Trust in Mayor eroded by secrecy, refusal to answer queries

It is the community's trust that Mayor Mick Curran is eroding by conducting business in the shadows of a closed chamber.

Gympie Regional Council Mayor Mick Curran. Picture: Philippe Coquerand

Letter to Editor:

AT THE last council meeting, I witnessed a poor decision by the Mayor regarding his willingness to conduct open discussion on matters that are fundamentally in the public's interest.

A question was asked by Cr Glen Hartwig, being, "how much money is budgeted for the entire Transit Centre project?”.

Mayor Mick Curran refused to answer, stating that the information was commercial-in-confidence and that he would inform Cr Hartwig in a closed sitting.

Cr Glen Hartwig - Division 2. Picture: Bambi Gosbell

The State Government describes commercial-in-confidence as information that if disclosed may result in damage to an entity's commercial interests, intellectual property or trade secrets.

A Gympie Times article published on December 22, 2018 estimated the cost of the Transit Centre Project as being $4.3 million,with the build being around $1.6 million and the remainder for land purchase.

The council previously purchased the Madill property for $1.35 million and paid $660,000 for the former Don Cameron car yard.

It highlighted that the only business yet to be bought - Cooloola Panel and Paint - was last sold in 2007 for $720,000.

As this information is in the public domain, where is the breach of commercial interests and why didn't the Mayor disclose these costings in the meeting when asked by Cr Hartwig?

In another article in The Gympie Times on December 15, Cr Dan Stewart questioned the Mayor's decision to take other matters behind closed doors.

Cr Dan Stewart - Division 5. Picture: Bambi Gosbell

Cr Stewart's belief was that these budget changes should have been open to the public and he went on to suggest that taking matters into closed sessions was becoming routine for this council.

The State Government has instituted reforms for councils, including stricter guidelines of transparency and accountability.

These reforms include policy stating that councils can no longer close sessions to the public without providing greater detail for the reason behind their decision.

It is also mandated that councils cannot close a session for the sole reason that a matter being discussed may bring embarrassment or criticism on themselves, or to hide the voting actions of councillors.

It is the community's trust that Mayor Curran is eroding by conducting business in the shadows of a closed chamber.

Gympie Council 2018 Hilary Smerdon, Dan Stewart, Glen Hartwig, Bob Leitch, Mick Curran, Bob Fredman, Mal Gear, Daryl Dodt and Mark McDonald. Picture: Renee Albrecht

Although I do not agree with his strategic direction, I believe our Mayor is an honest man and has good intentions for Gympie. But the over-use of closed sessions, as announced by Cr Stewart, and the refusal to answer straightforward questions as asked by Cr Hartwig, creates an unfortunate perception.

Information is power; as much for the ratepayers as for our councillors. Without that information there can be no effective public oversight of the decisions being made on our behalf.　

Col Morley,

Pie Creek