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The Beagle
- Jun 30, 2017
Just what is a Mayoral Minute and why did Liz Innes do two without notice
At the last Council meeting the Mayor presented two Mayoral Minutes. No doubt penned by staff these were delivered with little notice to the councillors and with NO notice given in the agenda to the general public as might be inclusive practice and certainly used by the Mayor in regards to banning helium balloons that she did in Feb 2017.
2.7 Mayoral Minutes
2.7.1 What is a mayoral minute?
The mayor may put to a meeting (without notice) any matter which the council is al
The Beagle
- Jun 27, 2017
More Improper Secrecy By Council Officials
My name is Jim Bright and I am a resident of Narooma. I'm here to speak to you in the context of the extraordinary level of secrecy and non transparency that has prevailed within this council in recent years. At the last meeting of this council, you will recall that a number of people, including myself, argued that, from both a good governance and legal perspective, this council was obliged to publicly indicate the nature of the two matters, that had been described in the age
The Beagle
- Jun 24, 2017
Here's to Alternate truths and Retrospective Facts
Dear Mr Beagle,
I have finally received a response from councils General Manager (thanks no doubt to Clr McGinlay’s support) In answer to my letter asking why council publicly claimed to need three rate rises, by saying they did not have the money to fund a new wish list of projects (totalling around $17 million) When council actually had $29.2 million in spare cash in (unrestricted fund) accounts? Well firstly the GM’s response confirms this basic fact. Yes council did hav
The Beagle
- Jun 23, 2017
Councillor Nathan's letter to the Beagle
Dear Beagle Editor,
Councillor Nathan’s public leaking of the results of Catherine Dale’s recent performance review is self-serving and potentially in breach of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
She uses her revelation of the general manager’s “outstanding” assessment result against the last council’s KPI requirements to justify the faulty process used for Dr Dale’s reappointment.
Her letter to the Beagle also demonstrates her disdain for the way
The Beagle
- Jun 23, 2017
Editorial June 23rd, 2017
Welcome to this week’s editorial,
Those who follow the Beagle pages might have noticed that there is an ongoing battle between Council and a representative group of dog owners in Batemans Bay who are attempting to establish a fenced off-leash area for dogs at Corrigans Beach.
The primary problem the group has is that Council just isn’t listening to what is being requested.
The group has been very clear in exactly what it wants however their plain English presentations t
The Beagle
- Jun 22, 2017
A cynical streak or two
Letter to the editor Beagle Weekly Since there's been the usual dearth of official council information about what had gone on behind closed doors regarding our councillors' recent decision to give a new five-year $1.5 million contract to the current General Manager (without any of that tedious market-testing or interviewing stuff), I was encouraged to see Wednesday's letter from Clr. Nathan that promised to tell all. Somewhat disappointingly, her letter proved to be a little
The Beagle
- Jun 21, 2017
A letter from Councillor Maureen Nathan
Letter to the Editor There has been some speculation and misinformation around the achievements of Council’s General Manager and the process by which her contract was renewed, and this letter presents some facts and my views on this matter. Some months ago several of my fellow councillors and I researched the process around the General Manager’s review and contract, and the conditions surrounding it. In particular clause 5 of the Standard Contract of Employment for General Ma
The Beagle
- Jun 20, 2017
Questions need answering on Bay Bowling Club purchase
Dear Beagle Editor,
I note that in your list of A few little things to deal with before moving ahead you raised the issues around financing and future plans.
Those in the community who have any interest in the Bowling Club site eventually begin discussing how it was that the site was purchased and why it was purchased.
We know that, in 2009, the Batemans Bay Bowling Club amalgamated with Club Catalina, in a bid to ensure its survival. By March 2013 the Batemans Bay Bow
The Beagle
- Jun 20, 2017
The community holds an IOU from Council re BBay Bowling Club site
At the 13 June 2017 Eurobodalla Council meeting a report on possible interim use of the ex-Bowling Club in Batemans’ Bay was tabled. Dr Susan Mackenzie - Vice president, PerfEx and Alternate Member of Sunset Committee spoke on behalf of PerfEx, as an alternate member of the Sunset committee, and for the general Arts community of Batemans Bay. She addressed several points of contention that suggests there is more discussion needed about the options being considered for the sit
The Beagle
- Jun 18, 2017
A few little things to deal with before moving ahead
Irrespective as to whether Council wants to put the past behind it and move ahead there are still unanswered issues that continue to raise their head along with more recent issues that add to the perceived divide that exists between Council and those in the community who have an expectation on this new council delivering the mandate that they all stood for which was openness and transparency.
The Beagle has been covering most of the issues on the Council Blackboard below how
The Beagle
- Jun 17, 2017
Editorial June 16th
Welcome to this week’s editorial,
This week saw Eurobodalla Councillors go into a confidential session and return to announce that Dr Dale’s contract as General Manager has been extended for five years, commencing from 1 July 2017. Most residents and ratepayers would be indifferent to this announcement however to those who carefully follow Eurobodalla Council matters the announcement and the process are both disappointing.
The Councillors voted 8 to 1 to extend the contra
The Beagle
- Jun 15, 2017
Council matters
Last Tuesday’s meeting of council was one of great significance for our little shire. The public learnt that the General Manager’s employment contract had been renewed, for a further 5 years, with effect from 1 July. The renewal was approved by a majority of councillors, with Councillor McGinlay being the only one to oppose it. There had been leaks of this impending renewal to sections of the community in the week leading up to the meeting, which gave rise to much consternati
The Beagle
- Jun 13, 2017
Words from the wise were rejected
At yesterday’s council meeting Paul Bradstreet of Surf Beach, along with Peter Cormick and Jim Bright attempted to set out the case for the public discussion of the renewal of the Eurobodalla Shire Council General Manager, Catherine Dale’s, contract.
The chair stopped Paul Bradstreet from speaking part way through his presentation as he was only allowed two minutes to present with no extension of time allowed:
This is the presentation in full had he been allowed to p
The Beagle
- Jun 13, 2017
Congrats to Clr McGinlay for remaining true to his Oath of Office and true to the ratepayers of Euro
Mayor Innes and Councillors Mayne, Brown, Pollock, Thomson, Nathan, Constable and Tait, It is beyond comprehension that you knowingly and deliberately defied the Local Government Act today when you voted to close the meeting. LGA Section 10D(1) states: “The grounds on which part of a meeting is closed must be stated in the decision to close that part of the meeting and must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.” LGA Section 10D(2) states: “The grounds must specify t
The Beagle
- Jun 13, 2017
Councillors offered some timely advice before considering the General Managers "confidentials&q
PUBLIC FORUM PRESENTATION - 13 JUNE 2017 My name is Jim Bright. I'm a resident of Narooma. I'm here today to speak about the arrangements that are in place in NSW for the employment of local council General Managers. These arrangements have been decided by the Office of Local Government and are set out in this document (OLG Circular 11-14 dated 8/7/2011). In particular, I am going to speak about the arrangements that come into play when a council might be approaching the te
The Beagle
- Jun 12, 2017
The party's over in politics
The Beagle Editor The June 8th UK election results should be a message all political party's and their advisors.
It’s very clear residents and voters are no longer convinced of the tripe being peddled by want-to-be politicians and councillors anywhere these days.
Political party’s and groups have been exposed trying to con potential voters via the media propaganda machinery all over the place.
What’s needed is likely political aspirants to hold regular public meetings a
The Beagle
- Jun 12, 2017
Council Matters
A massive agenda with a most secret matter The agenda and associated papers for tomorrow's meeting of council comprise more than 600 pages and if we were to include those further pages deemed confidential – being unavailable to the public - I expect that the figure would exceed 700: far too many to even attempt to run through. It is possibly the most voluminous agenda of all time. And so, because of my significant time constraints and countless many higher priorities, I will
The Beagle
- Jun 11, 2017
The three Fs for dealing with the difficult community
Dear Beagle Editor,
The Office of Local Government conducts professional development programs to improve workplace relations. The current program is called ‘Handling Difficult People’. One of the topics covers the Fight, Flight or Flow techniques. Perhaps the technique of ‘Fobbing Off’ has already been covered in previous workshops. At a cost of $660 per member or $1,320.00 for non members, staff can go Wagga Wagga to learn how to handle ‘difficult people’ or members of th
The Beagle
- Jun 10, 2017
A heads up for Euro Council - Codes of Conduct Process Abuse
Dear Beagle Editor and Beagle readers,
You might be interested in our latest media release we have titled "Code of Conduct Process Abuse …."
We have noticed that there is also disquiet by contributors and commentators of the Beagle in regards to how Codes of Conduct have been dealt with in the Eurobodalla and how the Office of Local Government has been indifferent to the outcries by residents and ratepayers when it is suggested that the process is either flawed, the find
The Beagle
- Jun 9, 2017
More double standards
On Wednesday 7th June, the Bay Post reported that the Mayor went to Sydney on 31st May to complain to NSW Planning Minister, Anthony Roberts, about the delay in signing off on the Eurobodalla Rural Lands Strategy. The week before, on the 23rd May, the Eurobodalla Shire Council including Councillor Innes, endorsed version three of the Wharf Road Coastal Zone Management Plan. If my memory serves me correctly, the Rural Lands Committee was formed after a huge outcry from the rur
The Beagle
- Jun 8, 2017
Is MS Euro leaking
The Beagle Editor, Apparently our elected Councillors met last week end (June 3) to consider the Councils Manager's Performance.
The end result being SATISFACTORY with continued employment and an extension of employment.
The weekend's decision became public knowledge almost immediately. The meeting room could have been bugged the news travelled so quickly.
There are some commentators in the community who are expressing dissatisfaction about the decision (7 to 2), but not
The Beagle
- Jun 8, 2017
The saga of the old pork pies
Dear Beagle Editor,
SHOULD THE COMMUNITY EXPECT HONESTY FOR AROUND $280 000+ PER YEAR? It has been leaked that the majority of Councillors have decided to give the current council General Manager a new 5 year contract.
So for my share of that bill I just want an answer to a simple question. The current General Manager went to the community and claimed that council needed an extra $17 million dollars over the following three years (which she claimed council did not have) f
The Beagle
- Jun 7, 2017
The banana or the apple - something is off in the fruit bowl
Dear Beagle Editor,
Further to Peter Bernard’s observations others in the community have also been asking questions about the way Council’s books are presented and the anomalies from one report to the next. This issue has been smouldering for sometime.
On January 1st 2016 a letter appeared in the Narooma News
To the Editor Narooma News Further to my recent letter concerning the Council’s revised budget submission. When looking at the submission one must ask the follow
The Beagle
- Jun 6, 2017
It's business as usual in the Taj
Emails are coming in from across the Shire advising The Beagle that Councillors have reviewed the Dr Catherine Dale's contract and Key Performance Indicators and have agreed to extend the General Manager's term.
So far the responses have been mixed between "utter dismay" and "sorely incensed" with many offering frustration and disappointment that they now expect that business will be "as usual" and will see a continuity of the Dale style of administration that has been open
