Sunday's State Focus presenter Mike Frame believed that the public have put confidence in the new Mayor of Cairns Regional Council and that was a factor in the change for the Cairns region."You stand on the platform of transparency. It's something that a lot of governments around Australia could well take head of," presenter Mike Frame said.
"Openness is really, really important," Val Schier said.
"People want to know who's in on the decisions, and how they're made."
"My platform is one of involving people, in many different ways, and then being able to take their points of view into consideration when we make decisions, and letting them know those decisions in an open and transparent way. There won't be decisions behind closed doors," Schier told State Focus.
"One of the main reasons why people voted for me is because I am approachable. I like to think that I'm a good listener."
"People wanted to talk about my hair [rather] than about my polices. That's been a bit disappointing in some ways. I think people are questioning me already around a whole range of things I said I'd be able to do."
"I gotta tell you Val, your hair looks terrific!" Mike Frame said. "A lot of people made the same comments about Julia Gillard and she's one of Australia's leading ladies, and it looks like you're going to be one of the leading ladies in the far north."
"A lot of my team members didn't get up, so I will be the mayor in a Council that's got some very disparate people in there."
"We have seven new people in there [Council] with inexperience in local government. We've got some older wise heads that we'll be taking some wise counsel from, and also people of different sides of the political spectrum," Schier says.
"The biggest challenge initially is to get that Council to work, to create good relationships and make sure that we're all heading in the same direction which is that we want the Cairns region to be looked after really, really well and guided in the way the majority of people want," Val Schier said.
"This is part of that new approach of being accessible and being able to connect with people. Local government is the level of government closest to the people, and we have to be available and responsive.
AUDIO Listen: Val Schier - State Focus
"We have seven new people in there [Council] with inexperience in local government. We've got some older wise heads that we'll be taking some wise counsel from, and also people of different sides of the political spectrum," Schier says.
"The biggest challenge initially is to get that Council to work, to create good relationships and make sure that we're all heading in the same direction which is that we want the Cairns region to be looked after really, really well and guided in the way the majority of people want," Val Schier said.
"This is part of that new approach of being accessible and being able to connect with people. Local government is the level of government closest to the people, and we have to be available and responsive.
AUDIO Listen: Val Schier - State Focus
9 comments:
A great interview by Val.
I wish her luck in sticking to this. Many people at different levels of politics try sincerely to do this, but brutal realities always intrude in the end. At least we know Val starts out with a genuine desire for integrity. Let's see how long she can keep it up.
Val is already off to a good start. Daytime Council meetings freeing up councillors for night time meetings with resident groups etc. And Rob Pyne sends me a regular email newsletter....something I never received from any of my previous councillors. Val has promised to run a website similar to that of the Sydney Mayor. Positive change is already occurring.
Lets hope that good intentions are not constrained by those forces, working behind the veil, to achieve hidden agendas.
Wow anonymous, a councillor on 80k a year can send out some automated emails to make you happy. That's really going to make a difference.
I love how Val says she will be open and accessible, yet she has shut down the weekly Wednesday mayor spot on 846AM with John MacKenzie... At least Kev would listen to us about our issues on a public forum. Already Val is retreating. Enjoy your 1 term in office
Matt above, I also mentioned daytime council meetings which the public can attend!!
Val's given plenty of interviews, before and since being elected. She's apparently decided rightly that John McKenzie's show reaches only a small, narrow minority of rightwing blockheads. And as noted here previously, McKenzie "screens" the callers to make sure that the only subjects discussed are the McKenzie-manufactured crisis - that McKenzie has manufactured for his own self-promotion. There are plenty of real, balanced forums to hear from the public and I'm sure Val will be fine.
The establishment of which McKenzie is their spokesperson and gatekeeper, The Cairns Post and other Bobo's must come to realise that there is a 'new order' in town and that things will be done differently.
McKenzie like in the 2004 election, did not have any time for Val. She has the right to choose who she wants to speak to. Speaking on his show didn't help KB and does not constitute open government.
A tale of Tom Pyne & John McKenzie
I used to work for CCC during Tom's reign and regularly Tom would ring and complain his car radio would not pick up McKenzie's show. One of the techs got sick of having to regularly reprogram Tom's car radio after Tom would scramble it by hitting the buttons incorrectly. So he set the all buttons on the car radio to John McKenzie's station. I never heard from Tom again except when he went swimming in the Mulgrave with his electronic keys in his pocket. Tom was always a complete gentleman in dealing with us guys....
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