Meet
the Candidates
You’ll be able to meet the candidates—and
bombard them with penetrating questions—from 7.30 pm onwards at the Church of
Christ Hall in Avon Terrace on Thursday, 12 October 2017.
AVRA’s Keith Schekkerman will chair the meeting.
Meanwhile, here are some questions every
candidate should have to answer:
1.
Council has set a current rate
of 11.849 cents of Gross Rental Value for residential properties in York.
This compares unfavourably
with rates set by some metropolitan councils offering greater public amenity,
e.g. Joondalup at 5.3 cents and Mosman Park at less than 6 cents.
This year, the average amount
of rates levied on York’s 1416 residential properties is $1,823.
According to the 2016
Census, York’s weekly median household income is $1024. That is roughly two-thirds of the
figure for WA as a whole, which is $1,595. Median gross weekly personal income in York is $540 for
residents aged over 15, compared with $724 for WA. More than a quarter of York’s population (26.5%) is aged 65
or over, in other words of pensionable age.
Bearing those figures in mind, do
you agree that York’s rates impose an unconscionable burden on a relatively
impoverished community, and if you do agree, what steps will you take if elected
towards reducing them over time to a reasonable level—say 7.7%, where they
stood exactly 40 years ago?
2.
In its current budget, the
Shire provides for employee costs of $3,842,000, an increase of $339,232 over
last year’s figure. Those costs
amount to 39% of budget expenditure, and represent the highest single category
of expenditure identified in the budget.
According to the 2016
Census, the population of York now stands at 3,606. This means that the cost this year of employing Shire staff
amounts to $1,065.45 for each man, woman and child residing in York.
Do you agree that those
employment costs are a tad excessive, and if you do agree, will you take action
if elected to put the brakes on further staff recruitment?
3.
The York Recreation and Convention Centre is widely regarded
as a poorly conceived and hideously expensive failure that serves the interests
of less than one-fifth of York’s population and will always be a huge financial
burden on ratepayers, whatever management model is imposed on it.
In particular, people are
concerned that the Forrest Bar and Café, a Shire owned, staffed and managed
enterprise, operates in competition with local businesses and worse, does so
with the advantage of being heavily subsidized from the rates.
Council seems content to continue
with this morally and fiscally questionable situation, at least for the next
couple of years. More than that,
it is in the process of recruiting a ‘Wait Services and Functions Officer’ and
a ‘Kitchen Hand General Duties’ to assist in running the bar and café.
If elected, will you
support Council’s current policy regarding the Forrest Bar and Café—or will you
take proper account of the interests of ratepayers and local businesses and
press for the enterprise to cease trading forthwith?
4.
What do you regard as the most
important aspects of a councillor’s role as defined in the Local Government Act
1995? Why?
Yes, the questions are a bit wordy, but designed to leave no wiggle
room for even the craftiest of candidates. To avoid disappointment (we’ve had that in spades), don’t
vote for anyone who can’t or won’t give a straight and honest answer to
questions like those—or for anyone who doesn’t understand them.
It (usually) pays to
advertise
Only three of the seven candidates, Trent, Wallace and Walters,
chose to spruik their electoral wares in the pages of the October issue of York and Districts Community Matters.
With great respect, I have to say that Cr Wallace wasted his money
and his opportunity. I would
have expected him to indicate briefly what he intends to do in his next term of
office, and why.
Instead, he opted for cloudy generalities wrapped up in weasel words
and phrases like ‘good governance’, ‘stability in council’ and ‘move York
forward in a positive direction’.
For heaven’s sake, Dave, what does all that actually mean?
Never mind, I’m pretty certain he’ll breeze in on the sporting club
vote.
Mr Trent, on the other hand, made good use of his opportunity by
clarifying his position with regard to the disposal of Perth waste in rural
landfill sites. He’s against it,
and has been for many years.
He’s also in favour of preserving trees as habitats for birds. That, too, is something I can warm to.
Cr Walters simply relied on her manifesto as it appeared in the
library window. If elected, she
will fight to reduce rates by restraining Shire spending.
Like Cr Wallace, she doesn’t mention the landfill issue, but she has
privately assured me that she is strongly opposed to the siting of a landfill
anywhere in York.
As, of course, is Cr Wallace.
