Say NO to Old Mate TATE

The Beagle Editor, This photo is from the Prefer Rob Pollock website to introduce running mate Jack Tait. Firstly Jack's surname is Tait and not Tate. You would imagine if you were going to promote the man you would at least get his name right. Not once but twice.

Now Jack is a decent enough sort of bloke. When we was a doorman at a local club he was well known. It was because of this that Liz Innes decided to add him to her CAA ticket in 2016. Jack became a councillor that year. The poor bugger only received 14 votes (one probably from himself) but he was fortunate to get the preferences handed to him by Liz Innes after she was declared Mayor. Jack's other CAA running mate was Maureen Nathan. Maureen only got 4 votes (probably voted for herself as well) but she too was made a councillor with the help of Liz Innes preferences trickling down. Jack, Maureen and Liz stood on a Community Action Alliance (CAA) platform that had a manifesto to "build a Council you can rely on. A Council you can trust. A Council which is your friend not your enemy". During the reign of Liz Innes over the past five years the reputation of Eurobodalla Council has plummeted becoming a Council you can't trust and a Council that has become the enemy (and not your friend).

FAIL Their Mission statement said "We won’t just listen to our residents’ reasonable concerns. We will take notice and we will take action." But what did they do. Liz, Jack and Maureen voted to remove live streaming of Public Forum, to reduce Public Access and to put in place red tape and hurdles that made it near impossible for the community to engage with their councillors. FAIL Now Jack has jumped ship as the CAA team have run aground and their Captain has retired to pursue higher ambitions. No Jack is running with the Pollock team. Apparently Jack Tate says "It has been a great honour to work for the people of the ESC shire we as a mostly independent council have achieved so much for our ratepayers and every person who comes to our shire. Please keep it free of political puppets. And again my promise is to not leave ratepayers with a debt" Bit of a shame that poor Jack didn't bother to proof read his biography. Exactly what does he mean when he says "we as a mostly independent council"? Is he referring to the fact that the Council comprised a member of the Liberal Party, two ex-members of the Liberal Party and a Mayor who joined the Liberal Party for the purpose of gaining pre-selection for the seat of Bega. The only other non-independent he could make reference to was Pat McGinley, a Green Councillor. Jack says "Please keep it free of political puppets" yet for the past five years he has been part of the Innes voting bloc on almost every occasion other than the times when she was out of order demanding councillors all leave the chamber during a Public Access session. FAIL The poor bugger then says in closing "And again my promise is to not leave ratepayers with a debt". Keeping in mind that in the 2016 election he promised to ensure that "Council must live within its residents’ means. Increased rates affect everyone, whether owner or renter. We will endeavour to freeze rates for the next four years. We will seek a performance audit of Council finances to ensure money is spent properly and wisely. We will investigate how to get the best return for ratepayers from Council assets. We will establish a Waste Watch Committee to get maximum value and minimise waste." Sadly for Jack he did nothing to keep his promises. Rates continued to climb, he never went through with a performance audit and he never investigated how to get the best return for ratepayer from Council Assets. In fact it was Jack who voted to lease out the Batemans Bay Community Centre and, if given the opportunity, would have voted there and then to sell it as well. Maybe Jack needs to talk with running mate Pete Diskon who had a grand idea to create a neighbourhood Centre in Batemans Bay. pete, we had one but your mates Pollock and Tait saw it stripped away from the community. Let's not forget that Jack 'Tate' voted to commit $19 million of ratepayer money to the Bay Pavilion project without questioning the business case. That vote alone is set to leave ratepayers facing a considerable intergenerational debt, yet Jack is oblivious saying "And again my promise is to not leave ratepayers with a debt". FAIL Will Old Mate Tate get more than 14 votes this time around? Let's hope not. The Beagle Observer Name and address supplied