A FEEBLE CALL FOR CHANGE AND A CRY IN THE DARK

This 'news' has to be seen as an indicator that the Indirect Elected Representation Model (IERM) for governance is by-and-large broken and well past its use-by-date in the 21st C. That quotable quote attributed to Albert Einstein that goes, 'the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over while expecting a different outcome' rings ever so loudly in the air in Tasmania IF and when we actually think about about local governance.

This month Councillors are yet again being asked to endorse a kind of self-serving cobbled together 'report' from 'management ' – Council's operational wing – to Councillors that is ultimately intended to go to the Minister for Local Govt. OH my goodness!

Clearly, this is an exemplar of the 'functionaries' blowing smoke and flashing mirrors – some movement and light in the absence anything substantial. Why? Well to an individual they have their futures invested in the status quo. So, a bandaid here, a stitch over there, a patch just there and a bandage there, that'll sort it for now ... fingers crossed.

And another thing, the higher up the functionary ladder one goes there are thousands upon thousands of reasons to resist meaningful change. Think about it, every last one has a 'dollar sign' in front of it. This is how 'executive salaries' got on those those malapropish 'stair rods' where the lost perspective became entrenched. So, the hapless ratepayer is left to carry the can. 

Not to put too fine a point on it, down there in Town Hall on St. John Street the excesses are palpable and entrenched. And, for those on a SIDEgig, that too is as Arthur Daley said, "it is a nice little earner"!

So, no ifs, no buts, local governance in Tasmania, and elsewhere, it is broken along with the IERM approach governance per se. The last Council has left Launcestonians in all kinds of trouble and that may well take many years fix. For the most part it and some before saw the 'elected 12' virtually abdicate and allowed governance and management to become 'blanded and blended'.  Oh what a legacy! It is not the kind of legacy that Shakespeare spoke of when he said "there is no legacy so rich as honesty."

To find that you have arrived at a contradiction, well that is an acknowledgement of and a confession to mistaken thinking. However, to maintain the contradiction, well that is wilful and mindful abdication from the reality of and accountability for dysfunctionalism. Unquestionably, over time all this has evolved and it has been an insidious creeping virus that is almost as debilitating as has been COVID 19.

In brief, it is a bloody mare's nest, pun intended!

NOTE TO THINKING COUNCILLORS

Don't do this, don't go there,

represent your constituency!

The tail waggeth the dog!

GO TO: https://www.launceston.tas.gov.au/Council/Organisational-Structure

GO TO: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

CLICK BELOW THE LINE TO READ MORE

Feedback on local government election calls for changes By Alison Foletta February 6 2023 - 4:30am .......................... The City of Launceston council has suggested there should be a two-term cap on a mayor's tenure and a stricter nomination process in future council elections. The council ahead of its Thursday meeting has published its feedback on the 2022 local government election, which pushes for postal and on-the-day voting. .......................... Last year's local government election was the first to have mandatory voting and resulted in a voter turnout of almost 85 per cent state-wide. .......................... The feedback submission, which will have to be endorsed by councillors, lists a number of suggested improvements for the 2026 local government elections. One of these would be a maximum tenure of two terms for mayor, the submission stating "if a mayor knows they only have two terms there is a better chance of developing a succession plan". The submission included some criticisms, such as the need for more information about candidates. "Name recognition of the higher profile candidates presents an unfair advantage, exacerbated by the compulsory voting with potentially more people voting solely on name recognition," the submission stated. .......................... The City of Launceston council faced an inundation of voters during the election, with town hall polling booth having lines "stretching out the door" during the last days of voting. The council reported a number of complaints from people who were attempting to visit the council's customer service counter for general enquires and to pay for registrations. They found the postal voting process had significant resourcing challenges for the council and essentially had council "paying for the TEC to administer an election" while the council was administering it for the most part. .......................... The feedback also highlighted accepted nominated candidates should have completed a pre-nomination course to understand the role they were to undertake and hold a Working With Vulnerable Children's card. .......................... It said a nominated candidate shouldn't be accepted if their biography was incomplete. The council had also recommended in the future that those running for mayor should not be excluded for running for deputy as "it is quite possible that the next best candidate is that person". .......................... Tasmanian electoral commissioner Andrew Hawkey said the TEC looked forward to the feedback on how future elections develop in the future.