Welcome to this week’s editorial,
You may have read in past editorials my references to the Good Ship Eurobodalla (sometimes scathingly referred to as the Good Ship Lollypop). I would write of it being on a direct course towards the rocks and that those on the poop deck should heed the warnings of impending doom.
One of the key personnel for any ship is a navigator. They are trained to observe, measure and respect the hazards and read the winds to adjust a course. Without a good experienced navigator who can read the charts and forecasts you are left with a poop deck of officers blissfully ignorant of the path of peril their captain has chosen. Added to the potential loss of the Good Ship Lollypop was the fact that there are passengers locked up below decks, whose cries of alarm are ignored.
Hoping to bring all of this into context is my way of trying to convey the message that is now coming from Eurobodalla Council being that If we had stayed on the course that was set we would soon be running aground in a very serious way financially.
This week the new General Manager, Warwick Winn, ably assisted by his Acting Director of Finance, Stephanie Speedy, have addressed ratepayers in Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma to advise them of how Council managed to find itself on a course of calamity and to advise that there is just enough time to turn ‘the ship’ about and hopefully escape the impending catastrophe that only the astute among could see coming.
And rather than ignore the calls from the passengers locked below the new General Manager has instead invited them to the poop-deck to learn first hand of the impending course that would see them smashed on the rocks and discuss the a course. The General Manager describes a course that would turn a deaf ear to the seductive calls of the Sirens that promise riches beyond those that can be afforded. To the seduction of riches by way of loans from the money-men that would have soon bled the ship, its crew, and passengers, dry.
Instead, recognising there is still just enough time to adjust course, the General Manager offers that the Good Ship Eurobodalla set a course to a place that is real. To a land where moderate taxes can meet the moderate needs of the people to deliver moderate outcomes and offer a more affordable, yet still vibrant and flourishing quality of life.
In a nutshell, through whatever failures of the past, and there were many, the council of today is transforming into a more open and transparent one that is improving communication, telling it like it is and actually being honest with both Councillors and ratepayers regarding where we are and where we are heading. In a nutshell our financial future was on a road to failure. Now, with a Director of Finances back on deck and with an honest open, intelligent look at the books the realisation that there needs to be a new route set is becoming accepted by the councillors, and now, by way of these public presentations, the community as well.
The days of secrets, the days of toxicity, the days of audacity, of poor consultation, of lack of respect, lack of regard, the empire building, the silos, the selfish ego, the ineptitudes…. These days will hopefully be behind us as Council reefs the sails and tries its best to change our course.
The new course will be a journey, and it might take time and we may all have to pitch in to weather the storms ahead but at least we have new officers on deck, a navigator who appears to have the knowledge and experience to garner our trust, and a crew who are now encouraged to stay aboard when next we find land. One can only hope for better days ahead.
Until next—lei
