Comments on: Happy Christmas to everyone

By: fraserwatch

fraserwatch — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:44:17 +0000

Thank you Sue, but my comment

“The Council will no doubt rely on its tried and tested habit of ignoring questions until people finally give up in frustration,”
stands.

By: sue

sue — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:57:19 +0000

Fraserwatch and Sadman. In an effort to facilitate open debate I will endeavour to respond although I hesitated to post your comment Fraserwatch. This being because you imply that the Mayor will act in a certain way without, to my knowledge, having even approached him. I don’t want this site to become a place where people can anonymously launch personal unfounded criticisms on anyone and if it heads down that direction I will edit comments submitted or not post them. It is hard to find that balance however between having a right to express an opinion and having a whinge with a good quality question and answer session or opinion based debate.
The site is mine and for me to use to enter into debate with the community and to respond to questions and to inform. I also hope that the community can respect that sometimes they may need to take what I say on trust as I feel that is one of the prime responsibilities of my role. If the community feels it can’t trust me then I am failing.
So no Fraserwatch I don’t know that it is a waste of time to ask the Mayor questions so please do ask your questions directly to him. As I have previously stated the Mayor is the spokesperson for the topic to which you refer not I!
I also don’t believe Council continues to ignore questions so once again ask questions and I will attempt to respond personally or do write directly to Council.
Sadman. I have read the report myself and I can personally promise that the summary of the findings of the report are exactly as has been stated by the Mayor.
I once again ask that if you believe Council witholds information inappropriately, undertakes biased reporting or manipultes facts please provide examples so I can investigate.
I have not heard rumours of who the so called ‘bullies’ are apart from the odd comment on another blog. I believe that rumours are just that and the fact remains as stated by the Mayor. I repeat his advice…..

…”A complaint was referred to the CMC in relation to allegations of bullying.

There has been no substantiation of any allegations made against current employees of the Council, Fraser Coast Regional Council Mayor Mick Kruger said.

“Council’s executive continue to have the support of the mayor, the Councillors and employees and collectively, we are looking forward to a productive 2010.

“We thank Council employees and the local community for its support and patience during this time.”…..

Speaking about my personal previous professional life experiences I have found that when organisations go through a restructure, as did TAFE when I was employed there, staff are placed under enormous pressure and there is always a measure of angst, disappointment and bitterness when positions are opened up and employees who have worked comfortably for many years suddenly find themselves having to reapply for a job they thought they had for life. Some people don’t successfully make the transition and find they need to move on.
I have seen this process happen time and time again… (Maybe there is a message for me there somewhere as every organisation I have worked for has undergone a restructure while I have been with them)!
Amalgamation brought 4 Councils together which resulted in staff that had previously worked in management roles either having to reapply for their roles or taking a less senior position. All senior management positions were advertised and staff had to reapply for a job. This process has been a painful one and I am glad that it is largely over with a strong management team in place now.
Contributors to this site can stay anonymous and not include their names. While I welcome the freedom of expression that this enables I also believe it also comes with a level of responsibility. Please think about what you really want to know and why you want to know it. If you require information simply because you think you have a right to know anything and everything about Council then I can’t support you. Every organisation has internal dealings that are not made public and government is no different. I detest keeping secrets to hide from embarrasment or to try and ‘hide’ wrongdoing or mistakes and I will always move a motion or make a statement on the public resord if I disagree with any position that the majority of Councillors take. But I also want some freedom and believe that our staff also have the right to have a full and frank discussion about a topic without the possibility of every word being front page headline news in the local media. Council decisions however need to be open and able to withstand public close scrutiny.
Now can we return to some fact based debate that focusses on moving our region forward cohesively please? Issues such as airport management, which seems to be the latest Chronicle topic of interest, are good examples of information that should be made public and I will expect a response from Council in the coming weeks.
We need to concentrate on how Council is performing and how we best can meet conflicting demands on our resources rather than who said what to whom I believe..

By: Sadman

Sadman — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:43:29 +0000

Sue,

At no time have I accused council of lying, I do however, accuse them of
withholding information, biased reporting and manipulation of the facts.

As to my previous comments on those effected by claimed bullying or those
who’s names have been dragged through the mud.

You know as well as I, perception is as important as reality; rumours have
circulated about who the bulliers are? To not allow their names to be cleared
leaves them in a very bad position.

Likewise, for those who claim to have been bullied, to not support their claims
if true? Is to leave the doubt in peoples minds as to their motives for making
such claims.

From the publics point of view, it smells of cover-up and lack of that often
claimed TRANSPARENCY.

This review/investigation has cost ratepayers, has besmirched our council
and has set neighbour against neighbour. Council has a duty to make a full
and open report to those that elected and pay them.

Sadman

By: fraserwatch

fraserwatch — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:30:15 +0000

Sue,
as you well know, it is a waste of time asking our current mayor questions re this matter as it is highly unlikely that he will take any notice at all of any request to release the contents of the ” bullying” report as he previously promised, preferring to rely on the fragment already released. The Council will no doubt rely on its tried and tested habit of ignoring questions until people finally give up in frustration.
Your negative response to Sadman would indicate that there is a lot more contained in this report than has been released to ratepayers – your and Council’s employers.

By: sue

sue — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:57:42 +0000

Sadman I do not believe all the people get is lies which is how I interpret your more expressive terminology.
Councillors are bound to represent the people of our community and to ensure that Council is performing its duties well. Councillors appoint a CEO to be ‘the boss’ of the staff and the CEO is the conduit by which Councillors monitor and assess the performance of staff in the deliverance of duties. By better explanation. Councillors do not become involved with staffing issues directly but expect that the CEO handles these issues.
The Mayor is the spokesperson for Council matters unless he delegates authority to Councillors. Councillors are given authority to speak about portfolio issues on behalf of Council within FCRC. All other comment, like this web site of mine, is our personal comment and not representative of Council.
If you require further info as I suggested previously please ask the Mayor. It is not my role to speak on his behalf in relation to this matter.
As to your questions about dragging peoples names through the mud and not protecting peoples rights. Please let me know when Council has done either.
I am personally entirely confident that the CEO and executive managers of the FCRC are professional, trustworthy employees and I am personally and professionally supportive of them.
Sue

By: Sadman

Sadman — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:08:52 +0000

Sue,

Council is a level of government, we claim to live in a democracy,you know
“government of the people, by the people, for the people”.

Councillors are paid by the people, This council has/had problems, they are our
problems, the mayor as the voice of council advised that the report would be
made known. As did our previous mayor over a some what similar incident.
But no, all the people get is B***S*** and sanitased at that.

What about the rights of those that claim to have been effected by bullying?

What about those who’s names have been dragged through the mud?

Open & Tarnsparent Council, no way.

Sadman

By: sue

sue — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:08:54 +0000

Hi Sadman. The Mayor is the spokesperson for the entire bullying accusations saga and I am more than happy to defer to him.
I honestly believe that no good can come from further discussion about the matter apart from satisfying ‘curiosity’ at the expense of individual privacy. Council is not a faceless entity it is actually made up of many people who work for and live within this community.
I trust that we can move into 2010 in a positive frame of mind and continue to improve service levels etc.

By: Sadman

Sadman — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:03:56 +0000

Sue, I hope both you and graham have a very enjoyable and restfull Christmas
and an even better New Year.

Back to the grind; I note your wording regarding the “bullying accusations”.
There being “no allegations” substantiated against any “current council employees”.
Does that mean that there was “bullying” by ex council employees?

If so, did they jump before they were pushed?

Sadman

By: Dingosimon

Dingosimon — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:14:42 +0000

Merry Xmas , Sue.
see you on the other side.

Hooroo

Dingosimon