Fast Buck$, Coorabell
Twenty-odd years ago my fellow councillor Hugh Ermacora remarked how useful public access is in terms of providing insights into a situation that may hitherto have been unclear.
Although a lot of public input is tedious and repetitive, I agree that sometimes it can be useful in terms of discerning who is acting in good faith, and who is gilding the lily, or in providing the decisive piece of information.
The point is that councillors should not arrive at a meeting having already totally made up their mind. What’s the point of public access if you have zero chance of influencing anyone? I have in mind particularly Cr Sarah Ndiaye.
At the conclusion of each speaker’s address, the councillors are free to ask questions of the speaker. At the last meeting Cr Ndiaye used this opportunity to sneer at a speaker who was merely addressing a particular planning issue, never having attended a council meeting before.
I see now that in her manner, on some issues, Cr Ndiaye has clearly already made up her mind and is affronted by someone who contradicts her party views.
It is not merely a question of anger; there is a distinct edge, an implied suggestion that the opponent is acting in bad faith, making it all up, or has been put up by somebody. I attribute it to pre-selection stress.
Somebody ought to have a word in her ear. According to the code of conduct it is a breach to make derogatory remarks at a council meeting.
