“I’m speaking as a very biased, very biased listener.
I listened to the BBC for many years & now I listen to the ABC.
I have never, ever, listened to anything commercial.
I don’t like being told what will make me happy in life by advertising at me all the time. That is a very important point to me as an individual listener, but also I realised just how very important they are to a local, particularly regional area.
That’s all.”
This was not the first time that the guardian of democratic values has publicly displayed her tolerance for the views of others, in particular where they may not accord with her own.
At the height of the fluoride debate in 2018, Cr Seckold was quoted in the local media as having said:
“Whatever the outcome today I will continue to advocate for the socially disadvantaged but I am sick of being bullied by the anti-fluoride groups and their emails”.
Last year, the champion of freedom of speech was quick to second a motion by Cr Fitzpatrick authorising council’s general manager to exercise discretion in responding to inquiries from the association, such that today numerous items of correspondence – some dating back almost a year – remain unanswered.
Of course, while Cr Seckold has characterised the public statements of the association as “rubbish” she, along with her colleagues, has to this day offered residents & ratepayers no meaningful explanation for the $14.1M deficit recorded in the General Fund for 2018-2019, leading to a $10M overall deficit for council.
The association notes that Cr Seckold has remained silent on council’s more recent financial problems, including the anomalies identified in respect of its cash reserves, the programming faults identified in its financial modelling software & the errors so far identified in its Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP).
Needless to say, it doesn’t seem to matter the level of incompetence displayed by council’s senior management, Cr Seckold rarely misses an opportunity to talk-up their capabilities & achievements.
While Cr Dodds continues to use the platform of council meetings to publicly lecture the community on the need to attract more young people, including young women & young Indigenous women, to stand for election as councillors, perhaps the time has come for Cr Seckold to retire & make way for someone whose views may be even more enlightened than her own?
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au