From the Editor. Pictured is Twin Town Times Editor, Matthew Stadtmiller.
Hilltops’ Council General Manager Anthony McMahon’s salary doesn’t pass the ‘pub’ test.
It’s as simple as that. Social Media proved that this week, with local residents very angry at his remuneration of $272,900 a year or $5,248 a week. It is a lot of money by anyone’s standards. It’s time rate payers and residents were given an answer as to the total amount of time taken in leave since May 12, 2016.
Hilltops Council Administrator Wendy Tuckerman said in today’s Young Witness dated April 21, “When considering the remuneration I undertook an independent remuneration review which analysed the role to establish work value”
The whole problem with this, is the ” I ” in Hilltops and the ” I ” in her statement. Tuckerman has at her disposal 18 advisors, 6 from each town, most former Councillors who were happy to join the advisory team and each be paid $11,010 a year, for a total of $198,180 per annum.
On top of this the Chair of each town’s 6 person committee receives another $11,020, just to run the meetings. The committees are put in place to supposedly ‘advise’ Tuckerman on their communities’ interests. It is evident from her statements today, they were not included in this decision making process.
The advisory committee’s remuneration packages add up to a lot of money which could have been shared in building infrastructure across the 3 former shire areas. Some of these advisors have over 30 years experience in local government as Mayors and Councillors. In fact, former Harden Mayor Chris Manchester (who is an advisor) and former Harden General Manager Trevor Drowley (who is not an advisor) have a combined experience of over 75 years in local government. Something the state government overlooked to appoint both Tuckerman and McMahon, ‘Team Boorowa’ in to their roles running Hilltops Council. The Liberal and National State Government did say they would reward those who gave them the outcome they wanted. That outcome is the forcing of 3 shires in to Hilltops Shire.
It is obvious from Tuckerman’s statement that the 18 unelected officials in this forced merger have had little involvement with the functions of Council since they came on board nearly 12 months ago. They have also had very little to say in the media as to what has worked and what hasn’t in the new forcibly merged Council. Something voters won’t forget come September. General Manager remuneration should have been priority number one for Hilltops Council. It seems, however, that the advisors are only brought in to advise on subjects that Tuckerman wants them to. Even then, the public must be aware that they have no voting power and she is under no duress to listen to anything they have to say. She is the sole Administrator and hence the sole decision maker. The current regime is more akin to a dictatorship than it is democracy.
A $1.4 million dollar shortfall in bringing IT systems together from each of the shires was announced months ago. Where are we up to with that? Who would know. There is very little discussion from Hilltops Council on negative aspects of the merger and plenty on the controlled positives by Hilltops Council.
Tuckerman goes on to reference former Young General Manager Peter Vlatko’s salary at $250,000 as some sort of justification for McMahon’s salary. Are the residents of Young happy with Vlatko’s previous remuneration? Hilltops residents it seems, are pretty unhappy with McMahon’s.
The former Young Shire Council is still being shadowed by the departure of Vlatko. A $213,059 ‘error’ was recorded in his salary and reported in the Young Witness by former Editor Edwina Mason in October 2015. If it wasn’t for the efforts of former Mayor John Walker who fought for an extensive independent audit, the financial anomaly may have not been found. Well done John on seeking transparency and honesty, you are worth a vote if you run in the next election.
The former Young Councillors are apparently still bound by a non-disclosure agreement, signed by the then Mayor Brian Ingram without the consent of council.
Did the former Young Shire Council think it was in the best interest of ratepayers to not disclose the reasons for Vlatko’s departure and prevent Councillors from speaking out?
The Hilltops Phoenix newsletter receives a full page weekly advert from Hilltops Council whilst The Young Witness, Twin Town Times, Boorowa News and Harden Express go ‘hungry’. Rate payers need to ask why the very newly established Hilltops Phoenix is given preference over far more established newspapers. Is it price? I think not.
The Twin Town Times has made an offer to Hilltops Council to print the information supplied to the Hilltops Phoenix by Hilltops Council, for free. The Phoenix is paid for displaying Hilltops Council advertisements, something the Times is willing to forego for the rest of the Administrator’s term, as it is in the best interests of rate payers and residents to get this information to them, not have it funnelled in to just one publication. Previous attempts to secure the advertisements have been met with disinterest from Hilltops Council.
Let’s see if Hilltops Council will do what is right by the residents of Harden, Young and Boorowa and the surrounding villages, or again prove they are controlling the spread of information in the community and to who.
See how many articles you can find in the Hilltops Phoenix which have held Hilltops Council to account or have been critical of Hilltops Council. You won’t find many. The Phoenix started just 12 weeks before the forced merger. What excellent timing!
It’s interesting to note that the Burrowa News, now the Boorowa News started in 1874. The Young Witness in 1909 and the Harden Express in 1947. All 3 are owned by Fairfax Media. The Twin Town Times, an independent newspaper, commenced operations over 3 years ago and was established in 2014.
It seems since the establishment of Hilltops Council, the local traditional media has suffered. Lack of information and communication is at an all time low with the dissemination of information strictly controlled by the Administrator. In fact, she sends nothing to the Twin Town Times. Doesn’t seem fair does it? and more to the point, why does it occur?
As a local newspaper it is our responsibility to report the decisions made by Council and discuss their performance, this will never change. Criticism is part and parcel of the role of a newspaper within its local community.
The minutes from the March 22 Hilltops Council meeting, make reference to ANZAC Day road closures on Tuesday April 25. Tuckerman moved the following resolution “6. Council to advertise temporary road closures in two consecutive editions of the Hilltops Phoenix prior to the event”
The placement of advertising is the domain of the General Manager and an operational matter. Why then is the GM not performing this role and the Administrator directing advertising, which is outside of her responsibilities as an operational matter?
Why does any of this matter?
It is you the residents and rate payers who are missing out. You deserve to know what is happening in your Council. Your rates pay for the operations of Council. You deserve value for money. It is you who evaluates Council’s performance and it is you who would normally vote for local people to become Councillors to ensure that this can happen.
You deserve proper representation, something that will be gone at the next election with just 11 positions available across Hilltops Council and no guarantee that your town or village will have a local resident on Council. 27 Councillors were on the local Councils before the advent of Hilltops Council. 9 in Young, 9 in Boorowa and 7 in Harden.
No one voted for Tuckerman in her current role and no one will have any say as to what goes on in Council until September 9 this year, the day of the Hilltops Council elections, when you get a chance to vote.
ANZAC Day is approaching and we remember those who fought in wars to protect our country and defend democracy. As Australians we must uphold the memories of our forefathers and their selfless acts.
In regard to forced mergers, It is a damn shame that we have to defend attacks on democracy from within our own country and from our own governments, as well as from outside the country.
Your sincerely
Matthew Stadtmiller, rate payer, former Harden Shire Councillor and Deputy Mayor,
Editor of the Twin Town Times Independent Newspaper.
