The gift that keeps on giving

WE’VE got a General Manager Partnerships, Economy and Culture at the Bass Coast Shire Council, or did have until Greg Box was promoted to the role of shire CEO last week, and we certainly wish him all the best for a rewarding and productive time in the role.

We’ve also got a General Manager Placemaking, the person who has the key responsibilities of strategic and statutory planning, but we’ll be looking for a new one of those too after James Stirton joins Ali Wastie at Geelong.

And we’ve also got a General Manager Resilient Communities, Jodi Kennedy.

But what the Bass Coast Shire Council could really do with is a ‘Pub Test’ General Manager because there is a lot about what the council does that simply wouldn’t pass the pub test.

At the council meeting last week, a majority of councillors voted to give up as much as $175,000 worth of ratepayers’ money so they could make a climate-change point about so-called ‘dirty banks’ lending money to coal-fired or gas-fired energy or mining companies.

Why shoot yourself in the foot to take a stand on climate change when it doesn’t need to cost you anything like that?

Oh, the councillors were told it will only cost the shire “about $30,000” in potential lost income from interest, if it invests at up to 0.5% below the best rate on offer. But last time we looked, $35 million (estimated cash reserves at June 30, 2023) multiplied by 0.5% equals $175,000.

Now, it might never get to that, but losing even $30,000 of ratepayers’ money, just to make a point on climate change, when there are dozens of other more imaginative ways to do it, is ludicrous if not negligent.

Let’s see a proper report on the implications of such a policy, not only on funds on investment, but also borrowings, and give us 10 other options for “action on climate change” that won’t cost us as much.

You shouldn’t simply be following the rantings of the former mayor Michael Whalen on the subject (see YouTube December 13, 2023 council meeting) and blindly voting for his harebrained scheme.

You also had the situation last week that there were just nine chairs available for members of the public who wanted to come along and see their councillors in action.

If you had guests come to your house, you’d find more chairs!

It’s emblematic of what happened with the $35 million Surf Beach/Sunderland Bay special charge scheme (see letter to the editor this edition ‘Don’t blame ratepayers for your scheme failure’).

And the Christmas spirit too seemed to be lacking from the council meeting too last week, with Cr Leticia Laing accused of trying to “embarrass” Cr Les Larke when he opted to abstain from voting for the dinosaur trail and new Investment Policy.

At this time of the year, you want to try to forgive and forget, but honestly, the Bass Coast Shire Council is the gift that that just keeps on giving!