Edgar Adams' Editorial

Well all the excitement of the Local Government Elections is now over and we have to live with twenty people – most of whom will be more interested in their own personal interests, such as getting elected again or getting elected to State Parliament.

In Wyong we have only three of the original councillors (see story: Council election wrap-up) and these have always adopted a divisive attitude to our region, particularly in respect to tourism and water – to our detriment. Will the new councillors have a similar bunker mentality or take a more intelligent and global approach? We know the State Government is fed up with their attitude to the water issue.

Meanwhile Gosford Council is turning into a basket case. Having placed $74 million dollars in highly dubious and risky overseas securities, ratepayers are entitled to ask, did the staff and councillors who took the decision to “invest” this money actually invest any of their own savings too? Notwithstanding the assurances of Standard & Poors nor the tacit approvals from the State Government, this Council has taken and continues to take a gungho attitude. All for a lousy marginal increase in interest. As an aside, when the National Bank announced they had written off $800 million in similar loans the CEO resigned.

Interestingly, Wyong Council General Manager told this Editor that his council had taken the view that these investments were far too risky and wouldn’t have a bar of them. An even bigger issue at Gosford is the loss of five lives blamed on “systems failures”. The Coroner said, “Gosford City Council systems were so poor and ineffective that it lost or ignored the estimate and quote it obtained in 2002 and 2004 and its management systems did not identify the fact that they had been lost or ignored,” he said. Even though the council knew that the pavement above Piles Creek was subsiding, no risk analysis was undertaken nor regular inspection instituted to ensure the public and the assets of the council were not put in jeopardy,” he said.

Every business and organisation is run on SYSTEMS. None can run any other way and those that don’t soon fail. One doesn’t have to be a Harvard graduate to understand this basic business principle. And it is the responsibility of the CEO to ensure those systems are put in place and to see that they work. Bringing in an investigator to look at the systems will really change nothing. The Coroner and those who gave evidence have said it all. This is all about responsibility and accountability and it goes to the very heart of the organisation.

Quite obviously there is an entrenched culture in Gosford Council which needs to be changed. This change will only occur when the Minister for Local Government installs an Administrator. Any suggestion that a newly elected council will change any of that is simply fanciful. After all, most of the councillors elected have to be part of the problem. What do you think?

We have a lot of highly talented and creative people living and working here on the Central Coast, most of whom adopt a low profile, often known only in their own professional circles. One person who has just lost any low profile he may have had is Jason van Genderen of the ad and communications agency, Treehouse Creative. Jason and two colleagues have just won first prize at the New York Film Festival for a 3½ minute film shot on a mobile phone (see story: $57 local film wins New York Film Festival) They won against all comers worldwide. What a fantastic result – our congratulations to them!

Edgar Adams
Editor

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