“Obfuscation”: to make something obscure, unclear, unintelligible; to be evasive, to avoid offering meaningful responses.
It is a common technique used by bureaucrats & politicians the world over to avoid responding to difficult questions or to delay, derail or frustrate inquiries they don’t want to deal with.
It is deceptive & ignorant behaviour; dishonest, arrogant & offensive & routinely used by members of council management to avoid responsibility & accountability. It is more offensive than simply not responding to inquiries, although the two strategies are often used in tandem, in particular when the inquirer proves to be persistent.
When council published its
Audited 2018/2019 Financial Statements, the association was alarmed by council’s overall reported
financial Deficit of $8.9M (before grants & contributions for capital purposes) vs a
Budgeted financial Deficit of $1.7M & the even larger
Deficit in its
General Fund of $14.1M (before grants & contributions for capital purposes) vs a
Budgeted Deficit of $3.8M.
The association wrote to council seeking an explanation for the above results, asking it to “provide an explanation/clarification of the above items”, along with the reported consolidated expenditure on Materials & Contracts of $35.4M vs a Budget of $22.1M.
The association was particularly keen to establish what facts & circumstances had given rise to the collapse in council’s financial performance, in particular as neither the elected council nor the general manager had seen fit to offer such an explanation to the shire’s long-suffering residents & ratepayers.
Some six months later, council’s general manager responded to all three questions as follows:
“The Financial Statements refer to Council’s adopted Operational Plan budget figures. The reported results are the audited figures of actual performance. Changes over the financial year are reported to Council as required in the Quarterly Budget Review Statements.”
A classic example of obfuscation, highlighting the absolute failure of the elected council to require its management to act professionally at all times & making a mockery of the term “
public servant”, in particular given the fact that the general manager’s performance review, completed only five months earlier, had reportedly found that she
"did not meet expectations in the area of finance."
Almost 15 months have passed since council’s abysmal 2018/2019 financial performance was revealed to residents & ratepayers & still neither the elected council nor council’s management has had the honesty, integrity or decency to explain the circumstances that gave rise to those appalling results.
Based on its latest forecast, the current council will be responsible for racking-up a consolidated net operating deficit over its five year term of more than $14.6M, while still insisting that its biggest problem is a lack of adequate funding, in particular as allegedly being occasioned by rate pegs, & not by its inability to contain its expenditure within the financial means of residents & ratepayers.
Roll on September.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au