Local politics is not always talked about as much as it should be around the traps. For me the most entertaining type of politics is the local stuff. It’s so more diabolical than state or federal politics, especially in the distribution of ’shit sheets’ and the very personal nature of candidate’s campaigns. Of course there is also the fact that the issues focus on the very everyday issues facing many residents, ratepayers and local businesses and industry.
One issue that I cannot be silent on follows.
Recently the Mayor of my municipality, Brimbank, has conspired with his factional allies to slash millions of dollars allocated to parks and reserves in the upcoming Council budget for the sake of soccer clubs. The Mayor, Sam David, decided that he would take $2.9 million from funds allocated to Sunshine, Ardeer and Albion (Harvester Ward), which is Sam’s ward, and give some of this money to a soccer club.
That’s right!
The Mayor took money from a disadvantaged part of his municipality and ploughed it into a private soccer club for a new pavillion. Of course people attending matches will have to pay to use the new pavillion as the soccer club sits on private land. And another slap in the face comes knowing that the soccer club in question actually has Sam David as a life member.
That’s right!
The Mayor has a long association and holds life membership of this soccer club, and used his position of authority, and the ruling faction, to take money away from the public to give some of it to his club. This is a complete outrage and sounds extraordinarily nepotistic, as well as a shameful effort to buy favour and votes. And its not the first time that funding has been diverted from worthy community projects to be given to a soccer club or for a soccer club’s benefit.
But then Sam David doesn’t seem to care that much when he takes credit for the work of others. Take for example, the last election in 2005. His campaign leaflets declared loud and proud that he, and he alone, saved the Sunshine pool. But the real truth is that he had nothing to do with it being saved at all!
When it came to the crunch Sam David voted reluctantly to save the pool; while the Council faction voted to kill the contracts. But it wasn’t Sam that put in a recission motion. The truth is it was the Greens’ Miles Dymott who put in the recission motion, forcing the Council to vote again to cancel the contracts, which of course with the public outrage the Councillors couldn’t cancel them.
But then there are a bunch of other examples of this kind of cronyism on the Brimbank City Council. At least residents and ratepayers have the chance this year to change the Council and hopefully signal a beginning of the end to the cronyism on Brimbank City Council.
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Based on a work at alexschlotzer.wordpress.com.
