Thursday, July 27, 2006

Hubris in the Rural City of Wangaratta Council

With our council pushing forward after being presented with a petition of some 5,700 people opposed to the demolition of the Memorial Town Hall, we are witness to the end of grass roots democracy in the Rural City of Wangaratta. Our councillors have turned their back on the electors.



Not reported in the article above but heard on ABC Goulburn Murray was the interview with the petition organiser, Betty O'Keefe, who stated that the majority of those attending the meeting were against the demolition of the Town Hall.

The interviewer, Joseph Thompson, then interviewed the mayor, Cr Don Joyce, who flatly rejected Betty O'Keefe's claims telling us how popular the decision was. When asked if he could guarantee that local organisations would still be able to afford the rental on the new facility, the mayor missed the question completely telling us "There will be more user groups, it will generate more revenue, there are conference facilities there, we are unable to facilitate that now. I think it will be absolutely wonderful, it will be an enormous financial generator for this municipality".

A few days ago, the acting mayor, Cr Roberto Paino, was asked by Joseph Thompson what he thought of over 5,000 people signing the petition, he responded by saying there were many more who did not sign it.

If the petition of 25% of the electorate can be ignored, grass roots democracy is dead in Wangaratta.

We cannot ask the rest of the councuillors what they think because Justin Sholz tells us that there is a gag on councillors expressing their opinion. Only the mayor can give an opinion.

If our elected representatives are not allowed to have the freedom of speech, we are effectively isolated from our council.

The issue is unimportant. The reality is that we have elected representatives not prepared to listen to those who elected them.

If we presented a petition of 5,700 ratepayers objecting to the arrogance of our councillors, do you think the Minister for Local Government, Candy Broad, would be able to dismiss the call of the people as easily as our councillors can?

Definition from Wikipedia
In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance; it is often associated with a lack of knowledge, interest in, and exploration of history, combined with a lack of humility.

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