It beggars belief Gympie council can't find 'record' button

Councillors' dispute over record of latest meeting is absurd - to say nothing of easily avoided.

This latest disagreement over the official record of a meeting proves it's time Gympie Regional Council started recording its meetings.

THE inability of councillors to agree on a matter of record has astounded a few people, as this week's letters show.

And frankly it astounds me too.

Not because of what happened behind closed doors at the August meeting; but rather what happened when they were open in July.

After last month's meeting closed, I went back through my notes from July 24.

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Cr Glen Hartwig declared a personal interest as he had done "work for a subcontractor on some railway bridges” used by the Rattler. It's a declaration he's made before.

Someone else asked if it was an MPI.

Cr Hartwig said he didn't believe so; he would get "no financial gain” from the Rattler being given some carriages by the council. The Mayor told the council the MPI test "is did you receive a personal gain?”.

And so the merry-go-round continued until Cr Hartwig threw up his hands declaring "it was just easier to leave” and did - but not without first pointing out he'd stayed to vote on Rattler matters in the past.

Gympie councillor Glen Hartwig. Picture: Tom Daunt

At no point did he agree it was an MPI, which is what's recorded. So forget the August minutes - I believe the July ones are wrong.

Cr Hartwig should have picked this up in August. That's on him.

But his error doesn't excuse the debacle the minutes arose from - one which appears to have happened again.

It's time someone in the council found the "record” button. In a world where 40 trillion cat videos can be summoned at a whim does it make sense the council's democratic accuracy relies on month-old memory?

Seriously - I can carry the '60s British Invasion back catalogue and some random whale sounds on my iPhone, but the ability to record a two-hour council meeting once a month is an insurmountable challenge?

We can find recordings of these magnificent creatures, but not of what's said during the council's decision making process? Picture: Paul Aurisch

Cr Hartwig's motion could have been resolved in minutes, and the public would have faith the minutes are accurate.

And I don't buy the council can't afford to; you could lop a few branches off that $65,000 Christmas tree without losing the fun.

Forget joining the 21st century. Just joining the 20th with its boomboxes and cassette tapes would do.