An Exemplerary Mayor

Hobart's Lord Mayor Thomas may have won his mayoral robes by a whisker but he has put Hobart on a stable footing uncompromised by bleeding heart green agendas. Lord Mayor Thomas leads from the front and sets an example for the rest of Tasmania.

While his aspiration to amalgamate Glenorchy and Hobart Councils is yet to be achieved he is a man of vision. It took him to make the move to bury the hatchet with Launceston and get some perspective back in local government in Tasmania. We all knew Hobart was the premier local government in the state and it took Lord Mayor Thomas to reassert that. Watch this space.

Mayor Thomas has a clear vision for the city and a commitment to see Hobart evolve into a strong, vibrant and sustainable city. The council has also been engaged in an exciting process of planning and consultation to realise this vision and to ensure that Thomas's Hobart reaches its full potential as a vital and thriving capital city.

Lord Mayor Thomas set his roll in stone when he decided to take back the city's reins while he was on his summer break. In doing so he set a precedent that Tasmania's Mayors could all profitably follow.

Hobart's Inner City Development Plan is well within Mayor Thomas's hands. The community consultation process is now driven by his vision of Hobart as a people-focused city. The Inner City Development Plan (ICDP) is a key action in the Council's Economic Development Strategy 2009-2014 as a means of fulfilling Mayor Thomas's vision for Hobart.

Mayor Thomas is leading his council out of the faltering 'statewide council union' warrants the the support of Tasmanian ratepayers and residents. He is ensuring they get his kind of council driven by his aspirations and where he leads others might well follow.

KEEP OUR COUNCILS STRONG

Council Reputations in Need of Running Repairs

We've had a disturbing response to one of our e-mails seeking support for our website and program. When you get e-mails say things like this, "councils are bloody hopeless and full of people not qualified for the positions they hold. Do not send this stuff to me again" I have to say, it is very troubling.

When we receive responses like this we need think hard and to get to work with people, people we think are good people, helping them, councillors and officer, repair their reputation. We need to get things back to the way it was before when we were in control. By and large we are in charge but if things get out of hand we will see all kinds of unwelcomed developments. All costly!

Social media is the thing to be on the watch out for. People now have ways of communicating that just a short time ago none of us really had. 

Ideas for using social media to repair reputations would be much appreciated. Also, carefully moderated lists of potential supporters would also be appreciated.

REALITY CHECKS FOR COUNCILS: It is time!

Look all this rubbish going on at Huon Council tells you that mountains can indeed be made out of molehills. Imbeciles need to called for what they are IMBECILES! All this so called polite nonsense gets us nowhere in the end. It is a fact that we need to call things for what they are and get over it.

The interesting thing about Huon Council is that it lost a General Manager who was able to control his councillors. Whatever his methods were it is time someone started running seminars on how to do that. That's called in service training. Interestingly, there is a GM up there in the north, if the reports are right, who has his aldermen eating out of his hand. The Mayor may be out there having his picture taken here and there but the GM is doing all the real stuff and keeping the aldermen at heal.

Another council, George Town, knows how to take charge of a situation. They are publishing members' profiles and in time they will have their constituents on side and accepting all their decisions without any problems.

But back to Huon Council. We need smarty pants like Bob Hawkins pointing out this and that every time some minor issue arises with council works ... well we need them like a hole in the head.  Bob and his like need to get out of the way and let things happen. It is Bob's like who are all mouth and NO action and if they were to attempt to do what they say councils get wrong, well they would stuff up big time.

Picking up on George Town's initiative we would welcome some Tasmanian Councillors' and Aldermen's profiles and especially profiles pointing out all the good work they do. That also goes for council officers who all too often get it in the neck for doing good work. Let's expose all those good folk who get a bad rap!

KEEP OUR COUNCILS STRONG

URGENT ALERT: RoLG Survey Project

It seems that this survey is being promoted by that happy band of Tasmanian Council bashers and they are encouraging anyone with a temperature and a pulse, and who will listen to them, to say something really negative about their local council. The word around town is that they are taking a lot of time with people in their networks and tutoring them in "how to complete the survey in negative and credible way".

They are promising that if enough "evidence can be gathered" these people who normally do not do this sort of thing can get back at a council person who made life difficult for them. Some are even saying they might be able to get them sacked. There are even people gathering material to put to that toothless bunch at the Integrity Commission. A silly idea but it tells you something.

It is just too bad that these people are trying to corrupt this process and put local government in Tasmania under threat. The only way to deal with all this is to meet these people head on and play them at their own game. We need to protect council jobs and do so complete with all side benefits that it has been possible to put together over the years. 

It is not only operational staff who will be under threat here it will also be councillors and aldermen. Therefore, in their own interest, everyone should participate in the Role of Local Government (RoLG) project. To do so complete the survey via this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VYHCCHT

KEEP OUR COUNCILS STRONG

Tasmanian Local Government Survey

Tasmanians are being invited to complete a community survey that will gather data in relation to the Role of Local Government (RoLG) project. 

 The survey is available via this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VYHCCHT

 Please complete the survey and circulate the survey link to your networks. 

 The purpose of the survey is two-fold: 

1.  To increase the level of community participation in the RoLG project 
2. To gather a community perspective on the role of local government. 

The survey is designed to be easy to understand and will take approximately 3-5 minutes to complete. You will remain anonymous. Please complete the survey once only. The survey has been developed as part of phase 2 of the Role of Local Government project, a project which is being overseen by the Premier’s Local Government Council. It is based on the eight roles of local government that were established during phase 1 of the RoLG project. 

 For background information related to the project please refer to the project webpage at http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/local_government/role_of_local_government2 

 The survey will close on 9 August 2013. 

Thank you for your participation and support. 

 Authorised by: Harriet Close 

Senior Policy Analyst 

Local Government Division Department of Premier and Cabinet