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.

COUNCIL SURVEY FAILS ITS CONSTITUENCY

The Examiner reports today that despite council officers' best efforts, the local government community satisfaction survey recently published turned in the poorest satisfaction outcome ever in nine categories of council service.

This is just not good enough taking into account all that council officers have invested in these surveys. Clearly, with only 1240 respondents, council staff members have been far too relaxed and too much at arm length. This is especially so as they are the experts in the delivery of these services and setting the charges for them. They know what is going on.

Council officer know that Tasmanians get excellent service from their councils but ratepayers expect far too much. Generally speaking its the Councillors and Aldermen who interfere with the work of officers and it needs to be said that officers need to be taking more control of council business and get the elected representatives to be less convinced in regard to their self belief. 

LGAT President, Barry Easter, is doing too little too late and his warm and fuzzy feelings in the Examiner in the end do nothing significant for those slogging it out on the coal face.

It seems that councils' waste management is grossly misunderstood. Council officers all do that very well. Apparently ratepayers have fallen victim to those green bleeding hearts who are encouraging them to want things that just cannot be delivered economically. If what they want were to be realised council jobs will be lost and local economies will fail.

Likewise, it appears that ratepayers want better roads and footpaths and better planning. What they need to realise is they are actually being well served and they need to be more appreciative of what they are getting. 

There is no point in expecting what cannot be delivered. If ratepayers want more then they are going to have to pay more in rates. That would do two things, put more shoulders to the wheel but more importantly, put more grunt behind the shoulders already there. 

Barry Hodge

KEEP OUR COUNCILS STRONG

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