To Mayor Garwood and whomever it now concerns,
I object most strongly to my authorship of the QUESTION ON NOTICE being represented as ‘my’ question in contravention of my Moral Rights as an author! This question given that it has been edited without my approval is no longer my question. This has happened in blatant disregard to my explicit instructions, copied below, and it is outrageous conduct in every sense.
Let alone the fact that as Mayor and chairperson of Council meetings you have clearly stood aside and allowed all this to happen and apparently you have endorsed the misrepresentation on this occasion. Might I remind you that ignorance of the law is no defence in this or any instance.
For example: remove, edit out, the word “not” from any sentence you fundamentally change the sentence and the context within which it is posed. Likewise, remove the word “ammunition” from a list, you change the list’s context and the list’s meaningfulness. All authors of every kind of written text have moral rights. These rights are only ‘elastic’ at the author’s discretion and never so because a bureaucrat has deemed it appropriate to edit text.
Moral Rights within Australia’s Copyright Law are not eclipsed by Tasmania’s Local Govt. Act or SECTION 62/2 enshrined in it. The GM/CEO’s apparent assessment has no veracity, and it does not serve you well as Mayor to be seen standing back as Council’s management flaunts Copyright Law as flagrantly as management does and has done in this instance.
The outcome here is that the question that was asked, in the context that it was asked, has not been answered. Rather, an apparently more palatable question ‘filtered out’ of my question has been addressed with Council Management apparently claiming, ‘strategic precedence’and thus exceeding their ‘operational function’. This is untenable and just cannot go uncommented upon – nor go without redress.
In the vernacular, this is an exemplar of the tail wagging the dog.
Against this background, I would graciously accept an unequivocal apology so long as:
- You, as Mayor on the record, acknowledge ensured that there been mistake made in this instance; and that
- You assure your constituents that you and all Councillors will address the question in the context provided by Council’s next meeting.
I look forward with interest to your response at Council’s next meeting.
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CONTEXT NOTE: Given that the City of Launceston:
- Is on the cusp of appointing a successor to Michael Stretton in his role as GM/CEO; and
- That Michael Stretton has been granted extraordinary powers under the guise of delegated authorities; and
- That arguably many of those delegations enable him to act in regard to circumstances that he has no apparent direct expertise or qualifications; and
- That Councillors, in delegating many of these authorities, they have acted contrary their governance role; and
- Arguably in delegating many of the powers to a council officer, Councillors were abdicating their representative governance function; and
- Moreover, Councillors in acting as they have over time, and leading right up to the present, they have blended, and are blending, the functions of governance with those of management, and at face value inappropriately so; and
- To compound the inappropriateness of the prevailing status quo, in this Council’s time, Councillors have accepted management’s disinclination to be divested of their delegated authorities on the grounds of the cost of doing so; and
- Furthermore, the need to delegate authorities to a GM/CEO is unsustainable in any event given the extraordinary powers available to a GM via SECTION 62/2 enshrined in Tasmania Local Govt Act; and
- That against the background of the status quo, and the pending appointment of a new GM/CEO there is no sustainable rationale for maintaining the status quo with all its inbuilt inequities and distortions.
MORAL RIGHTS STATEMENT: For the question I am submitting to Council here, I asset my moral rights as an author under Australian copyright law. Consequently, should Council decide to either edit, paraphrase, or otherwise alter my question it will cease to be my question and therefore it must not be attributed to me under any circumstance.
QUESTION:
Give the context provided, will Council now expeditiously to remove all of Council’s Delegated Authorities forthwith and when/if required in the future, only grant Delegated Authorities to personnel with the demonstrable qualifications, substantial experience relevant to the authority, and in possession of relevant competencies?
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City of Launceston
Council Meeting Agenda
Thursday 25 January 2024
Page 19
8.1.5. Public Questions on Notice - Ray Norman - Council Delegations - 17 January 2024 8.1.5. Public Questions on Notice - Ray Norman - Council Delegations - 17 January
2024
FILE NO: SF6381
AUTHOR: Kelsey Hartland (Risk and Insurance Officer)
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Michael Stretton
QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES:
The following question, submitted to Council on 17 January 2024 by Ray Norman, has
been answered by Louise Foster (General Manager Organisational Services Network).
Questions:
1. Will Council now expeditiously to remove all of Council’s Delegated Authorities
forthwith and when/if required in the future, only grant Delegated Authorities to
personnel with the demonstrable qualifications, substantial experience relevant to the
authority, and in possession of relevant competencies?
Response:
At this point in time there is no intention to alter the current practice of assigning or
administering Delegated Authorities to the Chief Executive Officer role or within the
Council.
The response provided in the Council Agenda of 15 December 2022 provides clear
details of the functioning of the Council's Delegations Register. It has been
reproduced for reference.
… Delegations enhance efficiency at the City of Launceston by devolving
the execution of administrative matters and functions to appropriate levels
within the organisation. The City of Launceston’s Delegations Register is
publicly available via www.launceston.tas.gov.au. The Delegations
Register clearly indicates the functions and powers that have been
delegated by a decision of Council. Decisions of Council are frequently
sought in relation to the review of delegations, or to respond to changes in
legislation.
Ray Norman
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WEBsites:http://www.raynorman7250.blogspot.com
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