I WRITE today in response to comments made by councillor Brian Sambell at an elected member briefing last Wednesday night.
As a former journalist and editor at this masthead, I always operated under the ethos that if councils didn’t want to receive bad publicity or negative feedback, perhaps they should make smarter decisions in the first place.
It is, quite frankly, laughable that Cr Sambell would choose to attack The Bunyip for simply reporting the facts.
Not to mention that his gripes seem more concerned with the fact ratepayers were contacting him in response, rather than the budget deficit ballooning further into the red.
And it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to many that factors contributing to that increased deficit come as a direct result of decisions made by the administration.
Unfortunately, that view is indicative of the culture that I believe has festered among certain councillors for a number of years now.
Rather than actually listen to the criticisms of ratepayers, the very people that put them in that position to begin with, it seems to me the attitude is to deflect and put fingers in ears.
If Cr Sambell can’t handle the heat, perhaps he should consider getting out of the kitchen.
Or at the very least take a look in the mirror and reflect on what led council to get itself in this position to begin with.
