Glen Eira Debates

There must be real fun and games going on at the count. We now have confirmation of the THIRD DELAY! (See below). There are two possibilities for these continued delays – (1) computer problems, or (3) major argey-bargey with and between scrutineers. If the latter then we assume things are indeed very, very, close in at least 2 wards.

“Dear Candidates,

Here’s the promised update.

The calculation will now take place for all wards in alpha order commencing at 6pm this evening.

The declaration has now been tentatively set for 9am tomorrow morning.  The venue remains the same.

Regards

Jill Esplan

Returning Officer

Glen Eira Council Election

ph. 9563 5013

In front of countless residents waiting to vote late this afternoon, Esakoff, Hyams and Jack Esakoff sank to the lowest depths of gutter politics and personal slander. Here’s what happened.

Penhalluriack was speaking with a voter in the queue who had asked him a question. The unholy triumvirate were on the opposite side of the queue. Penhalluriack started answering the resident’s questions by pointing out the huge interest bill accrued via GESAC and the impact on rates for the next 15 years. Esakoff intervened with “tell the truth Frank”. Penhalluriack told her to mind her own business since he was basically engaged in a private conversation. Mr Esakoff then accused Penhalluriack of lying and the crème de resistance came from Hyams who stated that Penhalluriack has no “principles”.

Not only was such behaviour embarrassing, it demeaned council and in particular these 3 individuals. We also have to wonder whether it possibly breached the councillor code of conduct. This is not the first time that Hyams has revealed his true colours with obnoxious remarks directed at both councillors and residents. Mr Esakoff’s performance over these past two weeks also needs to come under scrutiny. As for Esakoff herself, we can only surmise that if she had devoted as much time to being an informed councillor as she is to muck-raking and electioneering, then Glen Eira would be a far better place.

Council elections everywhere are on the nose. Media reports across the state have featured:

• Alleged physical confrontations
• Police charges
• Refusal to disclose financial contributions from developers
• Countless complaints to the VEC and Municipal Inspectorate
• Appalling lack of public information regarding the various candidates
• Stooges everywhere
• And much, much more

Glen Eira Council elections have not been immune to many of the above criticisms. The Leader has been totally derelict in its duty to report the news. We can only wonder why. It’s indeed a sad state of affairs when we’ve received scores of emails from residents asking for information on the various candidates – whether we know what political party they might belong to and what their preferences are.

Reports from residents tell us that the front steps of the town hall has been the scene for altercations between councillors and candidates; between residents and councillor husbands; formal complaints about accosting residents in the car park and other sundry matters. Certainly not a good look.

Yesterday however took the cake. A queue of up to 100 people was streaming out the polling booth early evening. Many were frustrated at the delay and at the inadequate staffing of the booth. At one point those waiting in the queue were told to go to the East Caulfield location! Not good enough! When literally hundreds of thousands of dollars are handed over to the VEC to conduct elections then one has every right to expect that the service is totally professional and efficient.

We also cannot fathom why the VEC places ‘Candidate Statements’ on its website – but only for those councils which have postal voting and NOT attendance voting. Nor can we fathom why the VEC refuses to publish each candidate’s voting card. It’s no wonder that council elections are treated as a joke by many and that candidates who do not have a huge bank balance, and are not supported by political parties and/or groups, are at a major disadvantage.

Politics has indeed become a dirty business. Glen Eira is no exception.

Presented in the order of preference. Given the pats on the back at the last ordinary council meeting between Esakoff and Pilling and the spiel about how well this group of Rosstown Councillors all got on and how well they worked together, the How-To-Vote card would appear to belie the self-congratulatory performance put on by all and sundry on that occasion!

ROSSTOWN WARD

Pilling

1. Pilling
2. Mikelsons
3. Hsu
4. Okotel
5. Ho
6. Esakoff
7. Caspi
8. Dunstan

Mikelsons

1. Mikelsons
2. Pilling
3. Hsu
4. Okotel
5. Ho
6. Esakoff
7. Caspi
8. Dunstan

TUCKER WARD

Read

1. Read
2. Hedger
3. Magee
4. Gatoff
5. Pilcher
6. Andonopoulos
7. Buch
8. Kay
9. Lobo
10. Cade
11. De’Ath
12. Dudeja
13. Hyams
14. Myers

Hedger

1. Hedger
2. Read
3. Gatoff
4. Magee
5. Pilcher
6. Andonopoulos
7. De’Ath
8. Kay
9. Dudeja
10. Cade
11. Buch
12. Lobo
13. Hyams
14. Myers

CAMDEN

Souness

1. Souness
2. Delahunty
3. Dempsey
4. Steedman
5. Spiegel
6. Kuran
7. Lipshutz
8. Forge
9. Weil
10. Penhalluriack
11. Kraina

A letter sent to all candidates from the returning officer. Please note the highlighted (our doing) final paragraph.