Quite often things happen that go unnoticed and, most often, unchallenged.
Take for example the simple observation that an ex-mayor of Eurobodalla Council is now referring to himself, on his LinkedIn Profile, as Emeritus Mayor Eurobodalla Council.
According to the Local Government NSW website the Emeritus Mayor title acknowledges service in the role of Mayor. They offer that academic institutions recognise their retiring valued members with the title of Emeritus Professor and, as such, Local Government NSW (LGNSW) recognises its senior members as Emeritus Mayors. But wait - the LGNSW title is awarded, and conditional on a few things. Recipients must have served a minimum of five years as a mayor and most importantly recipients are to be nominated by the General Manager of the current Council at which they serve. To be awarded the Title of Emeritus Mayor and join the honor roll of LGNSW Emeritus Mayors that includes Chris Vardon, Neil Mumme and Fergus Thomson is surely newsworthy. So having seen that the title 'Emeritus Mayor Eurobodalla Council' is now being openly used by Mr Brown I enquired of the LGNSW and Council seeking details of the honorary salutation. Council's formal response was: "Council has not nominated Mr Brown for emeritus mayor status, as confirmed by LGNSW. Mr Brown’s use of the term on his LinkedIn profile is a matter for Mr Brown". whilst the response of LGNSW was: "Thank you for your inquiry regarding former Mayor of Eurobodalla Lindsay Brown.
"We have reviewed Mr Brown’s profile in response to your inquiry. We confirm that Mr Brown has not had the title of emeritus mayor bestowed on him through LGNSW. However, it is apparent that Mr Brown does not make any claim that this title has been bestowed on him by LGNSW or make any reference to this organisation. There is no link made in this profile between LGNSW and the individual concerned".
The information that current or former Mayors and Councillors write on their personal profile page or on social media platforms, is not something that LGNSW can effectively monitor. This explains why Mr Brown's name is not on the LGNSW Honor Roll
Mr Brown only served four years and was defeated in an election five and a half years ago that resulted in him being relegated back to the chamber floor as a mere councillor.
Obviously Mr Brown was given the honour of the title 'Emeritus Mayor' by another body that gives ex-mayors such titles. A body that is unknown to Council, and to The Beagle.
Hopefully, in time, we might discover the details around the origin of this honorific and prestigious title so that we can, as a community, celebrate and acknowledge both the title and the origin of the award.
But what is a title anyway? A quick search of the internet tells me I can buy a lordship or barony for a few hundred dollars that comes with all the certificates I need to brighten up my otherwise dull LinkedIn Profile.
Moving on.... Part 2: Mustn't let facts get in the way of a good Narrative
Anyone, though there are few, reading the Minutes of Council's September 13th 2022 meeting would have seen the following in regard to the General Manger, Dr Catherine Dale:
"Catherine’s continued commitment to customer service saw Council recognised as a leader in Australia under a benchmarking program".
The issue I have with this single line statement that will go into the archives for any future search on Dr Catherine Dale is that, while it is correct, it is also without context.
It reminds me of an award given many years ago to The Best Mexican Restaurant in Eurobodalla. No doubt a well deserved award that came with a nice certificate to be displayed in the window but, in context, at the time it was the only Mexican Restaurant in Eurobodalla.
To put into context the statement "Catherine's continued commitment to customer service saw Council recognised as a leader in Australia under a benchmarking program" one needs to know that in early 2017, the agenda and minutes of the ESC meeting of 9 May 2017 (see MR17/003) the report recommended:
THAT Council congratulate the General Manager and staff for achieving first place in the Australian local government sector ranking for Customer Service general enquiries for Mystery Shopper Program for the quarter ending March 2017.
achieving first place - the question to be asked was "How many were in the race in order to for Eurobodalla to achieve 'first place in the Australian local government sector'.
On investigation it was discovered that only a handful of councils from Australia's 537 local councils had participated in the survey in question, possibly because it cost $30,000 per year to be Mystery Shopper surveyed - a statistic that one could not possibly have gleaned, or in anyway suspected, from the contents of the Mayoral report; from the GM's comments during the council meeting; or from the subsequent media release.
It is true, again in context, that Council’s performance had progressively improved since the monitoring began in 2014.
Concerning however was that in the published 2017 CSBA local government rankings, Eurobodalla Shire Council fell from 1st place to 10th place out of a field of 35 participating councils in just a matter of three months. Oddly this was never reported in Council papers.
In publishing the media release on May 11, 2017 I added the following comment :
Editors Comment:
While The Beagle is committed to passing on media releases from its numerous sources, including our council, the media release above, while presented exactly as provided by council, is one that The Beagle openly challenges.
The opening sentence declares that our council " has been judged the top council in Australia for customer service general enquiries in a quarterly national benchmarking report." That statement is blatantly false unless set with a context.
It would be disrespectful to the readers of the Beagle to offer the above media release without a comment. The Beagle DOES NOT endorse the above media release however it respects Eurobodalla Council's right to see such a media release distributed.
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But alas, here we are in 2022 and once again the narrative is being offered by Council that:
"Catherine's continued commitment to customer service saw Council recognised as a leader in Australia under a benchmarking program" .
And once again it is offered with no context.
The Question is: "Should one try to bring facts to the table or is it best to allow something innocent like a throw-away, feel-good, honorary title bestowed by an unknown source or a substantive claim without context to pass without challenge?
