Another side to Council Spin
Update: See full Ch 9 video at bottom (Ch 9’s FB post received second highest no. views at 45,000). Being asked to comment on City of Canning’s high rate rises happened fast – a phone call, crew arrived, Mike Nahan was door-stopped earlier, as was the Minister for Local Govt, yet by 3pm the City had still not made […]
Read MoreIf what I’ve heard is true, it hasn’t taken long for the City of Canning to demonstrate a return to behaviours the final $1.6m Inquiry recommended against. At bottom: What the Premier’s office responded with when advised of this. So what critical problems seem to be continuing at Canning? Firstly, once again some councillors are not turning up for important briefing sessions, or ensuring they […]
Read MoreClarification on fourth councillor, Patrick Hall, Bannister Ward, not residing in representative area. Thank you to Patrick for immediately addressing concerns he lives [just] outside Bannister now, after years of residence within, a move which only occurred in 2014, the year before the election. The Hall family is on track to move back to Bannister Ward this […]
Read MoreAs Canning’s new and very green Mayor and Councillors move to vote tonight on putting an as yet unfunded $2.25m towards the expansion of a local basketball stadium, that somehow came to loom large as essential infrastructure during the local govt election, more evidence emerges the time is right for our City to work with the state and […]
Read More[Edited] Is it possible that tonight Canning’s first democratically elected Council in years may commit millions to just ONE sports group, Willetton Basketball Assoc (WBA), months ahead of its first budget, simply because many of its members were either so naïve, or so eager to get elected, they pledged support to one group over 118 others, in part because they believed the WBA could yield a […]
Read MoreThe City of Perth fired its CEO as it refreshed its council and took the CBD in a new direction. Quick, clean. Done. But not Canning….. Our first democratically elected council in years not only kept on a CEO appointed whilst Canning was under administration (Lyn Russell – responsible for many questionable decisions since), it rushed her on to the panel that will select her […]
Read MoreSo I was at Electrikhana 2016 on the weekend and heard the word a deal for $3 million in Tesla’s Model S electric vehicle (EV) was going through. That’s 20 cars of the future at $150k each, to power a new limousine service. But the real news was this year’s Australian Electric Vehicle Assoc’s car show was packed, from young […]
Read MoreOr the Barnett Govt, for that matter? The Premier clearly stated in July 2015 that connecting the Armadale and Mandurah rail lines, through Canning Vale, is the no. 1 short-term rail priority for his govt. Budget’s coming – where’s the commitment? Then along came WA Labor, with a rejigged METRONET that’s a plan, but has no prioritisation on which rail will occur when. Today, […]
Read MoreIt’s hard, as the community, to get the whole truth, all the implications, about anything at the City of Canning these days. So much spin… Take the Agenda Setting Briefings (ASBs) concept, for example. Former Commissioner Linton Reynolds hailed it as some sort of progressive way forward: the community was encouraged to ask their Qs there, instead of the […]
Read MoreAt bottom: Is the breakdown of the $1.6m Inquiry bill cost outrageous? In what will probably be viewed as a “sensation”, at the last council meeting held via our “under administration” status, the Commissioners overrode staff recommendations to continue negotiating on the $1.6m Inquiry in to City of Canning bill and told them to pay it. That money, it seems, will […]
Read MoreWe think former Mayor Joe Delle Donne makes some good points…. Clearly concerns about Canning continue… clearly the majority of our new Councillors and the Mayor will have little to no real experience in local govt…. clearly the staff who will advise them have been up to all sorts of things and frequently just didn’t do things […]
Read MoreA refresher article from our vault! Why did former Mayor Joe Delle Donne take his concerns about the administration of Canning, that kicked off the investigations, to the Minister for Local Govt? Just how many problems at the City of Canning were issues that came under the remit of the administration, rather than the responsibility of the Mayor and […]
Read MoreThe City of Canning is the 9th largest Council in the metropolitan area*…. yet it has just been revealed as having the third lowest amount of tree canopy in Perth. The only councils scoring more disastrously than us are Fremantle and Belmont. A lot of this decline is being related to infill development, of which Canning is […]
Read MoreWe’re on fire at up to 1,000 views a week! Nope, doesn’t appear to be related to the “other” Canning, the by-election we’re told could be a “game changer” at the federal level. Our viewers are clicking on links that kick in only after the purpose of the article is made clear (at READ MORE)… and the number of […]
Read MoreWell, we think that’s more or less what MP for Riverton, Mike Nahan, said this week. Nahan’s concern about the City of Canning, particularly the behaviour of the administration under CEO Lyn Russell, isn’t going away any time soon. Nor will the Premier’s threat: Local govt? On notice. Right now. And if the long-term view of William […]
Read MoreThe City of Canning is not a council major media shows any interest in normally – but things have changed and for all the wrong reasons. Canning’s rate rises – those issued to cover its skyrocketing costs when democratically elected brakes were removed (Canning has been run by staff and Commissioners for years) – have us on lists everywhere: And […]
Read MoreChair of Canning Commissioners, Steven Cole, attached a statement to the usual highlights brochure produced at the adoption of the City’s 2015/16 budget . Mr Cole should be commended for putting Canning’s true financial position on the record, and especially as Canning’s first new council in years is due to be elected in October. CanningAccountability offers […]
Read MoreLocal paper Canning Examiner hits hard this week with its comparison of the City of Canning’s bloated wage and staff structure compared with the councils that were due to absorb it under local government reform:- City of Canning today is paying almost double the amount for employees it was in 2008-09 Employees earning over $100,000 near trebled […]
Read MoreUPDATE: Commissioner Steven Cole’s budget statement, as Canning’s true financial situation is put on record, HERE Chairman of Canning Commissioners, Steven Cole, issued a stern statement about Canning, its finances, and what a new council should do through the local papers yesterday. He also told entities who pose questions the City doesn’t like that “this must […]
Read MoreThere appears to be a serious problem at the City of Canning, that cannot be blamed on the long gone Council anymore. According to Treasurer Mike Nahan, in Parliament today, the staff at Canning plan to hit ratepayers with a massive rate rise to fund their rampant spending, huge pay rises, care packages (before and […]
Read MoreCanning is moving closer to a new start after years under administration! Yes, Canning will be changed to a five ward, two councillor per ward local government area soon, although the Minister has yet to announce it (we just got the quiet word). It isn’t necessary, but its a small matter. We have other things to […]
Read MoreLet’s call it the $2. 1 million dollar question – after all, that’s what the two recent inquiries in to Canning have cost. Ready? A highly contentious ward boundary and councillor representation review has just been “concluded” at Canning. Why contentious? we had a relatively small problem to correct, but staff tried for more – before […]
Read MoreDemocracy continues to be a bit of a laugh at Canning. The City nearly consigned itself away under local government reform, when it ignored community preference and bid to merge with Gosnells instead… Then, oddly enough, staff costs increased significantly while the Council remained suspended…. Now *democracy* seems an outright contestable concept at Canning with the way a Ward and Councillor Representation Review […]
Read MoreUPDATE: As the Ward Boundary and Councillor Review closes, only one of the lower house reps for the Canning area, the Member for Riverton, publicly voiced concerns at the speed and appropriateness of staff and commissioners instigating attempts to get wide-spread changes to the governance model and ward boundaries through prior to the return of a democratically elected Council […]
Read MorePoor management of the reform process by former Commissioner Linton Reynolds and Chief Executive Lyn Russell meant Canning nearly disappeared forever. It survived only because local govt reform suddenly collapsed – at least for now. However, after years of being “under administration”, the City of Canning remains a long way off from having a democratically […]
Read MoreIn the last 48 hours a belief flared up that Linton Reynolds was dismissed as Commissioner at the City of Canning because he spoke out against reform. The reality is that, as a Commissioner, Mr Reynolds was largely unknown outside of Canning, and almost entirely unreported upon by major media – and certainly as related to his […]
Read MoreMinister for Local Govt, Tony Simpson, is about to make an announcement in Parliament that will determine how Canning is prepared for reform. Commissioner Linton Reynolds is today serving his last day at Canning. Three new Commissioners will be appointed to transition Canning to its new future.
Read MoreCanning has not fared well under administration. It failed to seize the day on local govt reform, a valuable developer partnership was lost and costs skyrocketed. We now have a CEO who apparently served less than full term at both preceding appointments – and a Commissioner who seems to act beyond his station as a “short-term, unelected government appointee“. The State Govt’s […]
Read MoreToday’s Canning Times reveals employee load at Canning has blown out so much under Commissioner Reynolds the administration building, only built in 2006, can’t contain them. Public servants are to be moved to a shop at Carousel for a minimum of two years. It will not only house 18 staff unable to fit in our principal council […]
Read MoreCanning is spending a fortune leasing a shop at Carousel in a bid to develop the Canning City Centre. Yet the City recently lost a $700m partnership with the innovative* Dept of Housing: the Bentley Regeneration project. The question has to be asked: Does the City have the skills to manage developers, beyond creating structure plans, or […]
Read MoreRadio 6PR’s “Rumour File” tipped us off that the City of Canning was planning to lease a shop at Carousel to use as offices for staff. Rustling up what contacts we could on a Sunday, given Carousel’s market dominance, ratepayers could be forced to pay anywhere between $120,000 – $250,000 per year, not including fit out […]
Read MoreFormer Mayor Joe Delle Donne speaks HERE In-term Councillors Olsen and O’Donnell speak HERE Notes 1. Mayor Delle Donne’s term expired during Inquiry 2. Councillors Olsen and O’Donnell terms due to expire October 2015 3. Four Councillors remain in term – between them they represent Canning’s four wards
Read More6PR Radio interview with CanningAccountability 11th June 2014: “….Canning’s fate keeps getting worse under a Commissioner…..” On 10 June 2014 the Minister tabled the report in Parliament and obtained Parliaments permission to publish the report making it a public document. Download a copy of the ‘Report of the panel of Inquiry into the City of […]
Read MoreCanning’s new Chief Executive Officer, Lyn Russell, has failed to provide general public access to the one and only public meeting held to present the City’s position on local government boundary changes before it submits its view to the State. Instead the “public information meeting”, to be held October 1st, has been reserved for 200 “stakeholder associations […]
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Canning Accountability 