Your Money, Their Choice
by Cat Holloway /
Shoalhaven Council's Finance Review Committee may be keen to light a fire under the asset management strategy. But the committee's induction, probity checks and Terms of Reference are yet to be smoked out.
While we (the rate-paying public) wait, there's much to consider:
Still under the spotlight are the Finance Review Committee's (FRC) ethical boundaries and members' qualifications. Who influences Shoalhaven's CFO and Mayor on public spending?
Last week's suspension of Townsville's Mayor highlighted the "gaping hole" in local government election laws allowing council candidates to avoid background or résumé checks.
December 5 is the last chance ratepayers have to comment on a rate rise that now seems inevitable. The question remains: By how much will our rates rise? And will it be enough to save us?
Frantic huffing and puffing from Mayor Patricia White and some Shoalhaven Independents (SIG) councillors signalled they would tolerate no delays to the FRC from pesky democratic processes like Expressions of Interest from the community.
Mayor White immediately appointed her five financial knights, who, when not busy campaigning for SIG, had actually been examining council spreadsheets all year, so they may have expected a bit more of a heroes' welcome from the peasant masses as the drawbridge was lowered.
The group's unofficial spokesperson, Stuart Coughlan, who also juggles obligations as the Secretary of The Berry Forum (a Community Consultative Body (CCB) to Council) wrote to a list of CCB contacts that he was frustrated that his group's workshopped Terms of Reference was not ratified through council governance and that the FRC may not get started on "investigative work" until next year.
Of course, everyone could have sped things up by adopting the Terms of Reference already suggested by Council staff under the now-departed CEO Robyn Stevens.
But that - like the former CEO's staff restructure plan - was voted down by Councillors so the Finance Five could assert their strategy to the committee.
Wait. Who is actually in charge of how our rates are spent?
a) Paid professional staff working for Council
b) Elected representatives to Council
c) Self-assessed, mainly retired, mainly private-sector, mainly Berry accountants
d) All of the above (hopefully).
Shoalhaven Council is in deep kimchi debt. So, to stave off administration lest chamber seats become chamber pots, Councillors might welcome all the help they can get to decide on the "need-to-haves versus the nice-to-haves", as Clr. Jemma Tribe described.
Spark thought that a look at all FRC member résumés ought to make us ratepayers feel better about the hip pocket hit we are about to take.
The Finance Five took the early initiative to circulate résumés detailing significant finance experience. So Spark asked the others involved in the FRC for theirs.
While independent Councillor Jemma Tribe and CFO Katie Buckman provided career and education histories, none of SIG's committee members obliged. None!
Spark took to the Internet to gather summaries (below). But could only gather meagre information from the SIG campaign brochures. (So much for that idea.)
Getting to know the Mayor
Overseeing the books from the top is Mayor Patricia White, who promised to deliver this Finance Review Committee and campaigned successfully on the platform of claiming to be the only person who could "fix council finances".
Mayor White has often, over her years on council, talked about her background in "corporate finance", but she has so far failed to provide Spark Shoalhaven (or any other platform of which Spark is aware) a résumé or CV, other than her Facebook About section.
What we do have is the Mayor's word on multiple radio interviews where she has reiterated striking claims of financial industry experience - alongside a commitment to transparency.
(Full interviews are at https://fb.watch/wanvUaOIm4/ and https://www.iheart.com/podcast/239-iheart-shoalhaven-162684192/episode/the-white-stuff-to-be-mayor-210523689/)
No doubt that Patricia White enjoyed full support from within SIG ranks to be Mayor. But other community representatives have asked why someone with "many years" of experience dealing with millions of dollars each week would need to personally select a citizens' committee of accountant advisors.
Spark did ask that of the Mayor, but she did not reply.
Indeed, Mayor White has not replied to any of Spark's emails since well before her election, and she did not participate in the Mayoralympics Q&A project alongside candidates Jemma Tribe and Kaye Gartner. White's closed-door made balanced reporting impossible.
Nevertheless, here are the unanswered questions Spark asked of Mayor White to "clarify your career path and qualifications for readers and ratepayers".
You listed Penrith Selective High School as your educational institution. That school was not actually designated as selective until 1989. When did you graduate?
Did you complete tertiary education at TAFE or University - or any other vocational qualifications relevant to financial management?
You have stated that in your "early days" you worked first in legal practice. In what capacity did you work in the field of law? For which company(s)?
Your employment with Barclay's Bank during the "80s and 90s" was in what roles, at which branch(es), and for how many years?
You have listed that you were a "Former Corporate Executive Manager at Barclays Bank Australia". This is an extraordinarily responsible senior leadership position for a woman in her 20s to hold then. Can you explain briefly how you came to work in such a high-pressure and privileged job alongside the "top ten per cent in Australia"? What qualities, experience or education led you to that profession and what were your day-to-day tasks?
You have said that among a variety of Barclay's customers, you worked with Alan Bond (bankrupt in 1992 and jailed for fraud in 1997) and Christopher Skase (whose financial collapse in 1989 led to him becoming a fugitive in Mallorca). In what way were you connected with these businessmen and their activities?
Your Facebook bio states "Worked at Australian Federal Parliament and NSW State Parliament". Can you elaborate on your roles in those workplaces and to whom you reported?
What were some of the small businesses you owned or helped to "trade out" and succeed after moving to the Shoalhaven?
You have been a busy and involved councillor since starting with SCC in 2012. Have you also held other jobs during your tenure?
Councillors don't necessarily need superior academic or professional qualifications to do a good job leading their communities.
On the contrary, local councils benefit from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, ages and work experience.
But honesty and accuracy should be non-negotiable, especially if your leadership mantra is "transparency".
It's one thing to write an impressive résumé, but quite another to verify it.
Résumé checks for local government representatives made big news in Queensland last week when, after months of ugly controversy, a little epilepsy and "hundreds of concussions" causing convenient memory loss resulted in Townsville Mayor, Troy Thompson, being removed from office for falsifying his military record.
State and Federal political candidates are subjected to thorough vetting. Failure
to disclose any parts of your background, whether it be criminal, financial or a matter of integrity, often leads to the party dumping the offender.
But no such requirements apply to local council candidates or even to Mayors.
Townsville Bulletin Editor, Cas Garvey, reported on the Thompson case from the start and it made national headlines, particularly after A Current Affair broadcast Thompson admitting his exaggerations.
Garvey said the case highlights the "gaping hole" in local government election laws and said "it's high time the Local Government Act is changed" to introduce mandatory background and résumé checks on those who want to run our cities.
The not-so-merry-go-round of defamation.
Just before the September election, outgoing Mayor Amanda Findley publicly questioned then Clr Patricia White's credentials and was handed a defamation threat instead of a CV.
Findley, Spark Shoalhaven and ABC Illawarra also raised the relevance of problems in Mayor White's previous business dealings and potential legal debt.
Other local media disdained the line of questioning as merely a smear campaign.
FRC member and Berry Forum Secretary Stuart Coughlan lept to Mayor White's defence with his scathing assessment that White's opposition had "conspired" to "sabotage" the Mayor " in a vicious campaign...to undermine public confidence in her financial acumen credentials."
Coughlan is no stranger to taking legal action over defamation, having delivered several "letters of concern", including a recent one to a Shoalhaven councillor.
Yet he is also outspoken in his widely-shared emails criticising, for example, the capacities of ex-CEO Robyn Stevens, former director Kerrie Hamilton, Former Mayor Findley, Greens candidate Kaye Gartner and even the State Member for South Coast, Liza Butler MP.
Butler last week demanded a public apology and retraction from Coughlan over his emailed commentary that she was "fearmongering and spreading rumours" regarding SIG's plans for major Council staff cuts.
No apology has happened as yet. In fact, Coughlan returned to his mailing list to report on Butler's complaint and ask the opinion of his CCB confidants about whether they felt he was out of line.
Significantly, not all CCBs are canvassed via Coughlan's email list. At least two CCBs voiced their disagreement with Coughlan's approach to the FRC and have been left off group messages.
What about the bloody rate rise?
Your chance to speak up about the proposed rate increase options ends on Thursday, December 5, at 5 pm.
Read about Council's plan to save $10 million by 2029 and take the brief survey.
Council is currently assessing roads and buildings to understand the true cost of fixing them and develop an "evidence-based analysis" to plan for the next decade.
But to keep the city functioning now, Council needs cash in the bank. Helmets on team - there will be a rate rise on July 1, 2025. The only question is: by how much?
According to Shoalhaven City Council CFO Katie Buckman, speaking during the November 5 Extraordinary meeting, even the maximum Special Rate Variation (SRV) will not save Council in the long term.
"Even 8 or 12 per cent is not sustainable, it's not going to fix our future and we will be having a further discussion in future years around another SRV," Ms Buckman warned councillors.
Buckman is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & Business Law) and 20 years of experience in accounting, audit and advisory. Her public résumé is available on LinkedIn.
Note: Without a résumé or references forthcoming from Mayor White, Spark has tried (unsuccessfully so far) to get her employment verification from Barclays Bank Australia and Barclays Corporate (UK-based record-keeping division).
