December 23, 2014
How To Win Friends……
Posted by gleneira under Councillor Performance, GE Consultation/Communication, GE Council Meeting(s), GE Governance[7] Comments
[7] Comments
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- December 23, 2014 at 9:26 AM
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- Councillor Performance, GE Consultation/Communication, GE Council Meeting(s), GE Governance
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December 23, 2014 at 10:11 AM
We arrived late and the meeting had already started. All the seats were full so we had to go out into the sticks where we couldn’t hear a thing because most councillors mumble or the sound system is terrible. No agendas were left and the seats like sitting on a rock. A water cooler wouldn’t go astray since there were plenty of seniors there and it got hot with so many people packed in. The point of all this is that council does nothing to make the experience worthwhile for people who bother to show up. Maybe that’s what they want. You can’t talk or ask questions just sit there like dummies and don’t really know what’s going on with the long amendments. I don’t like councillors taking pot shots at residents and like Mr Adams writes with no right to answer back. That kind of behaviour should be condemned every single time.
December 23, 2014 at 11:57 AM
The topic of councillor behaviour has come up before. In principle it is governed by the Councillors Code of Conduct that councillors are pressured into signing post-election. In practice it is a political tool, in which breaches are ignored unless it is politically expedient to pursue the alleged offender. The majority of councillors thought it was acceptable for a councillor to refer to an activist resident as a “whining bitch” for example. I don’t know why councillors sign up to the Code if they have no intention to abide by it.
Yes, Meetings are uncomfortable for residents who choose to attend. Attendance is necessary to find out what councillors say in support of their vote for contentious issues, as Council has refused to make available recordings or transcriptions of meetings. The spurious reasons for refusal can be found in past Meeting Minutes in a report written by Paul Burke. In the case of planning applications subject to Council resolution, there is no transparent record of the reasons for Council’s decision. Not good enough.
December 23, 2014 at 7:02 PM
We remind readers that on the 26th November 2013 the following resolution was passed by Council –
Crs Delahunty/Magee
1. That Council notes the report.
2. That further information be provided to Councillors on the current
audio-visual procedures and facilities as practised by the cities of
Kingston and Melbourne.
3. That officers provide guidance on the different methods of the provision
of audio/visual in various councils with particular reference to live
streaming and digital recordings.
9.55PM Cr Esakoff left the Chamber
9.58PM Cr Esakoff returned to the Chamber.
DIVISION
Cr Lobo called for a Division on the voting of the Motion.
FOR Cr Delahunty
Cr Hyams
Cr Lipshutz
Cr Lobo
Cr Magee
Cr Okotel
Cr Sounness
Cr Pilling
AGAINST: Cr Esakoff
On the basis of the DIVISION the Chairperson declared the Motion CARRIED.
THIS REPORT HAS NEVER BEEN TABLED AT AN ORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING! No doubt Newton and his cronies will use the excuse they’ve previously used that the law does not require requests for reports to be sent to council – they can be dealt with secretly in assemblies. This however, does not in our view excuse any of the councillors for their aiding and abetting in this breach of transparency and accountability – especially the movers of the motion – Magee and Delahunty!
Just another example of the poor governance that exemplifies Glen Eira City Council. When it suits, laws are interpreted literally, rather than exhibiting adherence to the spirit of the law. When will councillors finally ensure that best practice and transparency is a reality in Glen Eira?
December 23, 2014 at 1:26 PM
We assume that the comments Mr Adams is referring to came with the McKinnon Bowls club item. Hyams should not be left out with his comments that anonymous letters should not be believed and that those who write such letters must have “malicious agendas” and that they “lie or obfuscate the truth”. Lipshutz called such letters – “cowardly”, “low” and “scurrilous” and assured the gallery that all councillors acted with probity and concern for community.
Interestingly, this was the only item in living memory where Esakoff got 2 time extensions, Lipshutz and Hyams one each. Make of this what you will!
December 24, 2014 at 12:20 AM
well! if your caught with pants down, you may as well “blame your mother for not doing up your belt tight enough” even if you are over 40 years old, for any non eye witnesses it may seem plausible enough.
But really! its just the usual old Hyams clap-trap, being wheeled out, in a desperate attempt to cover his bare-bottom after being exposed (MODERATORS: rest of sentence deleted)
The officers report on “whose who in the Power League zoo”, was cleverly crafted enough to point out who was going to reap the rewards of this back door privatisation push, and it certainly wasn’t going to be Mr and Mrs general public.
You would have thought if Hyams really wanted a small soccer field, he or one of the gang could have called for a report on the possibilities of this happening. But then I guess it is very difficult to request a officers report, and (MODERATORS: rest of sentence deleted)
December 23, 2014 at 2:05 PM
Lipshutz is very apt at calling other people cowards. Seemingly unable to recognise his personal cowardly attempt to ram through council, this stupid idea of placing a soccer field inside a bowling club.
He was initially very happy to do this without any community consultation what so ever in November, and when his attempt sunk like a lead balloon, he came back with the same proposal dressed as Father Christmas in December.
Had he had his sneaky way, the residents of Lewis Street would have been the last ones to know anything about his proposal, although this type of back door behaviour is common practice with Lipshutz, especially when it comes to currying favours with his voter base in Camden Ward.
Lipshutz and his cohorts, Hyams, Esacoff, and Okotel, would have lost little sleep by dumping this stupid mess onto peaceful McKinnon.
The upshot of all this is Lipshutz would have received little no voter backlash in his Camden Ward, and possibly he would have been seen as the lord master of a clever coup by a few self-interested take-over-merchants.
But you lost out to wiser heads that once again saw through, yet another of your one dimensional plans.
My advise to Cr. Lipshutz if he had the capacity to listen would be to grow up, shake off your cringing xenophobic behaviour’s, and work for the benefit and good outcomes for the whole GE community. You should cease your divisive habit of trying to build a 19th century apartheid system within Glen Eira, which in my estimation is totally out of touch with the wider community aspirations, and with almost everyone else across Glen Eira.
December 23, 2014 at 5:23 PM
I’m in fierce agreement when it comes to the poor standard of councillors, many of whom are there more for there own ends than as a representative of the ratepayers.
As I continually remind the readership here we (the ratepayers) are complicit by continually re-electing the same nincompoops year after year. Until there is greater community involvement in council affairs we will continue to get the poor standard of councillors we now have.
(MODERATORS: last sentence deleted)