A holiday selection of regular FEEDBACK contributor, Alan Bond’s thoughts on the Wollongong City Council, Grand Pacific Drive, the Blue Mile, Fowlers Road, Rod Oxley, Joe Scimone and more … Dear Editor,
It is interesting to note the staff that have left or are leaving Wollongong Council to go to a far, far, better place, I mean, job.
The manager of the new Community Consultation, yes, that wonderful new system where it’s the one to one basis and who gives a heck where you come from as long as you express an opinion to the staff on overtime, is going, going, well ...
The Financial Manager, who is beaming out from the Readers Digest version of the Council Annual Report, the manager who said he didn’t know Council was that much in debt when the $200 million infrastructure deficit was announced and instrumental in the West Dapto Development, well, he’s gone.
The most hilarious one of all is the manager of Compliance and Assessment, who when recently addressing a Local Area Meeting was queried about why people live illegally in sheds around Helensburgh, replied it was because they can’t afford to live in a house. He’s gone.
Wollongong City Council may have $200 million infrastructure debit, but it makes up for that in incompetence, a top qualification for getting a job there.
Alan Bond
Dear Editor,
The incredible payout to former public servants, Rod Oxley and Joe Scimone, is certainly cause for alarm considering it is supposed to be performance based as deemed under Section 338 of the Local Government Act. It is also supposed to be authorised by the Local Government Minister. We know Mr Oxley was away on holidays towards the end of his period when he told ICAC that he was busy in the recent bribery case, so that takes care of a few weeks of holiday leave.
The performance based aspect can not be applied because of the incredible financial mess of the $200 million deficit that Mr Oxley left Council in because he was the person responsible as deemed under the LGA, Section 335, Functions of a general manager.
Similar applies to Mr Scimone as he left under what only could be considered very unclear details. He would have to provide evidence of his unsupported claim that his leaving Council had nothing to do with the sexual harassment case in which he was involved.
In the end it is not clear whether their payments were Ministerially approved as set out under Section 354A, LGA. If the Minister has determined such payments are inappropriate, those payments must be recovered till final determination.
Alan Bond
Dear Editor,
I find it hard to believe that our elected councilors who travelled overseas accumulating frequent flyer points didn’t realise they were gaining a benefit in their position as deemed under the Local Government Act.
Deputy mayor Jonovski insulted all Illawarra residents by refusing to answer if he had accumulated points on his trip to Macedonia, New Zealand and that infamous trip to Queensland. But, as reported previously in the Mercury, he doesn’t answer to everyone. Why is he still an elected councillor?
Amusingly, even though Mayor Darling claimed the points, he disagreed with the practice! But thinks they should go into a frequent flyer pool to subsidise future council travel! That constitutes a benefit, Mr Mayor. A person in your position should know that. Didn't you even know the practice was stopped in September?
Yet they can’t be flying Qantas, who prohibit this practice. Especially after all that lobbying for a a Qantas link at Albion Park and a donation of $250,000 of ratepayers’ money, part of the $200 million council deficit, thanks to previous manager, Rod Oxley.
Still the most disappointing aspect is the comment from new general manager, David Farmer, being if councillors avail themselves of frequent flyer points, it is their own business. Not if it is on Council matters. His third questionable black mark. Another one being the choice of the Blue Mile over the Fowlers Rd Bridge.
We would be better off having on our council, Ned Kelly, Jesse James, Al Capone, John Dillinger and Osama Bin Laden.
Alan Bond
Dear Editor,
I find it interesting, and good to see, that the new general manager of Wollongong City Council, David Farmer, has changed his mind about the Fowlers Rd Bridge. He is now supporting the desperately required ratepayer bridge, rather than the undesperately, unrequired tourist business dominated Blue Mile money drain.
What makes this more interesting and fun is the fact that councillors who voted for him to have the GM job, and had originally met him on the infamous Queensland junket, are the ones who he is upsetting by wanting to originally delay the Fowlers Rd Bridge in favour of the Blue Mile. How about that? Well, they gave him the job.
For a general manager who stated he wanted a low profile, he has been welcomingly transparent on issues that matter, and not afraid to state his change of mind publicly.
Alan Bond
Dear Editor,
The flashy television commercial promotion of Grand Pacific Drive gives an hilariously incorrect impression of this supposed scenic drive. Showing one car on the bridge, a local pub and very little in the way of identifiable sites till it cuts to Wollongong Harbour, one would think it’s a marvellous drive.
It is misleading to the extreme to the condition of the road, its speed limits, its
dangerous curves and suburbs you squeeze through at a Grand Speed of 40 kilometres. Most telling is the missing reality of coal trucks and hordes of speeding motor cyclists. They don’t even bother to show a good view of the Illawarra Escarpment and prefer to exploit the concrete bridge structure.
Even the NSW Government, in their Beach Rate report published in the Mercury, shows it is the Tasman Sea out there. As for the Grand Pacific Drive name, no one has even asked the locals. Once it gets to Bulli Pass intersection, it’s not even near the sea! Misleading, misleading.
But I’ll leave the last word on the condition of the road to former council general manager, Rod Oxley, who wrote to a relative of mine, when an issue was going on in the recent past. Our Rod, bless him, stated that Lawrence Hargrave Drive had not changed much from the horse and buggy days.
So maybe it should be called the Grand Horse and Buggy Drive.
Alan Bond | 
