Dear Mayor Garwood and whoever else this may concern,
Having carefully considered the responses to my questions here – copied below – I must contest the apparent assumptions supposedly informing them. In STREETspeak the responses bear all the hallmarks of POLITICALspin that just does not pass the PUBtest. In short, the response is long on self-serving rhetoric and short on domain knowledge and any sense of transparency or accountability.
Journalists cannot afford to be silent. That is at once the profession’s greatest virtue and its most significant weakness. What is there to be spoken of, must be and spoken of and immediately. That is apparent albeit that the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still fresh in the air. Mostly these things fade away and typically it happens by design as each new day offers yet another chance to ‘do the spin’ – job done.
Journalists report on things and market things, ideas even, but normally it is not their role to be ‘placemakers, cultural landscapers or lawmakers’ even though good journalism might provide insights into such things if the inclination to do so is there.
Domain knowledge reinforced by action research is ever likely to uncover the facts marketeers are careless of – often deliberately so. What is being passed off as history here just does not cut it under the circumstances given the questions have been posed from inside the process in play. It is reliable first-hand domain knowledge rather than some after the fact interpretation that tends to stand the test of time.
Indeed, on the evidence what is being offered here as a response is arguably that which is known as ‘truth by assertion’. The adage that goes, you don't manage the truth you tell it as in the end it will reveal itself. In hollow rhetoric what is asserted as ‘a truth’ is a truth, and even if it didn't happen it remains so until ‘the truth’ reveals itself in time.
What is being avoided in this case are the plain facts that:
- Mayor Garwood acting as Mayor, did not, does not have, and has not demonstrated that he has a mandate for his approval of the ‘mural project’; and
- Mayor Garwood, has acted, and is acting outside his ‘Mayoral role’ under the Tasmanian Local Govt Act 1993; and
- The ‘mural project’ is a ‘development’ that on the available evidence, has not at any time been submitted to the ‘planning authority’ albeit that it meets fortnightly for consideration or approval of ‘placemaking developments’; and
- The ‘mural project’ has not been, and there is evidence that it will be, the subject of a community consultation process; and
- In his response, remarkably provided by ‘management’, to the questions posed, Mayor Garwood has not provided any evidence that he has the authority, delegated or other, to act as he demonstrably is; and
- In his response, again provided by ‘management’, he indicates that he relies upon city's Cultural Advisory Committee (CAC) to ‘advise’ him on the approval of the project without acknowledging that the CAC has no mandate to approve such projects nor has it been demonstrated that the CAC has openly offered any advice to Mayor Garwood or Council in regard to this matter; and
- That Mayor Garwood unfortunately demonstrates no understanding of ‘due process’ in regard to this matter; and
- Moreover, Mayor Garwood, and the Council Officer answering on his behalf, by virtue of his/their response is apparently oblivious to the provisions in the Local Govt Act relating to his role, Council’s role, the Planning Authority’s role, and the principles of good, accountable, and transparent local governance.
I look forward with considerable interest to receiving a response to this assessment of the response provided and/or any rebuttal Mayor Garwood might wish to offer in the cause of accountability and transparency given that this case seems to be that ubiquitous fraction that represents the whole.
Yours sincerely,
Ray Norman
Ray Norman
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The lifestyle design enterprise and research network
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City of Launceston
Council Meeting Agenda
Thursday 25 January 2024
Page 13
8.1.1. Public Questions on Notice - Ray Norman - Mural - Paterson Street East Car
Park - 30 December 2023 and 12 January 2024
FILE NO: SF6381
AUTHOR: Kelsey Hartland (Risk and Insurance Officer)
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Michael Stretton
QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES:
The following questions, submitted to Council on 30 December 2023 and 12 January 2024
by Ray Norman, have been answered by Phillipa Lees (Acting General Manager
Community and Place Network).
Questions:
1. Will the Mayor in concert with all Councillors please explain to Council’s constituents
et al, his, and by extension all Councillors’, implementation of the Paterson Street
East Carpark Public Art Project without it being deliberated upon and approved in
Open Council and without providing Council’s constituency an opportunity to make
representations?
Response:
The Paterson Street East Carpark Mural and other art installations around the City
are the first major operational elements of the City of Launceston Public Art Strategy
2023 - 2031, which encourages collaborative, place-based creative practice for
temporal and permanent outcomes to create accessible and inspiring artwork in
Launceston's public places and provide opportunities for artists in Launceston.
The Public Art Strategy was produced through broad community consultation and
endorsed by Council unanimously at the Council Meeting held on March 9, 2023.
The Cultural Advisory Committee provides advice and support for cultural
development within the municipal area, consistent with the Council’s strategies and
policies, including the implementation of City of Launceston’s Cultural Strategy 2020-
2030 and Public Art Strategy 2023-2031.
City of Launceston collaborated with Vibrance to complete an Expression on Interest
to generate a pool of Tasmanian artists for this work, and ultimately select the artists
based on a range of criteria.
While Elected Members are not required to endorse the proposed artwork they will
be presented with a concept of the mural artwork(s) in Late February before the
artists begin.
City of Launceston
Council Meeting Agenda
Thursday 25 January 2024
Page 14
2. Will the Mayor and/or whoever he nominates please explain to the city’s citizenry the
rationale that drives the Paterson Street East Carpark Project without there being a
community consultation process and/or the need for the endorsement of the elected
representatives?
Response:
The Council endorsed the Public Art Strategy (the Strategy) in 2023 which was
developed in consultation with City staff, the arts, and general community. The
Strategy includes approved public art commission models and processes, which have
been followed by Council officers.
Council officers collaborated with Vibrance and the City's Cultural Advisory
Committee (CAC) to identify sites suitable to display public art, develop an
Expression of Interest for Tasmanian artists for this project, and assemble a selection
panel to select the artists. The CAC has a specific role, as outlined in the Public Art
Strategy, to advise on matters relating to public art and they have fulfilled that role
through the commissioning of this mural.
As outlined in the Strategy, detailed design of the commissioned artwork does not
require assessment from the CAC and approval to proceed can be made at a senior
management level. In addition, it mentions that informing, consulting, and/or
engaging the community should be considered on a case-by-case basis and that
information may take the form of an artist talk at a public launch marking the end of a
project,
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