Comments on CairnsBlog.net: The last throw of the dice for Mayor Val Schier

Excellent article Ross,as you suggest,the other cu...

2009-06-18T13:29:43.195+10:00

Excellent article Ross,as you suggest,the other culprits have to be smoked out of their holes.

Very thoughtful piece, Ross, and it is pleasing to...

2009-06-15T11:56:10.049+10:00

Very thoughtful piece, Ross, and it is pleasing to see constructive criticism rather than the usual sniping and ridicule our Mayor has experienced.
Val has only been in the job for a little more than a year. Yet she has endured a relentless and ruthless hate campaign that refelects badly on Cairns's image as a hospitable paradise.
Val has respected her fellow councillors regardless of their political allegiances because their election reflected the wishes of the voters. Blake, Cochrane and Bonneau should show similar respect for both Val and the voters. If Briggs couldn't live with Val as Mayor, he should have quit after the election.
I would like to remind people of another reason in particular why Byrne got the boot - flooding due to his inappropriate development policies.
When I bought my home in Wilks Street, Bungalow, I made specific enquiries about the risk of flooding. The worst I could expect, so I gathered, was water coming up the street at high tides and the last time residences were inundated was 30 years ago and they were at the bottom of Wilks and Hutchings streets. The house I bought was safe.
But it wasn't. After three hours of heavy rain on the night of March 12/13, 2006 (the week before Cyclone Larry) I returned to my new home of five weeks to find water right through the place and unpacked boxes thoroughly spoiled. I was heartbroken at my loss.
I believed then mayor Kevin Byrne when he told the media that the inundation was caused by residents dumping green waste and shopping trolleys into drains. So I kept an eye on Chinaman Creek for the rest of the year. I never saw an evidence of green waste dumped into the creek. (The only time I have seen shopping trolleys in the creek was since Dan Murphy's opened).
Flash forward to January 7/8, 2008. A night of heavy falls again flooded our streets and my house was inundated again. Luckliy I was home this time and was able to save lots of things and get things dried quickly. If residents remember, Bungalow was not the only place flooded this time. There was even more serious inundations at Gordonvale and the Northern Beaches. Common to all cases was that inundation was exacerbated by inappropriate council development.
Byrne's gung-ho pro-development, stuff-the-ratepayers attitude had come back to haunt. Again he and our then local councillor, the ineffective and lazy Kathy Plath, tried to blame residents. But I, for one, wasn't buying it.
Then The Cairns Post reported comments from engineer Kerry Eaton that the development of pensioner units downstream Chinaman Creek, approved in 2002, was the problem for Hutchings and Wilks streets.
What was once a paddock which accommodated floodwaters during heavy rainfall events had been built up and built on. The water had nowhere to go than up our streets. Forget the council records that show flooding will occur once every 100 years in Wilks Street. This development will forever pose a much higher risk of at least once a year! The tragic thing about it is that the Byrne council was warned of the risks and just ignored these warnings.
Mayor Byrne and then Cr Freebody both lost a lot of votes in Wilks and Hutchings streets which had been removed from Plath's division. Freebody lost by only nine votes in the 2008 election. I can just about name those nine voters.
One of the first things that happened under Val was a comprehensive devegatation project to ameliorate the impact of the inappropriate pensioner unit development. The council under Val is looking at developing a rainwater detention pond in Irene Street.
My home would have been flooded twice in January this year had not Mayor Val Schier acted.
You won't hear me bagging Val. She saved my home and many others.

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2009-06-15T06:14:18.928+10:00

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2009-06-15T06:07:47.879+10:00

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2009-06-14T21:13:13.166+10:00

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What is it with CBD Warrior - Val's house isn&...

2009-06-14T21:00:26.498+10:00

What is it with CBD Warrior - Val's house isn't clean enough? Phuuulease. I've been into her home a couple of times, & everything looked perfectly all right in terms of cleanliness & hygiene. OK, she wasn't down on her knees polishing her floor tiles or shining her taps when I was there, but what working woman does these days? And the dunny is always very noice.
Interesting how conversations about women in positions of power revert to the domestic - eg. Val's hair, Bronwyn Bishop's up-do. I dare say Desley had a fair few 'domestic investigations' in her early days, although thankfully we're spared of that these days.
I don't recall much mention of Fat Kev's domestic splendour activities either, when he was Mayor - was he an Ajax or a Jif boy?
Now, how is Wettenhall's, Turnour's, Rudd's, Springbored's, Katter's home hygiene. Noel Briggs? Kerrie Hull? Susan Boyle?
Anyone got a clue - does anyone care????

Ross I agree strong leadership is what drives anyt...

2009-06-14T14:11:22.064+10:00

Ross I agree strong leadership is what drives anything , a mothers club to running the country, what we really have to get right other than the p*** ant council is the federal picture , it is time for jim "I,M FOR EVERYTHING AND AGAINST WHAT YOU ARE AGAINST" to be held accountable , he must now on behalf of nth qld break the alp shackles and stand up for nth qld , I was very keen on winning this seat for the alp ,but jimmy you have not delivered !
You are a very nice man , but we need a warrior , stand up jim or perish , we help create you ,do you only want one term?
If not put it on the floor of govt .eg hansard , we are not getting our fair share , otherwise we are coming after you jimmy !

I can remember back when the Cairns Post, with Dav...

2009-06-14T11:47:01.535+10:00

I can remember back when the Cairns Post, with David McGuire at the Editor’s desk, viciously attacked and ridiculed a Cairns City Councillor by the name of Desley Boyle when she was running for Mayor against a wannabe Kevin Byrne, during a by-election. Whatever my conflicts with Desley Boyle now, she then proved competent, resilient and determined enough to bounce back and build a pretty respectable career as a Queensland MLA, Minister, and power-broker. I fully expect that Val can do the same.

My chief worry about Val Schier is that she doesn’t seem inclined to build alliances with citizens and community groups, and she seems stuck in the idea that she, personally, has to be “in charge” of decision-making if she’s to realise her “vision”. This makes her isolated and far more vulnerable to the Cairns Post, Cochranes and Bonneaus of the world – and far more dependent on professional staff like Briggs and Tabulo (who are very skilled at running their own agenda).

It’s not a matter of personal preference. It won’t be my vote, or the individual vote of anyone on this blog that sinks Mayor Val at the next election. If she goes down it will be because she’s failed to connect in any meaningful way with the reservoir of good will and concern in Cairns about the city’s future development.

If you want a good look at the current roots of Val’s problem, check out this article in the Cairns Post from last Wednesday: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/06/10/46281_local-news.html You’ll see a photo of three Labor Pollies (Jim Turnour, Steve Wettenhall, and Val Schier) each of them building a reputation for weak and ineffective representation of their communities. They are in a room full of “big wigs”, apparently all male, and the main thing on the agenda seems to be the creation of yet another tax (a “tourism levy” on local businesses by the CRC) so that said big wigs can continue to parasite off our city.

Three months ago Steve Wettenhall was lucky to keep his seat in Parliament, and he wrote to Mike Moore and Cairns Blog that he had “heard the message”. In the article he says that a new tax is needed “if the far north is ever to be competitive”. Apparently he didn’t listen for very long. If Val pays attention to people like Jim and Steve, and ignores the community groups and activists who want better results on the ground (and not just spin) well, she can’t be saved and the best we can do is to make her defeat in the next election so overwhelming as to be painless for her.

Ross is right. Val does need to fight back with b...

2009-06-14T10:36:11.365+10:00

Ross is right. Val does need to fight back with better publicity communication and to manage the Counil team better. She has demonstrated she has backbone and staying power. "The Cairns Post" has demonstrated it does not intend to let up, as illustrated with its sneering comments over the ukulele festival idea.
Ross is right in talking about a leadership vacuum. History also shows in such times, the vacuum is filled by a populist type leader, promising everything, but in reality a cunning, corrupt despot. Val's lack of action may result in Cairns electing such a person.

The "boys club" has been out to get Mayo...

2009-06-14T10:22:05.121+10:00

The "boys club" has been out to get Mayor Schier since Day One. The ComPost never wastes an opportunity to put the boot in, deriding and ridiculing her with unconcealed glee. Mayor Byrne was never subjected to this treatment during his two terms in office.

I agree with Ross' suggestions and I agree wit...

2009-06-14T10:22:03.055+10:00

I agree with Ross' suggestions and I agree with Tom above as well.

So what you are saying CBD Warrior, is that we nee...

2009-06-14T10:21:29.137+10:00

So what you are saying CBD Warrior, is that we need someone like your good self eh?... A renown Playboy, talented, intelligent, supposedly handsome that I would liken you to the famous Fabio with gold chain around neck included, good with money and can balance the books yet CRC has a debt of 20 million or more, can sell a BBQ or two, and mingle with a few tourists on the Esplanade.

Thanks for the offer, but Cairns residents pass on that one!

I'm with you Fair Business, it's in the be...

2009-06-14T09:59:28.806+10:00

I'm with you Fair Business, it's in the best interest of our city to set Val up for success, not a fall. She is still a breath of fresh air after the dictatorial bully-boy Byrne, yet ironically, it seems she is being criticised for not running council in the hard-headed way he did. Val is not your atypical head-kicking political animal, and to me that's a plus. Perhaps if we supported and nurtured the 'quiet achievers' who have a sense of public service, we would get a better quality government than that from the cunning ego driven types with their personal agendas.This blog and other media would do better to keep the pressure on the disruptive malcontents of CRC.

Yes, thanks Ross. I believe Mayor Val would be a...

2009-06-14T09:27:32.624+10:00

Yes, thanks Ross. I believe Mayor Val would be able to operate a lot more efficiently if she didn't have so many knives in her back.
Change was never going to happen overnight, particularly with the selfserving Councillors trying to undermine her every move.
The Ex Mayor didn't see the writing on the wall, particularly out in the Northern Beaches, his trusty Lieutenant kept feeding him what he wanted to hear, that the hostility out in the beaches and negativety towards development was only by a few ratbag troublemakers. Councillor Bonneau treated everyone who wasn't with him as the enemy and while he expected his position and himself to be treated with respect, he appeared only to have contempt and arrogance for his constituents. Come election time, the polling booths show that many out here prefered to have a new mayor.
Julia I am sure would be very able in taking over the finance role but realistically, look at her division? No other councillor has anything like the area she hasn nor the diversity. The rest of the Councillors, with the exception of Councillor Gregory, only have a few square kilometres to deal with, with not too much controversy.
I continue to live in hope that the gang of 4 will stop their vendetta against Mayor Val, and all will somehow try and work for the good of the community and ratepayers.

Or should it read "Bloggers abhor a vacuum. ...

2009-06-14T09:05:22.649+10:00

Or should it read "Bloggers abhor a vacuum. No sooner a vacuum is created and the blogging forces external race to fill the void."
Fair go!! I am sure the last thing Val needs now is personal attacks including her vacuuming ability.
Not all are succumbed to sharp witted salesmen tongues as KB found out. Many look for actions and demeanor and Val has conducted herself admirably. I don't think anyone including Val realized just how much needed to be "cleaned up and cleaned out" from the bottom up. 30 years of unchallenged "Buddy and old Boy" practices cannot be sorted in a year or so. We on the outer only have an inkling of what is really going on. So back off and let Val take a deep breath and reorganize.

Thanks Ross for articulating what many of us feel....

2009-06-14T08:17:20.873+10:00

Thanks Ross for articulating what many of us feel.

What has changed between the last Council and this one? Nothing?

The endless development, growth at all costs juggernaut seems to roll on unabated. Council continues to only serve the 5%; the greedy developers and tourist operators. Then decisions are defended under the guise of 'jobs' and 'tourism'.

Meanwhile, the other 95% watch our rates wasted on phoney reports, flood mitigation for the CBD, the esplanade, guaranteeing failed basketball businesses, etc.

This 'let them eat cake' attitude from our (?) council leaves us unable to walk to the shops without dodging month old broken bottles, reeking of tropical strength aerogard, waiting to be swept away in next wet season's flood.

Any rejoicing over Briggs' departure was short lived once it was realized his successor, either interim or not, is more of the same distain for ratepayers and growth at all costs.

All good, Ross. With one critical flaw. Val does...

2009-06-14T08:01:53.600+10:00

All good, Ross. With one critical flaw.

Val doesn't have the leadership skills to implement any of the suggestions you've mooted. And she doesn't have the cajones (despite her demeanor) to "clean house" at council. I've been to her real house, and she wasn't doing it there, either.

And she doesn't have the speaking and analytical skills to do what's required of a mayoress to secure Cairns' share of state and federal largess. Look at how shortchanged Cairns has been in the federal budget process (because we have an even greater weakling as MP). This will be the same when the state budget is handed down. And this is with "mates" of the same party!

So you've basically confirmed that, for the next 3+ years, we're screwed.