The Coalition councillors kicked off their Tweed Council election campaign eight months ago with Council meetings as the stage for their theatrics, particularly attacking our mayor (along with their media and socials). A key platform used again is legal costs, blaming our mayor.
The councillors staging this show are treating our Tweed community as mugs when the formal records speak the facts and truth.
The Legal Services Register Report presented to councillors at last week’s Council meeting shows for the 13 items when Council ‘initiated legal services’ ten were a unanimous vote (one item three councillors were absent), and three were a 6:1 vote.
These councillors fail to acknowledge the legal costs also include general legal services required for managing the multi-million-dollar Council operations – or maybe they don’t understand the lawful regulations/requirements of such extensive operations?
Of note, at the meeting last month, a review of a refusal of a development was further recommended for refusal due to a long list of failures to comply with regulations. However, two of these same councillors moved that legal advice be sought, with that legal advice reaffirming the recommended refusal. Also of note is Cr Polglase defended the legal costs under his helm in 2010 when legal costs passed the $1m mark.
So, councillors please explain to the good people of our shire how are the legal costs the fault of our mayor?
Further, these same councillors preach that staff recommendations should be supported – but then when it suits they vote against staff recommendations!
Having attended Council meetings for more than 25 years I have witnessed some poor behaviour, including the period prior to the sacking of councillors.
However, the performances over recent months have been some of the worst, and our shire deserves so much more than simple political point-scoring – taking the theatrics to a whole new level of a horror show.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
