The Beagle Editor, Your many readers in the Bega Valley Shire might be interested in our latest media release. on the artful dodge...
A majority of the current Bega Valley Shire Councillors went to the September, 2016 council elections proclaiming that they were committed to open & transparent government.
Unfortunately, in the view of the Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association (BVSRRA), the current council has proved to be the most secretive in living memory, due to what we believe is the “closed shop” culture encouraged at the top of the organisation.
As Bega Valley Shire Council (BVSC) commences the 2018/2019 budget process, our community will doubtless be harangued with the usual claims about the parlous state of the shire’s financial affairs & the desperate need for more money, so our heroic public officials can continue with the thankless business of local government.
Meanwhile, the BVSRRA is still waiting for BVSC to provide it with information in respect of this year’s budget, which it has repeatedly promised to provide, but hasn’t.
At its Ordinary Meeting held on June 28th, 2017, the newly-elected council confronted the task of finalising & approving its first budget & to their credit, making significant changes to the draft that had originally been placed on public exhibition.
In order to fully understand the nature & implications of the changes on the final budget, the BVSRRA wrote to BVSC on July 7th, 2017, requesting specific information on the changes.
In response, BVSC's general manager advised on July 14th, 2017 that:
“The amended documents will be published on Council’s website when Councillors adopted amendments from that meeting have been incorporated into all documents, anticipated by the end of July, 2017.”
In what some might describe as an “artful dodge”, council’s general manager neglected to mention that the information requested by the BVSRRA would not be made available through those documents.
The full text of this Media Release is available here …
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
