An article in this week’s Sentinel Times (page 7) called “Rate relief Plan Misses the Mark” discusses the two circulating petitions from Matt Sherry calling for a zero rate rise in this year’s budget and a second unrelated petition from Don Hill calling for an $800 refund to all ratepayers for this year.
One of the state’s most endangered native animals has been brought back from the brink of extinction thanks to a conservation program backed by the Victorian Government.
The re-establishment of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot on Phillip Island is the first time in Victorian history a species declared extinct in the wild has had its decline successfully reversed.
Do you know of the winki pop president?”
“Yes, I do yeah, I wasn’t working at that council at that time, but I’ve been briefed on it in some detail over the years-but yes I am aware of it”.
We are all starting to adjust to the burden of living in the new norm. As we start to see signs on the horizon of an opening up of the restrictions, we are also starting to become aware that life really will not be the same as before. We are questioning everything.
Well, it has been only one week since launching the newspaper and we have certainly been kept busy!
On June 26th, 2019, a Council report in the Agenda papers for the Budget meeting as a result of the s223 process was presented by the officers. The Councillors had been dismissed the previous week and the administrators were in charge.
The report noted the following advice from the officers.
When is the report on the future of our Recreation Reserves coming to Council, and have we already allocated funding in the proposed budget for reserves ahead of the report being considered?
Well, it has taken 6 months but finally we have a launch. The first Newspaper to be launched in the area in a long time, I guess.
When this idea began late last year, it came about because of the perceived bias in certain sections of the local press. Important issues appeared to be selectively ignored and not addressed by fair and balanced journalism.
Council is putting through a four-year plan 2020 to 2024 in last week’s budget. Now normally they are started the year after a council election. Can you comment on why this is occurred now and not after the next council election
I asked Kerryn about transparency and the 15-year Capital Works program in the proposed budget
“Are you aware of how the 15 Year Capital Works program is being portrayed in the budget document for the budget this year and the changes from previous ways that it was being produced?”
In the second half of last year the officers briefed the administrators on the Leongatha Community Hub and the Council Offices-site options and costs analysis. The budget approved in July 2019 confirmed the allocated spending for the library at $105,062 for 2019-2020, $1373,036 in 2020-2021, and $1407,362 in 2021-2022.
I asked Kerryn her thoughts on transparency within the organisation.
“How would you describe the changes made by the administrators in the last 12 months changes to Question Time and how do you justify those changes when placed in comparison to Casey council’s administrator’s comments?”
On April 28th I had the pleasure of chatting with the new CEO of South Gippsland Shire Council. It took us both a couple of minutes to grapple with the new zoom technologies but finally we managed to get connected. The interview was quite long so it will be broken up into around 20 parts put up over the next couple of weeks.
Administrator Zahra started by stating the main Strategies of the previous Councillor group. Then he went on to claim that the proposed plan was not just words. That it was a cleaner, clearer policy document and that it would provide greater direction to staff, the team, and the people.
This initiative of Council is to provide support to residents and businesses in the Shire who may be affected by the Covid 19 pandemic. It aims to make allowances for those who need assistance with rates and charges.