Story: Gary Fry
Veteran Armidale Dumaresq Councillor, Deputy Mayor Herman Beyersdorf, has vented his frustrations and fears that the council is becoming dysfunctional. With many matters being blocked or delayed, he has gone so far as to say that, should current voting trends and councillor behaviour continue next year, the council could be sacked and an administrator appointed.
“Our newer councillors have thus far created a do-nothing council. Their can-do campaigns (prior to the September 8 election) seem a distant memory,” he said.
According to Cr Beyersdorf, mostly newer councillors are showing “a dangerous mixture of ignorance and arrogance”.
“On the one hand they claim that they do not have enough information, thereby severely hindering, and in some cases, completely halting the normal operations of Council by these delaying tactics. On the other hand, they allegedly know better than more experienced Councillors, the profes-sional staff of Council and outside experts, be they consultants or from State Government authorities,” Cr Beyers-dorf said.
In a Letter to The Editor published in this edition on page 21, Cr Beyersdorf details a litany of blocks and delays to important matters such as the new LEP (which took effect on November 30).
The Council’s financial sustainability has been impacted by the new Councillors, in the Deputy’s opinion. “A proposal to merely consider a rate increase for 2013/14 was rejected, deferring any consideration of an increase for the next 18 months.
“A proposal to apply for a Federal Government RDA grant to assist in the building of a new library, as part of a ‘cultural precinct’, which had been the subject of extensive community consultation and committee work, was torpedoed. With no prior notice given and no consultation with community groups or any detailed justification, it was replaced with a proposal to upgrade the airport,” summed up Cr Beyersdorf.
Then, there was the stalling and potential scuttling of a response to a directive from the
NSW Dam Safety Committee regarding safety issues at Dumaresq Dam. This defiance could mean liability exposure, should a worst-case scenario occur and adds fuel to Cr Beyersdorf’s arrogance assertion. Cr Beyersdorf reveals that, during a two-hour workshop on the dam safety matter, one Councillor dominated the discussion, while Sydney based experts were not given approp-riate opportunity to address and inform Council.
In the turbulent days of the Mosman’s Bay debates in the ADC (2007), Cr Beyersdorf was part of a minority faction, the so-called ‘gang of four’, which also included Councillors Chetwynd, Roobol and Walford. They were also accused of threatening Council functionality and ‘harmony’. Despite the heated conflicts and public angst of those days, Cr Beyersdorf alleges that today’s Council is comparatively more fractious and less productive. However, he still holds hopes that the past three months have seen a teething process, with a more cohesive team approach to follow in 2013.
