The following public question was directed to Lipshutz. It relates to the Frisbee Affair, which we have previously reported upon. To refresh readers’ memories the issues revolve around:
- An ‘unauthorised sporting group’ regularly playing Frisbee without a permit
- Lipshutz’s son is/was one of the Frisbee players
- This Frisbee group has never been fined in contrast to a social soccer group and one of its members
- The soccer group has repeatedly asked public questions as to why there does not appear to be equal treatment for all and concludes that this is because of both Tang and Lipshutz’s ‘relationships’ with the Frisbee group
The question asked Lipshutz whether he had written the following, obtained under FOI –
“My son has reported that he and his friends were approached by a Council officer on Friday and warned off playing Frisbee in Caulfield Park (the Lacrosse oval). I am advised that there is a regular Friday afternoon Frisbee game which is not organised and basically anyone can turn up. I consider it a bit rich to prevent a bunch of kids playing Frisbee. My son says that they play on that oval as all the other ovals are being used for cricket. Could you please look into this for me. Were the matter to be reported in The Leader I think we would look a little ridiculous.” (our emphases)
The answer was ‘yes’!!!!!!!
Readers may also find it interesting that the Local Government Act, 1989 specifically states under Section 76E –
“A councillor must not improperly direct, or improperly influence, or seek to improperly direct or improperly influence, a member of Council Staff in the exercise of any power or in the performance of any duty or function by the member.”
Glen Eira Debates 
November 26, 2010 at 7:06 PM
Lipshutz – the King of Weasel!! Since when does a ‘regular Friday afternoon Frisbee game’ not equal ‘organised’?? Come off it Lipshits! If it’s ‘regular’ it’s ‘organised’ as anyone can tell you. Love the attempt to ‘influence’ as well, with the not so subtle reference to the Leader. About as subtle as a ton of bricks.
Did the Municipal Inspector see this email? If he did, then more evidence of what a total debacle the investigation was. Resign Lipshits, resign. Then we would be able to respect you!
November 27, 2010 at 3:41 AM
Hi Smart Aleck,
This was my public question…and to answer yours… YES the Municipal Inspector saw this e-mail and this was his incredible response that has just baffled absloutely everyone “There is no relevant connection between Cr Lipshutz and the Frisbee group”. WHAT A JOKE!
I’ll say it again, they are FATHER and SON and the Inspector found there was “no relevant connection”, I have it in writing in a personal letter from the Inspector, CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?
I dont care if the Frisbee group play every day, as long as they abide by the same rules that our group has too, thats all we are asking for!
I have asked on multiple occasions as you have all probably seen over the last 6 months to Cr Lipshutz and Tang the following questions.
Cr Lipshutz – Does your son play in the Frisbee group?
The response I receive is “It is an inappropriate question as it has has nothing to do with Council business”
They cannot have made a mistake so many times, I have asked the same question on multiple occasions, so if it has nothing to do with Council business then…………………….. PLEASE EXPLAIN THE E-MAIL THAT YOU WROTE?
Because to me it looks like it has everything to do with Council business!
So Cr Lipshutz is saying the e-mail he wrote has nothing to do with Council business, yet somehow it must have something to do with Council business or he wouldn’t have written the e-mail in the first place. Have a read of it again and decide for yourself if it HAS or HAS NOT got anything to do with Council business!
Not to mention the fact that in the official Council (draft) minutes they perhaps DELIBERATELY left out the actual question I asked and just replied with a YES. The part where I asked at the end “Cr Lipshutz, are you the author of this e-mail” it was just conveniently left off.
Some other errors in the e-mail are;
“They are NOT organised”, yet the 13 page Council report says they are highly organised and includes all the website pages.
“All the other ovals are being used for cricket”, cricket is not played in winter and I can tell you for a fact that the other ovals are NOT taken up by cricketers. Check with Parks and Recreation and I’m sure they will confirm this too!
I would really like to know what, “COULD YOU PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS FOR ME” means??????????
I have a fair idea what this means in plain english, I wonder if you can guess what we all think Cr Lipshutz means by this?
REMEMBER – This has “Nothing to do with Council business” and “Its an inappropriate question”
Have all these Councillors deliberatly said nothing in Council meetings, arent they under oath?
I have asked Cr Tang this question with the same pathetic response “Are you mates with the Frisbee group”. I know he is because he told me so personally when I asked him and its in official Council notes I obtained under FoI.
Its states, “S.T – knows members of this group.”
Yet the Inspectors still claim “there is no relevant connection”. What a joke this is!
I have no idea about this, but I just wonder what were the Inspectors actually told, how could they possibly come up with there is “no relevant connection”?
And these other WEAK INSIPID Councillors just say nothing, act fat dumb and happy and allow all this to happen – Long live the untouchable gang of four (4).
I have a HAND DELIVERED, yes hand delivered pamphlet stating I am required to obtain a permit and insurance. I also have an e-mail sent to me from Council just incase I lose my personally hand delivered pamphlet saying;
“Please note that infringement notices will be issued if your group is found using any sportsground within Glen Eira without a permit”
This posed me to ask a question to Cr Esakoff asking “Is the law being applied equally to all”. Well surprise surprise what do you reckon the answer was, you guessed it. “Yes the law is being applied equally to all” WHAT A JOKE!
SURELY THE ABOVE EVIDENCE SAYS THIS IS NOT TRUE?
Remember this is all in black and white on paper, its not word of mouth!
They even admit to discussing the Frisbee group and fines, yet NOBODY declared a “Conflict of Interest”?
This will be a good heads up for them, they can get that little exclusive gang together for another BBQ and a pow wow and work out how they will answer all these in future public questions, what loopholes there are to use, etc etc……whilst trying to abide by the Inspectors request about good governace and code of conduct and all that other waffle….maybe I could bring the snags?
November 27, 2010 at 10:51 AM
Lipshutz – your a DISGRACE trying to influence Council officers, this is a breach of the Act too!
I cant wait for the day my dad is a Councillor!
November 26, 2010 at 7:43 PM
Bye Bye Lipshutz and don’t hurt yourself on the door on the way out. Camden does not want you any more.
November 27, 2010 at 10:37 AM
How has Lipshutz NOT declared this blatant “Conflict of Interest”?
Looks like the Investigators will be Red Faced too!
How have the other Councillors stayed “Silent”?
Nice e-mail Lipshutz, you could not incriminate yourself anymore if you tried…….hey that makes you a perfect candidate for Mayor!
I’m glad I am from the Camden ward – c’mon vote time!
November 26, 2010 at 7:51 PM
Glen Eira needs respectable Councillors who are honest and trustworthy. Lobo and Forge spring to mind in their short stint but Penhalluriack is a star and I just wish he was up for election tomorrow. At the other end of the spectrum is Lipshutz…and it seems Tang, Esakoff and Hyams are trying to emulate the bottom end for some reason which I cannot understand.
November 26, 2010 at 10:19 PM
A Frisbee group still maintain a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5080939255).
This is taken from the above page and the heading reads ‘344 past events’.
• Frisbee Match!
Princess Park
Sunday, November 21 at 10:00am
• Frisbee
Princess Park
Sunday, November 14 at 10:00am
• Frisbee
Caulfield park
Sunday, October 24 at 11:00am
• Frisbee Attack!!!
Caulfield park
Sunday, October 17 at 10:00am
• Frizbee
Caulfield Park
Sunday, October 10 at 10:00am
• First Frizbee match of the yea…
Caulfield Park
Sunday, October 3 at 10:00am
• Last Minute Frisbee!!!
Cnr Balaclava Rd and Bambra Rd
Sunday, March 21 at 4:30pm
• sunday Frisbee!!!
Play while the sun shines!!!
Sunday, March 14 at 4:00pm
• Sunday Ultimate Frisbee at Cau…
Caulfield Park, Bambra & Balaclava…
Sunday, February 7 at 5:00pm
• Frizbee is on!!
Sunday, January 31 at 4:00pm
November 27, 2010 at 12:01 AM
I’ve read the council minutes and what really concerns me is the loopholes in legislation which allow such behaviour to go on unchecked – and other councillors who are fully complicit with such actions. There was another public question which asked how many times councillors had been consulted in their assembly of councillor meetings in regard to the issuing of fines. The response stated 4. So we have the situation where officers, councillors sit around and ‘discuss’ the issue but nothing ever gets put into the public domain. Further, it all appears legal, since it never comes before a council meeting for formal ‘decision’. But let’s not kid ourselves. Decisions are made all the time in these assemblies of councillors. They decide that it won’t come up to council – otherwise why would it be discussed at all – since assemblies of councillors are there to discuss issues that are likely for decision. So someone, somewhere has put a stop to this getting out into the public realm. I can only surmise that it was probably Lipshutz with help from his buddies. This then raises another very interesting question – did Lipshutz at any stage declare a conflict of interest in these meetings? Then, if every other councillor knew that his son was involved, did they also shut up because they didn’t want to dob him in? Or was this whole issue simply put into the too hard basket and they all hoped like hell it would go away? Whatever the truth of the matter, one thing strikes me as absolutely clear. There has been, and continues to be, a major cover up. It may technically be legal, but it sure leaves a rotten taste in my mouth.
November 27, 2010 at 12:40 AM
The answer isn’t too hard to find Anonymous. When you have a council that always thinks and acts according to the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law, and uses this repeatedly as an escape hatch, then this is what you get. Governance and good decision making are forever compromised and ineffectual and all errors, misjudgements have to be covered up. This has happened many many times including the latest episode with Magee and the land swap. I doubt we’ll ever get to the bottom of that little gem. The only way out of this morass is to elect people who are willing to openly commit themselves, via a community designed charter perhaps, to clearly enunciated principles and processes. Call this a ‘contract’ if you like between councillors and the community. It’s not fool proof, I admit, but certainly better than the anonymous names that we elect to council now. Too many of them have been discovered to have clay feet of late.
November 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Mr Evans, you write ‘clay feet of late’. Sorry, but I have to disagree. This is not ‘of late’. It’s got a long, long, history. Lipshutz is now in his second term, as is Hyams with a break in the middle(!), Tang is also in second term and Esakoff in her third term. They still have to be ‘trained’??!!!!!! They don’t know what the bloody rules are on governance? Magee certainly has learnt some tricks pretty quickly – so stick him on this list as well.
November 27, 2010 at 10:52 AM
Read the minutes people. There’s even more terrific stuff in there. Part of one public question asked how many sporting clubs that are NOT BASED IN GLEN EIRA use OUR sporting grounds. The answer was ZILCH, ZERO, NOUGHT. How about that? Wonder if they forget about South Melb soccer club which has almost permanent possession of several grounds and has its own fantastic facilities in Albert Park. There are probably plenty of others as well. Telling porkies or playing with words is a sublime art in glen eira – anything to avoid telling the truth and disclosing information that is likely to embarrass and perhaps even convict.
November 27, 2010 at 11:40 AM
This is seriously a joke, how can this be allowed to happen? We might as well ban everyone from using OUR sportgrounds EXCEPT for Councillors family, and sporting clubs from other suburbs!
Sack the lot of them!
November 27, 2010 at 11:41 AM
i’ve just voted in victorian elections. what a wondeful electoral system we have now! i could actually vote for individual candidates for the upper house up to 5 of those that i like personally and think that they can and will represent and advocate passionately, appropriately, honestly, with integrity and in a democratic way for the benefit of me and many communities i belong to in my electorate or region. this is what albert langer was fighting for so many years ago and went to jail for. and now it has happened. it does not matter which party wins. the community has already won!
australia has championed many democratic electoral reforms, which i believe makes it for the best democratic country in the world. it is a good model for others to follow. thank you all that contributed to that reform. but in particular thank you to albert langer who so passionately believed in this fundamental reform. never underestimate the power of one.
in contrast glen eira local government is so lousy, so undemocratic that lacks any semblance of common sense openness, transparency, and accountability! it does not matter how many weasel words are used to blame it on governance rules and regulations, if the ‘king is naked’ the public sees it. i will campaign against any councillor that does not do his/her job of representing and advocating on behalf of their constituents and the whole glen eira community, not just their own wishes or communities they belong to!
i will campaign vigorously to get councillors that listen to what residents and their communities are saying and respond with actions to satisfy their wishes. glen eira local government wallows in governance issues and it shows. it is secret, opaue, with catch22 acountability! in such situation democracy is dead! you do expect councillors and the administration to follow democracy and governance principles as a matter of course. that should not, however, overshadow all else that a local government is to do. this or the next council must change the ceo andrew newton and his principal strategist paul burke. it’s quite clear that the ceo was not able to overcome glen eira council governance problems in over 14 years in glen eira! in fact we had 3 investigations in which the ceo was involved together with some councillors. it is evidently clear that when some councillors requested investigations, they were supplied information by the ceo or other officers, which was not supplied to other councillors! this is typical machiavelian, bureaucratic way of divide and rule. that is the key governance problem used to great effect by andrew newton and paul burke! if that is not changed there is no way forward for an open, transparent, accountable and democratic glen eira city council.
November 27, 2010 at 12:14 PM
Forthright, from your post it sounds as if we’re in total agreement. Democracy is wonderful when it is allowed to function as intended. I may not agree with every opinion, every decision that councillors make, but I have come to strongly resent the manner in which the public is excluded from having any real say, much less direct input into the formation of policies that affect our everyday lives. Yes, there are submissions, but they are pointless given this council’s track record in picking up and implementing residents’ views. Forums are much the same; people whinge, complain, suggest, offer their expertise and experience and there is not even a token response. The recent Tucker Ward forum is the perfect example. Has anyone heard anything? Has anyone had any shred of feedback? Has anything been done about what was brought up? Your guess is as good as mine!
Sure there is a ‘communication breakdown’. But the problem lies much deeper. It involves much more than reporting back. If council were really serious about ‘engaging’ the community this could be achieved in the wink of an eye. Obviously they’re not interested. Which in turn makes me ponder why not? And where is this mentality coming from? How can this be allowed to go on year after year. As far as I know, no other council in the state, and possibly the country has had three external investigations in such a short space of time. Forthright has hit the nail on the head. Newton and Burke must go. But so must all councillors who quiver in their boots, who have been so brainwashed that any independent thinking is beyond them.
Forthright, I will join you in lobbying as hard as I can over the next 18 months or so to ensure that the vast majority of these councillors are not re-elected. They’ve been given their chance year after year with no positive outcome. It is really time that the community wakes up to how their interests are either ignored, or literally sold off to the highest price.
November 27, 2010 at 11:46 AM
Oh I forgot,
Hey Lippa – mmaaaattttttteeeeeeeeeee
Can you get me off a parking fine I got the other day. Its worth my vote if you do, and it looks like you will need everyone of them, I promise nobody will know, just me and you, can you, please?