Mayor Sharon Tapscott continues to sow confusion with many of her public claims.
While the association has publicly acknowledged the good works undertaken in our community by the Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast (SJA), it has also made it clear that will not support the so-called “Community Disaster Relief Fund” that SJA has opted to manage on behalf of council, until & unless it conforms with the terms of the resolution of council adopted in August, 2019.
Given
Cr Tapscott’s public comments
made in an interview last week, the association believes that it could be some time before the fund’s administration satisfies that requirement.
During the course of her latest “ready, fire aim” interview, Cr Tapscott made a number of questionable claims, including claims that do not conform with the resolution of council or the Memorandum of Understanding entered into between council & the SJA.
Recounting her version of the history of the fund, Cr Tapscott claimed that “Council can’t run a perpetual fund. It’s not in our legal framework to be able to do that.”
The association has repeatedly requested council to provide evidence of its claim that council cannot run a perpetual charitable fund. Council has stated repeatedly that it is relying on oral advice from anonymous bureaucrats in the Australian Taxation Office.
For its part, the Australian Taxation Office has no record of any such conversations, while the association has obtained its own formal legal advice which confirms that there is no impediment to council operating a perpetual charitable fund should it wish to.
The association believes that council would rather avoid its clear responsibilities to the community or alternatively, may have been misled by council bureaucrats as to its options.
Referring to a donation to the fund by the people of Villers-Bretonneux in France, Cr Tapscott stated that the donation was explicitly intended to assist bushfire victims in Cobargo & that those funds would need to be kept aside for that purpose.
While the association understands the good intentions behind the donation, the fact of the matter is that the Community Disaster Relief Fund exists to accept donations on behalf of all residents in the Bega Valley Shire & the fund should be the sole arbiter of how donations should be distributed on their behalf. If necessary, the fund should decline donations that are being made with conditions attached that would prevent the fund from carrying-out its clearly stated purpose.
While the association has been told that council intends to correct those anomalies, it notes that Cr Tapscott did not acknowledge those issues or council’s plans to address them during her most recent interview.
The association believes that the arrangements around the establishment of the Community Disaster Relief Fund have been mismanaged & that the fund will not be able to fully realise its purpose until & unless those shortcomings are rectified.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au