Kevin Hillier is still waiting to hear from four of our councillors about their election intentions
It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this column that our council has again lived up to my extremely low expectations of its accountability to ratepayers of this city.
Last Sunday, I sent each councillor an email asking them if they intended to seek re-election in this year’s election. I received four responses. So I sent a second email on Thursday and to that one I received three further replies. I think a week is plenty of time to respond, as these days we can access email from phones, tablets and computers from anywhere in the world. No councillor is on leave at the moment and, in fact, the councillor on leave of absence was one of the first to respond.
The fact that four councillors have failed to respond is no surprise, but it does show their apathy and attitude. It takes only seconds to hit ‘reply’ and type in ‘‘I am/am not seeking re-election.’’ I still want to know if the four are running so I will email them again and again if necessary.
Michele Wharrie said she had not given the election much consideration at present as the current term does not expire until October, and mayor Adele Hegedich has made no decision as there is still nine months of hard work to be done, Peter Gibbons is also undecided. The councillors who did not respond were Bob Fairclough, Intaj Khan, John Gibbons and Gautam Gupta.
Every councillor has a responsibility to answer ratepayers’ questions. My question was on behalf of all ratepayers, not just me as an individual, so there’s no excuse for this lack of communication to the people of Wyndham.
The unfortunate thing for the councillors who do the right thing is that they’re judged as a collective and in that respect this current council is a very poor example of how local government should work. It’s no wonder people call for their removal and for administrators to be appointed in their place. ■
If you have any news or events, let me know at kevin@howdypartnersmedia. com.au
