From Hilltops Councillor – Matthew Stadtmiller

It’s 3:30am on Monday morning and I’m watching a great first half between the Matildas and Zambia.

The score has gone back and forth and now sits at 3-2 to Zambia. Let’s get to this column. Although attempts have been made this year to characterise me in all sorts of weird, wonderful and at times, potentially damaging ways, rest assured that I am here to serve you as residents and ratepayers, as I always have done so since 2012. My heart is always in getting the best outcome for you.

I tried to find a similarity between sport and local government for what may be my first or second Councillor Column for Hilltops during this term. The similarity is that some players or Councillors either need to be moved on or retired. With our much loved Matildas, the coach makes that decision and at Council, it’s you. Some players or Councillors probably shouldn’t have gotten a start in the first place! Be careful what you wish for and who you vote for, it’s harder than it looks in here.

The idea of a column for me is somewhat redundant in that if we wait in alphabetical order as we do, Councillors only communicate through this medium roughly once every 3 months and likely when topical issues have passed. It’s a farce really and needs to be called out for what it is.

Zambia scores again to go up 4-2 as I continue to write, with a minute to play in the first half. I will communicate when I have to. I won’t wait for some pre-determined order. I do this with verbal questions at meetings or via questions on notice which I have either come up with myself or been fed by residents who want answers in black and white. They want to know what is going on.

I spent part of last week at the annual State Water conference where I asked the Water Minister Rose Jackson in front of several hundred attendees why the flow of information re the project had been slow for the Boorowa Water Supply and if the proposed rail trail from Galong to Boorowa could work hand in hand with the pipeline. She didn’t know the rail trail proposal existed and was keen to share notes.

One must ask though why our leaders at Council hadn’t already made this clear to the person who has plenty to say in pushing the button on a new water supply to Boorowa and the contacts to co-fund a tourism project heading in the same direction? Is there any advocacy occurring on our resident’s behalf?

Unfortunately, this Council in my opinion has lacked the ability to really work cohesively with each other, lacked leadership and strategy and although we have asked residents how many domestic animals we want at our homes, enough Councillors have thwarted the attempts of other Councillors to simply ask the residents if they want to continue to be part of the Hilltops Council that we have all found ourselves in. There’s been a NO! on at least 4 occasions this term and more last term. Some have seen the light.

As Councillors are we afraid of what the people who elected us have to say? In my opinion it appears so, otherwise we would have given them the opportunity via a vote.

To summarise, rates will go up and will go up as much or more than they were previously proposed. Yes, over 100 percent. If they don’t, expect a state government Administrator, even higher increases, loss of jobs and services and no Councillor ears to talk to when you need a voice.

When it comes to vote 11 Councillors down to 9 the same day you vote for your next Council, feel free to vote NO. It’s a ridiculous proposal. Less representation will not be good for you when we can’t achieve results for ratepayers now. It may make minor savings over a decade but when we are currently outsourcing traffic control at $250 an hour per person and not training locals to do it for what could be less than a quarter of the price, one must ask, does local government know what it’s doing?

This election, if you vote for the same people who didn’t allow a vote to even hold a poll on demerging you can expect the same result for the next 4 years. We get nowhere. Because you can tell yourself that everything is rosy in the wonderful Hilltops, but in the end the only person you fool is yourself. It’s not rosy. And we continue to spend above our means.

I will finish with the Council spiel which sits under my profile photo on the website.

“Matt was a Councillor at Harden from 2012 to 2016 before being elected to Hilltops Council. Matt dislikes wastage, favouritism and short sighted decisions. He likes democracy, transparency and sensible and fair use of Council resources for each community.”

Anyway, bye for now. At the 64th minute Australia trails Zambia in an epic match with the Matildas down 5-4. Don’t miss the replay!

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• Local Council