Dear MBA members,
The mediation between McKinnon and Oakleigh took place yesterday(Wednesday) We assume that the outcome of this will be discussed at next Tuesday’s Council Meeting, following which we will know more.
In the meantime, we strongly recommend that you continue to write to your Councillors encouraging them to make a decision in the best interests of McKinnon Basketball Association, their local and largest Basketball Association. Please contact the MBA office if you require a list of the specific MBA credentials.
Source: http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-4059-0-0-0
Glen Eira Debates 
December 9, 2011 at 11:34 AM
So you expect the tens of thousands of our citizens who have no clue where GESAC is located, and probably due to location will never use it,(and by the way they helped pay for it) to further subsidise the use of facilities by a Club that tendered for the use of the facility,and lost.From now, according to you,you should only award tenders to the lowest bidder as long as they are local and large. You, Glen Eira have completely lost you marbles.You espouse Financial responsibility and yet you condone Financial irrisponsibility. This is your lowest, most irrisponsible blog.
December 9, 2011 at 2:46 PM
Actually Anon I think if you read the smallest paragraph on the GESAC basketball allocations you will find that the tendering processes was flawed. This whole fiasco (6 months on and still raging) can be laid at the feet of Paul Burke and Andrew Newton who failed to adequately assess the expression of interest documentation.
I’d suggest the legal fees associated with this mismanagement will gobble up the first two years basketball court revenue.
December 9, 2011 at 11:36 AM
Sorry for my spelling of irresponsible.
December 9, 2011 at 7:54 PM
How’s business Noel?
December 9, 2011 at 1:29 PM
The issue here is not financial responsibility alone but that linked to community! Community, community and local is what is important and should MBA should have been supported by council.
Community is the one thing this council and the administration give no thought to ever. This is what so many of us reading this blog are so concerned about.
This council and especially the administration just don’t care about the community! Time and time again, be it planning, parks, use of facilities the community is ignored! Can’t wait for the elections!
Roll on November 2012 – pity we have to wait longer to get rid of the senior administrators that drive this bad decisions of this council
December 9, 2011 at 1:41 PM
anon, that is a very silly argument, all sporting clubs across all glen eira, and across all australia, no sporting club anywhere pay for its the full cost of up-keep. it is all subsidised by ratepayers, no matter when or where.
don’t worry about your irresponsible spelling, worry about your irresponsible logic, or your irresponsible self interest
December 9, 2011 at 3:02 PM
No, if we win effort support, Newton and Burke’s position will be untenable, they will have to pack there bags and leave.
December 9, 2011 at 9:59 PM
Au contraire Anonymous, your judgement is based on the premise that these people are just like you and me (i.e. have a sense of ethics, morality and operate within the legally defined framework). These folks (and I extend that all executive officers) think they are annointed and invincible – why shouldn’t they!!!!. They have been hoodwinking Councillors for years and getting away with it. The rot starts with the Councillors and until they start showing that they, as elected representatives, recognise that they are the dog and not the tail the rot will continue.
Councillors please read the Municipal Association Victoria and the Local Governance Association Victoria guidelines on governance – unequivocably Councillors report to the electorate and the Administration reports to the Council. What is so hard to understand?
December 10, 2011 at 10:22 PM
My latest blog posting relates to this issue- Neil
December 10, 2011 at 10:37 PM
Thanks Cr. Pilling!
Cr. Pilling’s blogsite may be accessed at: http://crpilling.blogspot.com/
December 11, 2011 at 12:11 AM
Yes I agree with you Neil, this is a seemingly “fair and balanced proposal” However, you should note that simply including, in the advice sent to the chosen association, the wording of “if this association is unable to fill its allocated times, it must first offer that time to the unsuccessful association/s before it can be offered to any other association, body or individual” would have prevented the whole fiasco. Any commerical operator would have included such wording. Such wordng would have avoided spending ratepayers $’s on legal advice and mediation. From various sources these costs must be sitting at around $30-$40k – please feel free to correct this estimate
With regards to the
. conditions applicable to offering unfulfilled basketball court usage to the “other association/s”. Basketball games take a while to organise and venues need to be established well before the game. What conditions has Council included to ensure that Council is not embroiled in legal disputes to determine which Association can be charged for “court time””
. when can we expect a revised budget – surely a drop from court hire charge of $51 ph to $40 ph will result in a significant revenue reduction and hence a revised budget
December 11, 2011 at 12:21 AM
Anon, why did ya beat around the bush ….. just ask Pilling why he is continuing to cover for Paul Burke. But then again, given Councillors dysfunctionality maybe he is saving his and other Coucnillors from claims of lack of due dilligence or lack of basic integrity or failing to fulfilling their legal oversight obligations.
December 11, 2011 at 7:17 AM
Have expanded commentry on Gesac posting as of Sun morn, Neil
December 12, 2011 at 12:58 AM
I have looked at your expansion Niel – you have included comments about GESAC itself (cost etc.) but not addressed the issues raised by Anon 7. You may not think these are serious issues but we the residents think they are.
Particularly
. what steps have been taken to ensure that Council is not embroiled in legal disputes related to unused court charges?
. Budget – from $51 ph to $40 ph represents a 20% reduction in budget projections for basketball revenue. This certainly qualifies as a material change in accounting terms (i.e. > 5%). Combine this with project delays resulting in lost GESAC revenue and a budget revisions is clearly called for – when will this be done and revealed to the residents?
December 11, 2011 at 8:35 AM
The Green’s Councillor has got to be joking.He thinks that you over-ride a legal contract with a Council recommendation. Such a stupid ,idiotic stunt without the Parties agreeing, will cost this Council dearly.Appart from Legalities can you imagine what the Ombudsman will report. Fortunately we have 3 so called Lawyers on Council and smart Officers who will put the good Councillor in his place. What a fool.
December 11, 2011 at 2:04 PM
Maybe both parties have agreed.
The winner here is Oakleigh….cheaper rate and less pressure to fill the promised court space. The issue could be the ability of either group to pay the bond.
Well done Councillors otherwise on trying to compromise for the greater community benefit.
Let’s show them some respect for the job they do.
December 11, 2011 at 2:15 PM
You’re clearly a generous soul Anonomouse. Respect must be earned and not just granted willy nilly. It’s taken 6 months to sort out this mess and these same 9 councillors must have agreed behind closed doors to allow so much money to be spent on lawyers. I’m just curious why this motion could not have come up 6 months ago and saved everyone heaps of angst. You can bet your bottom dollar that the reason is that some councillors were trying their damnest to cover up for their buddy Burke. They should have been holding the reins right from the start and had clear objectives in mind. Instead they let the mandarins run the show and found themselves under seige from residents. This should teach them a very good lesson. Take charge and do what the law requires you to do – set policy and lead. We’ve got too many followers in this lot.
December 11, 2011 at 3:35 PM
The same person who gives way to cars in side streets!
If our 9 elected representatives had been involved in the EOI then this delay wouldn’t have happened. McKinnon Basketball would probably have grown by alot more than 50 new teams over Summer and Oakleigh would be trying to develop a true domestic competition in the City of Monash.
Respect must be earned but calling someone a fool is just damn rude!
December 11, 2011 at 3:53 PM
Noel, why don’t you put a sock in it or take a Bex. You had no idea as a councillor and you’ve got less idea now despite the garbage that Burke is feeding you.
December 11, 2011 at 4:10 PM
Rumour has it that history may be repeating itself when Cr Lobo recreates the role of Cr Erlich in voting against Cr Hyams at the last minute for Mayor in favour of Cr Magee. Poor Jamie may never get the numbers. There may be some justice still in Glen Eira.
December 11, 2011 at 5:32 PM
This is rather interesting. A respected Organisation tenders out ‘ Facility Hire’ in a formal and very public, professional manner.The tender is awarded by the Organisation in the prescribed manner, using delegation.It is not known if Council were made aware of the delegated decision prior to notification but it would not surprise me if such information was made available to Councillors. Pilling can tell us that.The question is how can Glen Eira change it’s decision legally.The answer in law is by agreement between the 2 parties or if the Warriors made mis-representations. It is naive to the Nth degree to think that a Council recommendation exceeds the powers of the Law. Let’s discuss this topic because it is the crux of the matter.
December 11, 2011 at 6:44 PM
Did the Warriors mis-represent themselves as a ‘registered’ Association during the Tender process?
December 11, 2011 at 6:53 PM
In late June, well after the EOI was awarded to Warriors a simple check with Business Affairs and OBA was not compliant with the Associations Incorporation Act 1981. Failure to lodge this statement is an offence under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 and can result in the association, the public officer and each member of the committee being liable for a penalty.
This question was asked of GE Council….was it ever checked and verified and more importantly, acted upon?
December 11, 2011 at 7:28 PM
A great question. Did you manage to squeeze the truth out of anyone?