Council Stakes
Excitement mounted as Bega Valley Shire Council Stakes race day finally arrived, with a Melbourne Cup sized field of some 26 starters lined-up to compete for a prize. In the absence of much information about the field or its form, many punters were forced to take a plunge on the odd donkey.
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Needless to say, the formidable stallion from Cobargo didn’t disappoint his supporters, bolting-in by a country mile. The rest of the field from all over the shire produced some solid performances, with a mix of mares, fillies, another stallion and a local colt among the eventual finishers.
The race produced a number of surprises, with at least two experienced stallions missing out on a place, with one rumoured to be calling for swabs. On the other hand, a number of rank outsiders managed to perform beyond expectation. Despite the stellar performance of the stallion from Cobargo, the race ended in confusion, with the final result not being declared for some days.
With place-getters from the stakes now scheduled to line-up for next Wednesday’s Mayoral Handicap, owners, trainers and all manner of handlers are out and about spruiking their charges, while officials remain predictably calm, convinced that little is likely to change.
John Richardson, Wallagoot
Council Election
This was not a well run election for several reasons including lack of communication about the election by the Electoral Commission, little opportunity for the public and candidates to gain enough information to lead to an informed vote; all combined with a political campaign by Allen’s group of eight misinforming the public on council’s finances and building purchases, left people voting based on misleading information.
Another result is the entry of political parties with Greens, Country Labor and the general Liberal support for the group of eight as well as issues on squash courts, a marina and an equestrian centre which are not within council’s present agenda.
The lack of knowledge of councillors and issues appears to confirm the public are not adequately or correctly informed in the media for a variety of reasons. There is and has been a significant cost to everyone, including myself, in putting out misinformation bushfires.
I will be interested to hear some councillors take the new oath of office to "under take duties in the best interest of the shire and faithfully and impartially carry out functions” etc under the Act, and see how they perform given the way they campaigned by undermining what has been a council working in a difficult time to deliver services and grow our economy for the businesses in our area, given less than 12,000 people out of 34,000 are in employment.
It's a fine line between a good functioning and a dysfunctional council and depends on the ability of councillors to absorb information and make rational and often difficult decisions without pursuing their own agendas. The last council achieved more than any other council recent times and I am proud to have led and been part of it.
Michael Britten, Merimbula
Mayoral vote
Many running for elected office say they listen to the community. Hopefully new councillors will honour that claim when they elect a new mayor. The community made it clear that Tony Allen was the outstanding candidate. His overwhelming primary vote implies a great number of voters were satisfied with his role of councillor. He has attracted more votes than other candidates in the last couple of elections.
The previous councillors overlooked listening to the community with the election of two mayors. Interestingly, the electorate seems to have felt the same way with its rejection of the former mayors. At the risk of stating the obvious, gender has nought to do with the matter. Let’s hope a decision based on fairness and honour will eventuate.