Justice in QLD – will it head south?

As many of you will know I was not a supporter of the former CEO Carl Wulff. I have however maintained contact over quite some time with people who were directly impacted by his less than upfront methods in Queensland. I have heard their sadness and the impact of the decisions he made affect them, their families, their health and their future and  I can now say how pleased I am to hear that the Qld CCC has taken serious action to ensure the people of Queensland are rid of dishonest people who infested places of trust like local councils. I have read pages and pages of information that now appears to have been proven as correct and am delighted that in some small way those most affected have been vindicated even though they will probably never be compensated the real cost of their losses.

 

There is a plethora of information available online and it will be interesting over time to see if anything untoward was attempted whilst on our payroll is uncovered. It won’t however be truly known the depths of the evidence the CCC have against him or his partner until the court appearances on October 24th. One has to wonder if there is anyone closer to home who would be worrying about his loyalty or his willingness to roll over to protect himself… alas we may never know but I am so pleased to hear justice is being served in Qld and while there are some here who are relishing the news out of Queensland, please remember, they were the ones who employed Mr Wulff here even when their own due diligence was being questioned. Some of you may recall my posts in relation to the contact not only from Ipswich but those in Dandenong who contacted me who were highlighting their concerns.

If you are interested I’m pretty sure a google search of Carl Wulff will make available a number of articles that all appear to be quite confident of his guilt, what actions have been taken and those who have also been swept up in the deceit of the ratepayers of Ipswich council.

As always if you have differing information please don’t hesitate to share. Cllr Balloot advised me at the last council meeting that there were inaccuracies in some of my posts and I have invited him to share his version/view for publication here. Then of course it will be up to you to decide which is correct…that said I’m always more than happy to share differing views, however to date they have not been forthcoming. One point he clarified that I and I’m afraid many others were of the impression, that he is not in anyway related to the former mayor. Knowing that I had been given that information from several people, my apologies for the error, I too would have wanted that cleared up quite quickly.

 

All in good time,

Just when you think all is well, someone shines a light on information from out of the blue. In this case seems either the New CEO brings with him more than we expected or at the very least upset at least one person in one of his roles, enough to have them write to me and offer a smidgen more information… the one thing about skeletons is they will often turn up when least expected. In our case finding out if the skeletons are friendly or not isn’t going to be that easy, or will it? (please refer to my previous post where there’s smoke is there fire? and read the comments section)

Ok a quick run down: the extraordinary meeting, of course cancelling the 25th was a given, interestingly word on the street was that it was being brought forward because two councillors wouldn’t be available on the 25th, two councillors were absent on the Friday, so why the urgency? Simply put, its the ‘political colour” of the absentees that matters. On the Friday Cllr Waller (Labor) and Cllr Balloot (Liberal) were absent, thus indicating that concern that the Liberals wouldn’t be able to push their agenda if two of them were absent seems guaranteed. Being the budget approval meeting one has to wonder why there was concern…An interesting change was that Cllr Harle managed to gain support for a rolling maintenance of council minute tapes, where they are presently destroyed rather quickly , he has now enabled their retention for a rolling period of 4 years…a good thing. Most especially for those of us who actually read the budget where the $35 copy of Tapes fee was ratified will now mean that where there is contention or query members of the public will now be able to access copies of those tapes. As someone once said, always read the fine print, a lesson I learned and will now appreciate its importance. In relation to the budget.

Vote for: Mayor Mannoun, Clr Hadchiti,Clr Hadid, Clr Mamone, Clr Ristevski.
Vote Against: Clr Harle, Clr Karnib,  Clr Shelton, Clr Stanley.

It might/would be worthwhile asking the councillors who voted against the budget why, preferably before we get to the 2016 election.

Another interesting inclusion was the support of 11 councillors delegates to the Local Government NSW Annual Conference, I always support councils representation however as always I do question why we need to send 11 at a proposed cost of $2,500 each (from the business papers in italics) , of course one can’t moan too much I guess as  on this occasion there was less exclusion of Labor than in the past, but the question remains do we need 11 councillors attending really?

Economic and Financial Costs will be approximately $2,500 per delegate for registration,
travel, accommodation and meals. (that will cost us approx $30,000 when you include one council staff /CEO if all 11 councillors attend) I am reasonably confident not all 11 will go but  one has to be prepared and that is with the assumption only one staff member attends and there are no additional lunches, dinners or team building sessions added. Which is not normally the case. Having read state wide comments from previous years events I hope a roll is marked so our councillors don’t copy past escapades and go off tripping (in this case around Coffs Harbour) rather than attend the program and actually represent their council area.

As you can easily see there are many things I question, mostly because of the costs we the rate payers will be footing.

I was also pleasantly surprised to hear the state government is rolling out a new program to reduce Asbestos in the community by allowing small quantities of asbestos to be recycled free of charge (in some cases with a cash reward of $50) However to my dismay Liverpool council was not listed as one of the participating councils. Disappointing especially as we wait for the promised recycle centre in Rose Street. With so many older homes this could prevent considerable dumping and be a real boon to renovators. When I mentioned this to a couple of people I must admit I was a little taken back by the comment, ” of course we’re not, this council only wants to help business not the residents’   Seems more residents than I expected are taking notice of what is happening around Liverpool. I’m still hearing that there are favoured sections of the community but the Liverpool is open for business is resonating and people are suggesting that business is being given precedence over ratepayers….while I’m not surprised seems some are. Liberals by and large favour business just look Federally and State if you’re unsure.

For now if you want more information on the decisions of council, the minutes are usually posted on the council website within a few days and are clearly there now for you to read. I am looking forward to meeting the new CEO, let’s hope his priorities are Liverpool and the residents…and not outsourcing as the commenter noted. Time will tell and as always let me know if your opinion differs to mine or you have additional information you think the community would be interested in. Alsoit would be worth your while to take a little look  to see what is actually happening in Liverpool, not only what is being ‘talked’ about, you might see quite a difference and as the old saying goes, talk is cheap.

 

‘Til next time…

 

 

 

 

 

Attention all Liverpool Voters

In what I believe is essential transparency I would like you to see the press release provided to both local papers last week on the 17th in relation to Preferences in the upcoming election. It is imperative that it is understood that voters choose their preference and a How to Vote is a guide, a suggestion and your votes stays exactly where you put it.

Shortly I will post our HTV for your information and should you choose to print and take with you on the day, great… for now… I promised transparency and this is a good place to start.

I value your feedback and the opportunity to answer your questions.

Candidate information

At the two candidate information sessions I attended this year and those I’ve attended in the past, the Returning officer explained many of the forms. Of particular interest to me was his advice that the candidate information sheet would be a public form and the only way a candidate can officially share their personal hopes and aspirations about their candidacy. To me this was a very important opportunity for me and my fellow Greens to highlight what they hoped for should they earn your vote.

The links below take you directly to the Electoral Commissions website for Liverpool Candidates. When completing ours I reminded my team that the effort they put into these forms and the information enclosed would be a true sign to the community of their intention and commitment. You will note we have been upfront and honest in completing those forms and suggest getting to know us and our commitment better please take some time and read through them. Of course this isn’t a Greens website and you’ll be able to read and appreciate the effort put forward from all candidates who are seeking your vote…. so please take the time to get to know us and the other candidates, after all as we often say, an well informed resident makes a happy voter.

Please note the Liverpool Campaign is being conducted by the Electoral Commission, this is the Candidate lnformation provided on their website. Happy reading

Mayors Info http://candidates.elections.nsw.gov.au/default.aspx?txtContestId=LG1201-084-01-00

North Ward Info: http://candidates.elections.nsw.gov.au/default.aspx?txtContestId=LG1201-084-02-01

South Ward info:http://candidates.elections.nsw.gov.au/default.aspx?txtContestId=LG1201-084-02-02

Feel free to comment here and let me know what you think… other than candidate information evenings, leaflets and what the papers decide to print is pretty much all the information you get… also the press releases we’ve sent to the papers are all here for your perusal, we have not to date had much coverage but I’m sure as the election begs closer that will change.

Media Posts

Don’t forget to click on the media links tab… I’m attempting to link whats happening in the local press so you can see what I’m up to.

please feel free to leave comments.

Great News!!!

I am very excited to announce that I have been pre-selected by the Greens to represent Fowler in this year’s Federal Election alongside Lee Rhiannon who is the Greens lead Candidate for the Senate.

Many of you reading this blog will know of my passion for our area and that clear and dynamic representation is what we need out here. We need to become marginal and what better way than by sending a clear message to the major parties that we in the South West matter and won’t be taken for granted. 

I am so excited to be working alongside Lee, who many of you are aware has been a major campaigner for us in the south west in her role as MLC in the NSW Parliament. 

Lee will resign this role just prior to the Federal election in order to run as our representative in the Senate. I cannot urge you enough to learn more about her and the Greens policies in the upcoming months so when the time comes to vote later in the year your choice will be clear and so will your resolve to put the people, the environment and grass roots democracy forefront for Liverpool, Fairfield,  state and country.

We have a very exciting time ahead of us, and I’m looking forward to meeting even more of our community as the time progresses.

http://www.leerhiannon.org.au/  and  http://www.nsw.greens.org.au/ and http://greens.org.au/

Know The Candidates

WOW! The countdown is really on!

With only a month until we are all off to the polling booths things have really become busy. I’m determined to get in touch with as many individuals as possible, and it’s a mighty task, and a lot of walking! I continue to enjoy meeting with members of our community and getting your feedback. So many people have offered their support, and I thank you all for that.

 

The Electoral Commission has now placed detailed information there regarding all the candidates for voters to look at and review.

 

I encourage all Liverpudlians to check out the link ‘Know The Candidates‘ I’ve place here and to the right listed under Get to know Liverpool.

Independant Candidate – BACK TO BASICS

 

The article, Independant seeks basics by Eric Kontos, appeared in The Liverpool City Champion on the 25th June 2008. I want to take the opportunity here to re-enforce my comments made in that article and reiterate why I have chosen to run as an independant candidate for Liverpool City Council.

As Eric wrote in the article, “SIGNE WESTERBERG, who is running for council in September, wants the world to know that she lives in Liverpool by choice. The independant candidate says she wants to emphasis this point because there are too many negative people.” And I do.

1. The truth is that there are not that many problems in Liverpool. We have a fabulous city and a wonderful community full of potential for the future!

2. The new council will just need to focus on the basics; roads, rates and rubbish.

3. My family and I live in Liverpool by choice; we choose to live and work here.

4. I’m a passionate Liverpudlian. I am willing to work to raise the image and facilities of this Fabulous City.

5. I believe if we need something done I WILL do the work necessary to make it happen.

6. I’m not shy, I can be outspoken, especially if it is important or involves inequality.”

I have been out and about in Liverpool, walking about our fair city and talking to people every week. From Bringelly to Chipping Norton and everywhere in between…

 And we have a fabulous city and a wonderful community full of potential for the future!

An Independant Evening

 

What an exciting time for Liverpool! And I continue to be inspired by the active involvement of our residents as I move towards the Local Government Elections in September.

As I said in my previous post, that also included a copy of the speech I gave at the Meet the Candidates Forum at Moorebank Sports Club last week, it was truly inspiring to see so many people from all parts of Liverpool, genuinely interested in a positive future of our community.

Once again, The Liverpool City Champion included some excellent coverage of the event and I encourage all Liverpudlians to check out the articles that appeared this week:

Democracy Rules, OK

Forum helps to get it right for next four years

Views Applauded

I maintain, and continue to stress to our residents:

VOTE FOR A TRUE INDEPENDANT CANDIDATE AND FAIR AND HONEST REPRESENTATION FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OF LIVERPOOL!

( Photo of Signe Westerberg speaking at the ‘Meet the Candidates Forum’ above, by Angelo Velardo featured in ‘Democracy Rules, OK’, Liverpool City Champion, 11th June 2008 )

Moving Forward

Recently my comments appeared in the Liverpool City Champion. The article, Outgoing boss gets rise to $200,000 plus by Ilona Marchetta published on 14 May 2008, regarding Council administrator Gabrielle Kibble’s annual salary.

 

I’ve submitted further comments regarding that article and the issue of Mrs Kibble’s salary and her role to The Liverpool City Champion and posted them below.

 

I stand by my comment that we have to pay for qualified people, especially those with the expertise required. What would we be able to do if we didn’t have the financials of Liverpool sorted out? The Macquarie/Oasis situation needed to be addressed, now that is done (or at least underway) the elected council can make the decisions necessary to get our community up and running. We have some clever people here in Liverpool but how many people do we have that could have done the negotiating that was required. Thanks Mrs Kibble, I may not agree with everything you’ve done but at least you’ve paved the way for a new council. We are looking forward to having our Council back, now we need the citizens of Liverpool to make clear choices, not just tick one box allowing others (party officials) to decide who our councilors are. Take a close look at those of us who are running and as a voter decide who you would like to be making decisions so we don’t end up in the same place in another 8-12years… remember as councilors we live here too, what happens in Liverpool is important to us as individuals just as it is to the rest of the community. Elect People who are passionate and willing to do the things that are best for Liverpool as a whole not just special interest groups or those with an agenda of their own.

 

When it all comes out in the wash we can get on with the business of running Liverpool for the betterment of the whole community, making decisions about Collingwood and local issue with out having the Macquarie/Oasis hanging over our heads.

 

What is important to me now is that we acknowledge the past, and Mrs Kibble’s efforts at rectifying Liverpool City Council’s situation and move very quickly on to focus on new representation and the candidates for the upcoming election. I maintain that a forward focus and highly anticipate a return to an elected council as a member of this community. And I believe that we will succeed by electing councilors with a passion for this community, a desire to see it flourish into the future, no hidden agendas and who are able to separate the needs of our community from party politics.

 

Let’s not dwell on the mistakes of the past when it is our power to move forward into the future and build a community together.