have reported/reflected the issues accurately and to the best of my understanding, but beyond that, I am absolutely convinced that there's potentially much more goin' on than I've covered, eg, what is the legal time-frame for such seizures/evictions, and has Council followed these regulations?...in this context, there must be a genuinely independent professional external review of the multiple issues here-in, but most immediately about what is happening with these property seizures/evictions and any similar pending actions/issues...and given how corruptly that both the Ombudsman and the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption have proven themselves to be in their repeated protecting of Mt Gambier City Council...(as we've covered multiple times on this 'ere blog-Ed)...yes, yes we have, and therefore we have proven that that job of review must be conducted by some other body, eg, a professional auditor...
Tomorrow: Yet More MGCC Blatant Corruption
'Cos whilst I was lookin' at this stuff, I ran into another extraordinary act of gross MGCC Corruption...(just the one?-Ed)...well quite, but one that itself involves multiple layers of local MGCC corruption...(that's more like it-Ed)...and also directly affects several South East Councils...(of course it does, bravo-Ed)...and that was reported in The Border Watch...(yay-Ed)...but I hadn't made the connection...(boooo-Ed)...and I remind y'all dear availees that 1) Council's extraordinary conduct, as above, is relevant to each-and-every one of us, and 2) if I can see this much, then what the shreck else is goin' on that I haven't sussed-out...I try, and I do alright, but I'm not so vain or naive to think I've identified everything suss that's goin' on here...
And as per usual, I'd genuinely love to be wrong about these seizures/evictions, and if I am wrong about any of this, I'm sure I'll hear all about it, and when and if shown that error, I'll own it and rectify it...(said by a man who's very confident that he's been excruciatingly accurate and factual-Ed)...absolutely mate, absolutely...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog, and that's Ed, who is not an actual person, but a confected literary device used for expressing counterpoints, setting-up jokes, etc...so from both of me, cheers and laters...
No comments:
Post a Comment