News & Discussion: Adelaide City Council

[realstretts]

It is worth checking Adam Chesters FB conversation with the Deputy Mayor who just flat out refuses to address anything Adam levies at him.

https://www.facebook.com/houssam.abiad/ ... cation=ufi

[Zills]

"page not found"

deleted? hmmmm

[Nathan]

"page not found"

deleted? hmmmm

Yes. He's deleted the post altogether.

[realstretts]

Unfortunately yes

[Llessur2002]

From The Advertiser's live blog thingy this morning:

PREMIER Jay Weatherill has launched an extraordinary attack on the Adelaide City Council, saying the government may seek to overturn limits on CBD food trucks.

Under the new rules, passed by the council on Tuesday, only 10 food trucks will be allowed to operate in the city before 6pm, except on special event days such as the Fringe Festival or major sporting fixtures.

Lord Mayor Martin Haese advocated for the committee’s previous position at the meeting but was overruled by councillors who supported the changes.

The premier this morning vented his anger at the council for not backing the Lord Mayor, accusing councillors of representing “old Adelaide”.

“I’m actually getting increasingly furious about this decision,” he told FiveAA radio.

“It is ‘old Adelaide’ striking back and wanting to actually protect vested interests. We heard this with the small bar legislation.

“The more I think about it, the angrier I get, and I am going to ask my colleagues to explore this and see whether there’s some role we can play in overturning it.”

The decision to limit food trucks comes after a council committee last week recommended reducing the number of permits to 30 — including 20 for regular operators, five fee-free permits for entrepreneurs and five half-price permits for bricks-and-mortar businesses — from the current limit of 40, and increase fees to $2500 annually.

Mr Weatherill accused city councillors of overstepping their mark by refusing to back Mr Haese, warning that the council was ultimately at the mercy of his government.

“They’re a creature of state government, so we’ve got legislative authority over the council,” he said.

“Whatever legislative powers they have are given by the state government, and they can be taken away by the state government.

“There’s this bizarre idea on the Adelaide City Council that they all think they’re as important as the Lord Mayor. I mean the Lord Mayor has been directly elected by the whole of the city. He goes back (to council) and they just decide they’re going to roll him.

“How are you meant to deal with the Adelaide City Council if they’re not prepared to respect their Lord Mayor?”

Deputy Lord Mayor Houssam Abiad defended the changes, saying he was confident they would not pose issues for vendors.

“Times are really tough out there, and the supply is definitely outcasting demand,” he told ABC 891 Adelaide.

“The six that voted for (these changes) are under 40, and we’re all young entrepreneurs. The government has no role to play in giving legs-up to businesses.”

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/live ... 7567281421

[Vee]

Anika's latest blog post (Adelaide is cute and I would like to keep her please) is very relevant to this discussion. Her thoughts resonated with me. I have included some snippets below to give a flavour of her heartfelt argument, and hopefully encourage you to visit Anika's Spokenly blog to read her full post.

Since the weekend I have developed a teeny, weeny niggling fear.

....things are exciting for the first time in years and I want us to keep moving in this direction.
My fear is that this will change. I am worried that ‘old Adelaide’ will begin to assert its influence again......

.... I am worried we are hooked on the whole business thing and we are forgetting about people.

... Adelaide should be more than a place to do business. It should be an experience and a destination. That experience, if we get it right, needs to acknowledge the users.....

We want an experience that entertains and is uncomplicated. We want things that work, like the bike lanes on Frome Street (for when we are cyclists). We want good traffic flow (for when we drive) and we want more of those digital countdowns on traffic lights and open crossings (for when we walk).
.....We don’t want money spent on undoing things....
We want things to move forward instead.

.....We also want to quit the debate about food trucks. To us they are just another form of entrepreneurship (which is the one thing we seem to all agree on) in food form.

.....The popularity of trucks is not about margins, it’s about the Adelaide we are interested in being part of. This can be replicated in bricks and mortar it just requires a new way of thinking about things. ....

We want to be surprised and to visit old places, like Victoria Square, that have been reenergised.
.... And because our crush on this city grows, and we come to see her more often, we are more likely to spend our money with the businesses that live here. Bike riders and food truck eaters have disposable income too.

I couldn’t vote in the election because I don’t own a business or a house in the city. Yet, I am in Adelaide almost every day. I’ve lived here, I’ve worked here and I play here. I also really really love this place. Economics is important – but so are people. People are what really make a city. We (at least some of the people) think Adelaide is cute.
We also think she is feisty, arty, surprising and really great company. We want her to stay this way.

We can't all vote in ACC elections, although we can provide some input via public consultancy (faux consultancy when ignored/overrun by certain interests!), but we use and enjoy the city, spend $ in the city and have to live with decisions and outcomes.

Blogs, social media and S-A help us to make our voices / divergent views heard.
I am still annoyed that the public consultancy and subsequent 'compromise' solution over MFV was so easily and totally trashed when put to the vote in ACC. One meeting that afternoon, before the vote, must have been pretty influential to decimate the MFV culture.
Spokenly:
http://spokenly.com.au/2014/11/10/adela ... er-please/

[monotonehell]

It's time council elections were only open to residents. The last election was hijacked by business interests voting multiple times.

[Wayno]

It's time council elections were only open to residents. The last election was hijacked by business interests voting multiple times.

voting multiple times! how so? do tell?

What's the % split between residential vs business voters (assuming everyone can vote but once)?

[Llessur2002]

I think decisions like this really highlight the disproportionate power the ACC has compared to other city councils in the state – the City is the major hub of the state and several hundred thousand people who have no voting rights enter the City each day to work and play. Petty decisions like this one made by a two-bit local council affect so many more people than their rate payers – including the economy, reputation and direction of the whole state.

I remember at election time a lot of the councillors were pushing a ‘back to basics’ agenda. I'm all for it - but that’s ALL the power the ACC should have. Maintenance of minor roads and footpaths, rubbish collections, dog licencing, street lighting in residential areas and…actually I can’t think of anything else they should be responsible for. Preferably nothing at all in the square mile and certainly nothing that affects the progression or otherwise of the City's economy.

The ACC prove themselves time and time again to be utterly inept and out of touch with the modern world – I don’t understand why the whole state has to suffer because of a pack of morons*, most elected by a handful of elderly** residents and a few stuffy businessmen*** with vested interests.

I reckon just get rid of the whole damn lot, introduce a very scaled-down City of Adelaide administrative department reporting to the State Government to deal with the above low-level maintenance issues and let’s push on into the 21st century…

* I acknowledge that there are some decent, progressive councillors who are not morons.
** I acknowledge that not all City residents are elderly.
*** I acknowledge that not all business owners are men, or stuffy.

[Wayno]

Yep, there's more than a few retro-thinkers living near me in the SE corner of the city. They are 'shocked and appalled' by all the high-rise development (think 3+ storeys), and they ALL vote in council elections, without fail. They'll be around for the next 15+ years too.

I'm more worried though about the businesses voters. They know how to rally and influence. Abiad was a recent victim...

[SRW]

I'm sceptical of calls to abolish the city council. The last administration led by Stephen Yarwood showed the kind of change that can be achieved in our city when there's a vision at the top. In many ways, Yarwood's council led the progressive urban agenda the state government has now adopted as its own. A more conservative state government could let the city stagnate.

We just need a way to ensure those councillors elected better reflect city users.

[realstretts]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger ... m=Facebook

ADELAIDE City Council has descended into division, with claims of a majority faction dominating the Town Hall.

Councillors Anne Moran, Phillip Martin and Sandy Wilkinson claim a dominant faction organised by Deputy Lord Mayor Houssam Abiad has seized control of the council.

“There’s a group of five councillors that vote the same way on 90 per cent of the things that go before (the) council,” Ms Moran said.

“The faction decides which way it wants to go on an issue and that’s effectively the end of the matter because they have more votes.

“I think it is an extremely lazy way to run a council.”

The faction is alleged to consist of Mr Abiad along with councillors Priscilla Corbell, Alex Antic, Natasha Malani and David Slama.

But Mr Abiad and all the aforementioned councillors deny there is a faction at Town Hall.

“All councillors represent their constituents and are a mirror of our society more broadly,” Mr Abiad said.
Adelaide Lord Mayor Martin Haese.

“Those with a progressive view and outlook want things to happen more quickly and will vote accordingly, while those who are a little more conservative tend to stick together.

“That doesn’t mean there is a faction forming. It is simply people voting for what they believe is the right thing to do.”

The claims of a dominant faction have emerged since Robert Simms quit as a councillor to become the state’s newest senator for the Greens, following the retirement of Penny Wright.

Council sources said the by-election to select Mr Simms’ replacement is viewed as crucial to the dynamics at Town Hall.

Lord Mayor Martin Haese also denied the council was divided along factional lines.

“I think we as a council are getting a lot of things done and councillors are voting on the issues,” he said.

“There will always be differences of opinion in local government, but that doesn’t mean there is a faction, or factions, at play.”

The claims come as the council is being heavily criticised for its last-minute decision to impose extra restrictions on the food truck industry, with just 10 being allowed to operate in the city before 6pm on any given day, except when major events are on.

The decision was made at Tuesday’s council meeting and has angered food truck operators and the State Government.

Premier Jay Weatherill said he was “furious” with the council’s decision to impose the cap and flagged a Government investigation of all options to ensure restrictions are lifted.

Mr Martin said the new food truck policy was a dud deal cobbled together by the majority faction at the last minute.

“This was something that was stitched up at 5pm before the meeting (on Tuesday) and what we have got is policy on the run,” he said.

“Yes, (the council is) absolutely becoming more divided because of how factionalised it has become.

“What’s the point of even coming to a meeting, if the outcome is already decided before the meeting?”

Mr Martin said he would move to have the council’s latest food truck policy struck out and go back to the drawing board and consult more widely with stakeholders before any decision is made.

Councillor Sue Clearihan did not return calls and councillor Megan Hender was on leave yesterday.

The plot thickens

[mshagg]

Interesting. My interactions and observations had lead me to believe Milani and Antic were at the slightly more progressive end of the scale.

Abiad is really proving to be the, if I may borrow a Moranism, necrotising fasciitis on the city. Haese showing poor leadership IMO, given he really should be the guiding hand of the group's discussions. He shouldn't have been blindsided on Tuesday night by the cabal.

[Nathan]

Interesting. My interactions and observations had lead me to believe Milani and Antic were at the slightly more progressive end of the scale.

Abiad is really proving to be the, if I may borrow a Moranism, necrotising fasciitis on the city. Haese showing poor leadership IMO, given he really should be the guiding hand of the group's discussions. He shouldn't have been blindsided on Tuesday night by the cabal.

Antic progressive?

[Wayno]

I can understand why Moran & Wilkinson are paranoid. These 2 represent 'Old Adelaide'. No doubt about it. They spearheaded the anti-high-rise agenda (Think of all those children growing up without Vitamin D). Simply too long in the job. Hopefully they will become even more marginalised over time.

I actually think Abiad has a "brain fade" moment earlier this week. He was tricked by big business ($50 for a t-shirt?). I think he may otherwise be mostly a progressive guy, but clearly still learning about politics, strategy & communications.

I don't know Antic or Slama well enough to comment. Agree that Corbell & Malani are progressive.