Sunday 15 November 2009

Cairns Councillors go into the community: They're just asking for trouble

I think that a number of my readers have the same wicked sense of humour as I. Or maybe they look at things with a questioning mind as well.

Needless to say, I chuckled when I saw the advert whereby you can meet and chat with your Councillor, in a series of "mobile office sessions."
The Mayor will also join in to meet and listen to those that pay their wages.

Kicking off the show Monday is good ol Councillor Alan Blake. He'll be down at the city library at 2pm. Val and Alan, together at the same desk... it will be a Kodak moment. Someone should email me a pic!

Now I hope they've told Alan that mobile phones are not allowed in libraries. Furthermore, there are books in a library. Some have words with two or more syllables. I don't know what the Council staff were thinking when they booked this venue. Were they trying to embarrass him? Did they have to draw a little map to show where the library was?

"There's no need to book," they say, "just come along and have a chat." I just might pop in.

Here's the schedule, that Mayor Val will attend along with:
  • Monday 16th November, 2pm
    City Library
    Cr Alan Blake
  • Friday 20th November, 2pm
    Manunda Library, Raintrees
    Crs Di Forsyth and Alan Blake
  • Monday 23rd November, 2pm
    Smithfield Library
    Crs Sno Bonneau & Margaret Cochrane
  • Friday 27th November
    Council office, Mossman, 12:30pm
    Port Douglas Community Hall, 3pm
    Cr Julia Leu
  • Tuesday 1st December, 2pm
    Stratford Library
    Cr Margaret Cochrane
  • Wednesday 2nd December, 2pm
    Crs Robert Pyne and Kirsten Lesina
    Woree Community Centre
  • Thursday 3rd December, 2pm
    Brinsmead Community Hall
    Cr Linda Copper

PS: Noticeable absent is Councillor Paul Gregory. Maybe he doesn't need to meet the locals, after all he wasn't even voted in.

5 comments:

Miss Chief said...

Apparently the Cairns Regional Council are still of the opinion that you need to pack a cut lunch to travel south of the city limits. They dare to class Edmonton and Gordonvale as "suburbs" of Cairns, but still consider them to be beyond their scope...not to mention their near sited vision!

Kirsten Lesina said...

Miss Chief, Edmonton and Gordonvale have not been forgotten. The 'Meet the Mayor' events have already taken place in those two areas (plus Babinda) and would have been advertised a couple of weeks ago, prior to the events.

The 'Meet the Mayor' event occurred in Babinda on the 30th of October, in Gordonvale on the 10th of November and in Edmonton on the 13th of November.

There are also going to be events in Kewarra Beach and Earlville and one at the Council chambers which will be advertised closer to the date.

Thornton On Spence said...

If I head to the Library to meet with the serial philanderer do I need to take a Green Bag to slip over the Parking Meter?

Councillor Paul Gregory said...

The Div 1 sessions have already been held and I was in attendance at both.

Alison Alloway said...

Frankly, I see this as a good initiative. I remember when Kathy Plath was the representative for Division 3, people could just go to Kathy's home and discuss council issues. Ditto Arthur Strike and the late (and great) Rose Blank. With Bob Burgess, you could approach him at bar-b-ques, suburban parties, at the shopping centre wherever. That was Bob's style. These days of course Councillors expect more privacy. However, Councillors need to be accessible to the people they represent.