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Sunday, 03 September 2006 |
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Minister for Local Government – Candy Broad for action
Minister for Victorian Communities – John Thwaites for action
Premier - Steve Bracks for information
Treasurer – John Brumby for information
Auditor-General – Wayne Cameron for information
Leader of the Opposition – Ted Baillieu for information
Opposition Shadow Minister for Local Government – John Vogels for information
31st August 2006
Dear Sirs/Madam,
Re: Mayor of Brimbank, Ms Natalie Suleyman Mobile Phone Usage & Costs to Ratepayers
I write to you on behalf of the Sunshine Residents & Ratepayers Association Inc., in regard to an article printed in the Age newspaper on August 27th 2006. I have enclosed a printout of this article for your reference.
The Age article reports that the Mayor of Brimbank, Ms Natalie Suleyman has the highest mobile phone usage and costs in all of Melbourne. For the period 1st July 2005 to 30th April 2006, a matter of ten months the mobile phone bill was $9,544.00. |
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Friday, 11 August 2006 |
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Sunshine Resident and Ratepayers Association (SunRRA) submission on the Draft Brimbank Budget 2006/2007 was presented to all councillors on August 1st 2006. This is the second year SunRRA has presented a submission to Brimbank Councillors.
SunRRA again submitted Brimbank contains some of Victoria’s most disadvantaged postcodes but our Councillors apply a one size fits all approach in the budget.
SunRRA asked councillors to consider supporting people and groups with special needs and suggested Brimbank Council increase pensioner rebates from $15 to $65 in line with Maribyrnong Council which is also high on the SEIFA index of socio economic disadvantage.
Brimbank’s 2006/2007 budget is again full of hide and seek accounting with 6 department budgets completely disappearing. Over 6 million in budgeted activities last year is gone this year with no budgets for Maternal & Child Health Services, Risk Management, Environment, Procurement & Tendering, Streetscapes and GIS & Asset Group.
Meanwhile department costs blow outs of over 19 million including Council Business & Community Relations department budget increase of over $2 million and Financial Services department budget increase of over $2.9 million. |
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Monday, 17 July 2006 |
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The Sunshine Residents and Ratepayers Association Inc. (SunRRA) requested on Thursday 13th July, 2006 that an urgent independent review of both the management and administration of the Sunshine Pool project and Brimbank Council’s organisational practices and Governance be undertaken by the State Government.
A letter has been sent to Steve Bracks, Rob Hulls, Justin Madden, John Thwaites, John Brumby and Bruce Mildenhall requesting a review as a matter of urgency as the Sunshine community has lost respect and trust for its Council and does not consider it fit to govern on behalf of all Brimbank residents.
SunRRA feels that there is a culture of revenge in place as a group of Councillors aligned with the Suleyman faction target the Association’s members and the broader Sunshine community for exposing shonky decisions and practices and daring to lobby for a pool complex equivalent to those in other Victorian communities of its size.
SunRRA has also requested that a review be undertaken of the current level of skill and competency in Brimbank Council able to manage larger capital works projects as the Auditor General has found problems in the past and the Sunshine Pool project provides a best practice case study in how not to manage a project and its costs successfully.
Copy of the letter:
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Saturday, 01 July 2006 |
At a Council meeting held on June 13th, Brimbank councillors voted to convene a special closed session of the Council to discuss a complaint from Cr Socratous. The complaint was that Cr Suleyman had embarrassed him in the media, and he wanted to have "a discussion" about it.
As reported in the local press, during the closed session the councillors left their microphones on. A Sunshine resident who was standing in the mezzanine conference room could hear the discussion coming through the loudspeakers there.
The resident was shocked to hear what was being said and made a recording of it with the intention of lodging a complaint. However fearing retribution from the council, it was sent to SunRRA instead.
SunRRA has obtained legal advice and is now able to make the recordings publicly available on this website.
The recordings provide an important insight into the way Brimbank Council is run. They paint a picture of a divided, paranoid and bumbling group of councillors who hardly know themselves what they are supposed to be doing. Meeting rules are thrown out the window as they interrupt one another and interject, then get sidetracked and finally confused about what to do next. |
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Thursday, 15 June 2006 |
Gary Laidlaw from the EPA gave an update on the Organic Recyclers situation at the SunRRA public meeting on Wednesday 14th June.
Everyone will know from previous news items that the smell is caused by material stockpiled at the site. This is due to a big increase in green waste coming in from the councils, and the problem seems to be getting rid of it quickly enough.
The EPA permit that was issued to Organic Recyclers says there should be no odour beyond the premises. After increasing community protest, the EPA has limited the amount of green waste that can be brought onto the site. Other resident groups as well as SunRRA have been taking action on the issue, including the Brooklyn Residents Action Group (BRAG) and On the Nose (Yarraville).
The company itself is concerned and is finding solutions to distribute its product including as a last resort, toward land fill.
Mr Laidlaw agreed with a suggestion that the odour problem could take up to 18 months to solve. At the meeting a number of more technical questions were also asked, and Mr Laidlaw hoped that one of the EPA technical officers could address SunRRA in the near future.
This is a case where the whole community needs to keep monitoring the problem, and complain to the EPA if the smell becomes obvious again. An increasing number of complaints should see the EPA take additional action to eliminate the odour. The EPA number to call is 9695 2777.
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OMBUDSMAN VICTORIA ANNUAL REPORT 2009-10 – Part I