Be careful what you are calling for

 

 

No doubt you have seen the hysteria whipped up by people like Bernard Orsman over the Council’s finances. This is despite the Council OPEX being in $246 million surplus (meaning we are covering our bills). Our CAPEX (so capital investment) is something that always needs to be reviewed and for the most part needs a very good review before the 2015-2025 Long Term Plan goes into effect 1 July next year.

However, I do urge people to be careful and not make the staff the scape goat as we bring Council expenses under control.

Here is why:

It is not an easy process and you have your good and excellent Council workers in the organisation who go in day in day out doing their job effectively, efficiently and tirelessly for very little positive recognition (they are our unsung heroes here).

These people keep our City running here and now and in the future. While I do understand costs always need to be controlled I do not appreciate knee jerk reactions that tar these quality people with the same tar brush of our less effective ones (including some of our elected representatives) that need a hell of a jolt one way or the other.

This exercise and the knee jerk reactions is a demoralising exercise for these good folks (I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the ineffectual ones). It also demoralises people who might want to apply to work for Council because they give a damn about their home – their City. Yes I was just caught in this and it annoyed the living daylights out of me.

So spare a thought to those unsung heroes who actually do a first class and thankless job in keeping our City going. Without them the City would literally seize up. It is the nature of the beast and the machine