NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND

STOP PRESS 17 November 2017 Shire President Wallace tries to mend a fence with consolation prize of blooms and bubbly Gift and Travel Register Gift Contribution Register Click here to register contribution Gift Contribution Register  Name Description Name of Contributor Address of Contributor Date received Value Estimated Nature of relationship Cr Denese Smythe Bottle of champagne & bunch of flowers Cr David Wallace RMB 4029, Gwambygine WA 6302 24/10/2017 $34.00 Shire President & Deputy President

Rolling Denese

With considerable difficulty, I’ve managed to find out how Cr Denese Smythe was rolled as deputy shire president in favour of Cr Kevin Trent, a new kid on the block.

Cr Smythe had been led to believe (so I’m told) that the shire president would support her re-election.

It appears that another potential candidate for the position decided not to stand because the shire president had intimated his intention to support Denese.

Come the election, by pre-arrangement the three male councillors and one female voted for Cr Trent. 

So who was the woman who broke ranks, defying the claims of sisterhood?

Yes, I do know, but prefer not to say.  However, here’s a subtle clue, cryptic crossword style—‘By God’s grace neither Austen nor Doe, but in Rome an iron lady (4,5)’.

Sorry, my lips are sealed.  You’ll have to work it out for yourselves.

Shedding principle—again

Some readers may remember that in July and August of last year I published three articles concerning Council’s handling of an application to construct an oversized shed on a property in Lewis Road.

If you’re interested, you can read those articles in order of publication here, here and here.

In summary, I took issue with Council’s disregard of planning policy in relation to that application, arguing, among other things, that policy should be strictly adhered to in order to rule out the possibility or perception of favouritism and cronyism.

In the last of those articles, I cited several tribunal decisions generally supportive of my argument.

Subsequently, I scanned the minutes of successive Council meetings to see if further such applications had been approved.  I found nothing untoward, and foolishly assumed that Council had resolved in future to act according to established principle and the law.

How wrong I was. 

Earlier this year—I think it was in March or April—a disgruntled member of the public informed me that an application for an oversized shed on a property in Andrews Avenue had received Shire approval. 

When I pointed out that there had been nothing in the minutes to indicate anything of the kind, my informant accused me of naivety, saying that approval had been given under delegated authority at the behest of the shire president.  There was nothing in the minutes because the application had not gone before Council.

When I asked why the Shire had taken this course, my informant said it was to make sure that the matter ‘stayed out of the blogs’.

I wasn’t convinced.  I could not believe that a desire to avoid unwelcome publicity on social media would be likely to influence Council, the shire president or the Shire administration.

But a nagging doubt remained.

Fast forward to June, when I took part in a meeting on an unrelated matter with Paul Crewe, Executive Manager Infrastructure and Development Services.

At the end of the meeting, in the presence of a witness, I asked Mr Crewe if the Shire had approved under delegated authority an application for an oversized shed in Andrews Avenue.  He assured me it had not, adding gratuitously that the Shire was ‘wary’ of such applications.

This week, I have received what I consider impeccable confirmation that my informant was correct, and that Mr Crewe’s assurance was at best misleading and at worst an outright lie.

That being so, I’m forced to conclude that councillors (or at any rate the shire president) and Shire officers set out deliberately to conceal a decision that might have attracted adverse criticism if made public.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn’t the only instance of such concealment.  Who knows, perhaps other planning and building decisions have been similarly withheld for similar reasons from the public gaze.

As I’m fond of saying—not that anybody listens—secrecy in government is the first step on the path to corruption. 

It’s also a surefire way to arouse distrust and contempt on the part of the governed, when as inevitably happens in a democracy government secrets crawl or are winkled out and exposed to public view.

Poetry Corner revisited

My close friend Rollo Barker and several anonymous correspondents have insisted that the poem published with my previous post under the heading ‘Poetry Corner’ should be moved to a more prominent position on the blog. So I’m giving it a second airing here and have removed it from its former location.

The poet, larrikin laureate Harry Hogg, has tinkered a bit with the text.  What you see below is the definitive version that will appear in the revised edition of his best-selling collection Tall Tales of the Wheatbelt (Bogside Books, pp. 800, illustrated, available for $1.25 from adult bookstores and under the counter at most rural newsagents). He has reminded me this time to include the poem’s title.

Mr Hogg assures me that any resemblance to any person or persons living, dead, undead or merely comatose is entirely coincidental.

Song of the Canine Matutinal Repast: or, A Dog’s Breakfast Ditty

As night descended slowly over city, town and bush,

From a farm in York’s back garden strode the Captain of the Push.

He gazed upon us yokels, and his voice rang loud and true,

Saying “Listen up, you mongrels, ‘cause I’m just the man for you.

When perched upon my mother’s knee, a tiny little tot,

I knew that I was born to rule you miserable lot.

Now destiny has smiled on me, and proved that I was meant

Come light or dark to make my mark as shire president.

Gone are the days of fear and fright, when Hooper reigned supreme,

And all Fitz Gerald’s nasty tales are just an ugly dream.

Onward we’ll go and upward, you can join me in that caper,

I’ve made York famous, even got my photo in the paper.

I know that I’m not perfect, I admit that it’s a fact

I’m really not full bottle on the Local Government Act.

Never mind, there’s Paul to help me when my stream of thought runs dry,

That man’s a bloody marvel, always knows what’s right and why.”

On the day of the election, from the town and from the bush

Nigh on six hundred voters chose the Captain of the Push,

And many also voted for his two anointed mates,

Ignoring other candidates concerned about the rates.

Returned as shire president, the Captain is ecstatic,

The wisdom of the voters was decisive and emphatic:

He has a brand new deputy, and knows that yet again

He’ll enjoy the adulation of the lovely Lady Jane.

So the dogs have had their breakfast, and the voters sit at home,

While the Captain takes his orders from a famous garden gnome,

And they’re cursing James the Blogger for his rude audacious joke

About our dear shire president—a most impressive bloke!

Harry ‘Hayseed’ Hogg

(apologies to Henry Lawson)