14 September 2008

Queanbeyan's winds of change

| The_Phantom
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Queanbeyan City has a new Mayor and a new Council.

Tim Overall has romped in as Mayor with over 45% of the vote.

Overall thrashed the Labor candidate, Tom Mavec and the two candidates that former Mayor Frank Pangallo had backed, Ann Rocca and Kerry White.

Pangallo gave out How to Vote cards at a City booth for his close friend Ann Rocca but failed to get her over the line.

The ALP vote collapsed across Queanbeyan. Local Member, Steve Whan who handed out How to Vote cards at Karabar High School looked gloomy and disheartened.

After Whan’s full support to privatise electricity his future must be in grave doubt.

A number of new Councilors have been elected including Velice Trajanoski, Trudy Taylor and John Barilaro.

Barilaro’s election was impressive. He had the third highest vote at all eight booths, even out-voting the likes of sitting Councilors such as Ann Rocca, Kerry White, Sue Jarvis and Steve Stravreas.

After years of living under the dark shadow of Frank Pangallo, Queanbeyan has new found spirit and hope.

Canberra can now put up with cranky Franky!

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Loquaciousness said :

Kramer said :

Wow! We’ve turned into RiotQueanbeyan!!

RiotPalerang, at least 😉

L

riot new south wales?

Loquaciousness3:42 pm 03 Oct 08

Kramer said :

Wow! We’ve turned into RiotQueanbeyan!!

RiotPalerang, at least 😉

L

Loquaciousness3:40 pm 03 Oct 08

Aurelius said :

Reynolds seemed to be the only Braidwood-based councillor, and as such probably got a lot of votes from there. It was disappointing to see regional-allegiances surface during last night’s meeting, with Brandson (from Bywong) especially acting like a wounded child whenever it was suggested anything be done that might advantage anywhere other than Bywong/Wamboin.

There’s rather a lot more to the shire than just Bywong and Wamboin. I know there’s a few Braidwood residents who are worried they’re going to get short-changed with this council. It will be interesting to watch, I think.

L

Reynolds seemed to be the only Braidwood-based councillor, and as such probably got a lot of votes from there. It was disappointing to see regional-allegiances surface during last night’s meeting, with Brandson (from Bywong) especially acting like a wounded child whenever it was suggested anything be done that might advantage anywhere other than Bywong/Wamboin.

Kramer said :

Wow! We’ve turned into RiotQueanbeyan!!

Franchises! It had to happen ….

*chuckle*

I met Marjason for the first time when we were handing out How To Vote cards at Bung, he seemed like a decent bloke.

Moore’s very high personal vote has to be a ringing endoresment of her activities during teh last council. She represented people right across teh shire, blew the whistle on development and behaviour in council. I’m so glad she stood again. Her running mate, Judith Turley, will also do a very good job, I think.

Articles in this and last week’s Bung Mirror are interesting, about how the preferences worked. I did allocate more than 9 votes below the line, as I figured that not everyone I voted for would get a quota and then where would my votes go?

And the gist of many comments on the election seem to be along the lines of how on earth did Reynolds get back in?

Loquaciousness3:01 pm 03 Oct 08

Aurelius said :

Councillor Graham stood for deputy, but failed. to garner enough votes

Well, thank $DEITY for small mercies …

L

Marjason, a prominent Liberal, got the Mayor position.
Catherine Moore got deputy.

Councillor Graham stood for deputy, but failed. to garner enough votes.

For someone who was so cocky when interviewed by the CT, Councillor Graham was very reserved at his first council meeting.

Kramer said :

Wow! We’ve turned into RiotQueanbeyan!!

RiotQuang?

Wow! We’ve turned into RiotQueanbeyan!!

Who is the mayor of Palerang?

Mental Health Worker2:19 pm 03 Oct 08

Richard Graham did NOT get the highest personal vote in Palerang. To say this misrepresents and misunderstands the voting system in NSW Local Government elections (as I wrote to the Canberra Times – I don’t know if they published it; they tend not to publish letters that point out they have made a mistake).

Catherine Moore got by far the highest first preference vote, based on first preference votes for her Group and for her individually.

Yeah, maybe Graham would have got more if he’d formed a group, but that’s idle speculation.

And the Mayor in Palerang is not popularly elected, but is elected by the Councillors.

Yes I agree.

Pangallo has been under investigation this year by the NSW Department of Local Government because of his unlawful behavior and not complying with his role under the Local Government Act. It seems the current General Manager at the Council put Pangallo back in his box. So he jumps ship to the ACT to get away from the heat.

What a breath of fresh air ! At last, the final curtain on the Percy & Pangallo Puppet Show ,drops. Great news for Qbn… tragic for the ACT. Do they want a man found guilty by the Privacy Commissioner of NSW of providing false & misleading reports to Council
( Special report to NSW Parliamant 2001, complaint by Carol Atkins) A man who thinks burying confidential council paperwork in the sewerage pit is normal practice? Qbn residents have been under a shadow for too long, this is great news

I wish QCC staff ,the new council and it’s mayor all the very best.

Hopefully the councilors votes will not be for sale then ….

Loquaciousness7:44 pm 16 Sep 08

ant said :

Oh jeepers. It never ends. I was wondering how they work out who is to be mayor, and he got the highest personal vote, so that might be how they do it.

ant – actually, I believe that he has to be voted in by the councilors. So we might be lucky yet …

/me crosses her fingers.

L

Here’s the story in the CT:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/firsttime-candidate-may-take-reins-at-palerang/1273279.aspx

They missed a few juicy angles in the story, although the coverage of Graham was quite good. They mentioned that Catherine Moore got the next highest personal vote, but didn’t mention what a massive endorsement that was of her efforts over the last 4 years, her whistleblowing on stuff that was happening, and what a clear message that vote sent. (I voted for her too).

I’m still waiting to see how the postals and preferences flow, as that will show the final makeup of the council.

Oh jeepers. It never ends. I was wondering how they work out who is to be mayor, and he got the highest personal vote, so that might be how they do it.

Loquaciousness11:42 am 16 Sep 08

Aurelius said :

The CT is running the story that the well-funded new councillor is a likely mayor of Palerang.

Nooooooo!

Say it isn’t true … ?

L

The CT is running the story that the well-funded new councillor is a likely mayor of Palerang.

I felt a lot of the candidates and groups were very “motherhood” in their policy statements. I offered to help the Progressive group as they actually uttered the forbidden fact that 60% of the shire DON’T live in a town. Yet we pay very high rates, for… nothing. Which is fine, we dont’ need services, that’s why we live in rural areas, and pay for those things ourselves. But for some reason, the council soaks us to pay for things in the towns, and it’s essentially not fair.

Now the Braidwood/eastern stranglehold appears to have been broken, things might change on a number of fronts. That rotten idea that people in the West could pay higher rates because they lived nearer to Canberra and so “coudl afford it” was just outrageous, especially as, at the time, most of the money was destined to be spent on Talleganda’s debts.

We need to live within our means. If those means aren’t great, then maybe people in towns need to fundraise if they want public pools, sports fields and concrete traffic islands. Rurals paid for their own water tanks, sewerage processing systems, rubbish disposal, electricity and phone onto their land. I do not know where our rates go, but they sure don’t end up back our here.

If the townsfolk want lots of fancy stuff, I think notion of “derived benefit” has to apply.

Loquaciousness3:03 pm 15 Sep 08

Well, you know, Granny, I would have, but I have long hair that I’d been too lazy to tie up, and the gale force winds were blowing it into my mouth every time I opened it (clearly my daughter wasn’t having the same problem). Was probably for the best, really …

L

Loquaciousness said :

As for the four year old, she was so busy asking questions, I doubt she even would have noticed if a chihuahua had tried to attack her.

I do hope you launched into Standard Operating Procedure 32B Lecture on Female Suffrage. That’s what my kids inevitably get for creating ‘teachable moments’ at polling booths ….

Loquaciousness1:59 pm 15 Sep 08

ant said :

Yes, it was expected that he who ran the expensive campaign would get up, and he did. He got such a lot of first preference votes, it’s thought he might get Anne Goonan up, too. He is very pro-deveopment, including subdivison of land, so it’ll be interesting to see if everyone who voted for him realised that.

Looking at who got in, I’m very hopeful that the shenannigans in council will be a thing of the past.

I’m quite supportive of Anne Goonan, but Richard Graham – ugh. I think the main reason I dislike him is because of his expensive campaign, but other than that his policies just seem so vacuous. And I seriously want to know where he’s getting the money from – especially since his first policy is supposedly to drop rates. I think it shall be very interesting to see what this new council does … and if they manage to turn anything around.

As for the four year old, she was so busy asking questions, I doubt she even would have noticed if a chihuahua had tried to attack her.

Oh, and there should be a whole lot more singing going on at polling places! Perhaps we should make it mandatory (like the cake stall and the raffle …)

L

Loquaciousness said :

Indeed – as do we all. I saw him there when I was voting, was hoping to trip him over or something actually, I’m that tired of seeing his face plastered all over everything.

I was the one dragging a four year old who was saying “what are we doing, Mum? Why are we here? What’s boting? Why do you need to bote? Who are these people? Are they boting too?” (you get the idea)

L

If the 4 year old was anywhere near the chihuahua, ask him if the dog launched an attack. He’s quite crafty, he launched sudden attacks at small kids when their parents weren’t looking. Not sure why. And bikes, he really hated bikes, even bikes with no one on them.

Yes, it was expected that he who ran the expensive campaign would get up, and he did. He got such a lot of first preference votes, it’s thought he might get Anne Goonan up, too. He is very pro-deveopment, including subdivison of land, so it’ll be interesting to see if everyone who voted for him realised that.

Looking at who got in, I’m very hopeful that the shenannigans in council will be a thing of the past.

No one tripped over signs at our booth, but at one point, the candidates and hander-outers all launched into song! That was Marjeson and his people, Terry Brandson’s people, and Progressive Palerang. Pretty funny!

Loquaciousness said :

Granny said :

I have a RiotACT button!!

Yes, and so will I when I can find the moolah for a premium sub, I guess 😉

I guess I just kind of said to Mr Granny, “Stand and deliver!” and he sort of sat there on the couch like Al Bundy. I can never get him to stand.

; )

Loquaciousness11:50 am 15 Sep 08

Granny said :

George said :

The only excitement for the day was when one candidate John Wright fell over and crushed one of my John Barilaro signs when he was chasing a voter – everyone, in true country spirit, comforted the man after his heavy fall.

He was chasing a voter?? … Must have been a tough gig!

That poor voter! I wonder if they changed their preferences after that …

L

Loquaciousness11:46 am 15 Sep 08

Granny said :

I have a RiotACT button!!

Yes, and so will I when I can find the moolah for a premium sub, I guess 😉

ant said :

Chuckle! I was handing out stuff for the rural residential party (Progressive Palerang), and had the savage little dog.

It was a very interesting day, Marjason was there and it was nice to meet him. He seemed to know every second voter! It was great to chat to the Community First people also, and I voted for them and Progressive Palerang. Delighted to see that Catherine got (I think) the highest number of first preference votes. Yay!

Teh expensive campaign candidate was also there. It’ll be intersting to see the final makeup of the council, to see how things go. One thing’s for sure, it’ll be a more civil, positive council. I fervently hope.

Indeed – as do we all. I saw him there when I was voting, was hoping to trip him over or something actually, I’m that tired of seeing his face plastered all over everything.

I was the one dragging a four year old who was saying “what are we doing, Mum? Why are we here? What’s boting? Why do you need to bote? Who are these people? Are they boting too?” (you get the idea)

L

George said :

The only excitement for the day was when one candidate John Wright fell over and crushed one of my John Barilaro signs when he was chasing a voter – everyone, in true country spirit, comforted the man after his heavy fall.

He was chasing a voter?? … Must have been a tough gig!

Crikey, when we saw his plastering of Bungendore & surrounds with his posters, I knew it was inevitable.

Hmmm, he has an impressive web page.

Sorry to disappoint you but I would suggest that he’ll get elected.

http://vtr.elections.nsw.gov.au/result.aspx?areaname=palerang

I did my ‘civic’ duty on Saturday and handed out How to Votes for John Barilaro at Karabar.

Karabar is Labor’s best booth but they (Labor) didn’t turn up until 40 minutes after the voting opened. Perhaps they took the voters for granted.

It was great weather and most of the party supporters were pleasant and in good-spirit (accept for this uppity Green’s person from the ACT). There was also a magic BBQ provided by the local Marching Band.

The only excitement for the day was when one candidate John Wright fell over and crushed one of my John Barilaro signs when he was chasing a voter – everyone, in true country spirit, comforted the man after his heavy fall.

Labor’s Mike Kelly come through to vote but didn’t hang around the support his troops.

We also had Steve Whan there but he as usual didn’t greet or speak to anyone. He looked a little gloomy.

Anyway, we (Group D) had a great result – we finished third after the ALP and the new Mayor, Tim Overall.

I didn’t see “cranky Franky” but friends said he was being his usual unpleasant-self in a CBD booth.

I must admit Queanbeyan seemed a better place to live on Sunday 🙂

Crikey: correction – richardgraham.com.au

ant said :

Granny, can you please photocopy your button and send it to us all?

To Ant
C/- NSW

*hehe*

You’d better hope that the postman knows Santa!

Crikey: RichardGraham.com

I wish you guys/gals had the balls to name the ‘expensive campaign candidate’ so we in the Land of Stanhope knew who the bloody hell you are talking about.

Bucket hats? You saying we should wear buckets on our heads???
I’ll be getting a RiotAct pin once I get around to going to one of these SimCity things, so I can pay JB for one.

Chuckle! I was handing out stuff for the rural residential party (Progressive Palerang), and had the savage little dog.

It was a very interesting day, Marjason was there and it was nice to meet him. He seemed to know every second voter! It was great to chat to the Community First people also, and I voted for them and Progressive Palerang. Delighted to see that Catherine got (I think) the highest number of first preference votes. Yay!

Teh expensive campaign candidate was also there. It’ll be intersting to see the final makeup of the council, to see how things go. One thing’s for sure, it’ll be a more civil, positive council. I fervently hope.

Granny, can you please photocopy your button and send it to us all? What we need is Riotact hats or something. Bucket hats would be good.

I have a RiotACT button!!

Loquaciousness10:53 am 15 Sep 08

Aurelius said :

Ant, I was hoping that he who ran the expensive campaign would fail. But I guess money can buy profile. But I glad to hear the green-aligned people increased their haul.

Oh how I hate that man (he of the expensive campaign – if it is who I think). It seems one can purchase a place on the council. Why is it that we a have a broke council, so we vote in the man who has not a single policy that states how it is to be paid for?

I despair.

By the way ant – I probably saw you there, but didn’t realise who you were. We should all go around with buttons saying “I’m a RiotACTer” or something, so we can recognise each other in the street …

L

Ant, I was hoping that he who ran the expensive campaign would fail. But I guess money can buy profile. But I glad to hear the green-aligned people increased their haul.

Well done those Palerang voters!

Our shire had its elections on the weekend too. Our council is walking broke and there was a strong mood for change. I was handing out how to votes in Bungendore, and the initial results, as far as I can work them out, are that the green-orientated group got 2 in (one was a previous councillor who acted as whistleblower on some council activities and who took on the development-minded bloc), at least one of the rural residential party got in, the incumbant mayor and one other on his party got in, and an independant who has run a very expensive campaign got in.

It’s quite frustrating trying to find out results of non-metropolitan elections. The website shows raw numbers, but we need more info re preferences to see teh final makeup of Palerang Council. So far though, it will be a vast improvement on the old one.

Yes, John is his Father.

I also understand that Tim Overall was the CEO of the NSW Ambulance Service so he has good credentials.

Wide Boy Jake9:23 am 15 Sep 08

Is Tim Overall any relation to Sir John Overall who was boss of the old NCDC (the ACT planning authority) back in the 1970s and 80s?

Thank god Pangallo has gone!!! Yes I can imagine him handing out how to vote cards for his very very very (wink) good friend Ann Rocca. Frank has been a despot on Queanbeyan for years. He has wasted $2m on the white elepant carpark in Collett St, just wasted $2m on those horrible pavers in the mainstreet and has cost the careers of many fine staff he has trampled over in the last 20 years.

Canberra you are very welcome to have Pangallo.

We wont vote for him. I saw him on the news voting yesterday in QBN; I’m going to vote for someone who actually lives here.

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