Mood:
sharpTopic: nsw govt
How pathetic that the local suburban and big media have not reported on a scandal in front of their faces. No wonder the blogging sector just gets bigger. The image above is from the website we built in 2007 for Addison Rd Community Centre. Nice isn't it. But the politics in that place is rancid.
We have just confirmed with our source close to the Board that loyal soldier for the ALP Yvette Andrews is still in place as GM with no public advertising of her General Manager's job since October 2007 when the last one resigned.
That's a $65,000 (or part thereof) job to Andrews as the former President of the ARC with no public advertising of the job at what claims to be "the biggest community centre in Australia" here:
http://www.addisonrdcentre.com.au/
But they don't follow principles of good governance obviously.
Who ever heard of a public organisation with a 6 figure budget (around $400K pa from memory) not publicly advertising their jobs? Or their Board President stepping out of an unpaid one into a paid one on the same day in late 2007?
Meredith Burgmann as aspirant for City Hall should come clean on any involvement she has in this situation with the closed shop at ARC. For instance the cover up over the rent free Gallery. Andrews is her ex staffer and is her current co author. Burgmann like Andrews is great mates with the Art Gallery manager for over 4 years, Cutcliffe, attending functions there: Cutcliffe who managed to avoid paying rent for 4 years while having the odd $30K painting on private sale.
No financial records lodged by the Gallery with the centre so the former GM told this writer - all in a publicly owned building.
Cutcliffe has made a special point for some years now of spreading poison about The Greens in particular. Because they are honest?
As the rent free Gallery scandal with other tenants itself grew, while all other community groups struggled to pay their own rent, a new 'non profit' was miraculously set up to run the Gallery (and shield Cutcliffe from accountability?). Cutcliffe never has accounted for that 4 years rent free as far as we know and we spotted him firmly esconced just last Sunday again. If he spent as much time earning his rent as doing political machinations he could probably cover it 10 times over.
Our advice is that the "Addison Road Gallery Arts Association Inc" no. 9888276 was registered on 15/10/2007 at the height of the scandal and just before the last AGM for the centre and the public officer for this Gallery body is one Rebecca Kaiser, former ALP Deputy Mayor of Marrickville. How unsurprising.
Burgmann and the ALP at Marrickville Council go way back too it seems including junket invitations to sister cities in Madeira with the globetrotting former MP and Pres of the Legislative Council - see this item back in 2001 in a Mayoral Minute "15 May 2001". Meredith sure is a good traveller.
The big and little media have no credit at all sidestepping this pile of proverbial. This abuse of public advertising norms for publicly funded positions has all been reported ad nauseam on the SAM micro news Blog for months now.
The Andrews GM job was supposed to be a stop gap for 6 months with adverts proposed in April/May - itself a disturbing departure from normal selection process. We said then 'don't hold your breath'.
Tonight we have just confirmed with our source that in July 2008 still no advert. Andrews still sitting there like an overstuffed Budha in her cosy sinecure. It's so wrong. But not if your are tribal ALP. In that case it is so right.
We have just emailed the executive of the 30 strong real non profit Botany Bay & Catchment Alliance in the following terms, open copy to Andrews and her ALP patronage, who as far as we are concerned can go to hell:
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 8:14 PMSubject: Re: Next BBACA meeting postponed for one weekTo Botany Bay & Catchment Alliance/executive for 30 Sydney community groupsJust to say finished the last 700 of 6000 leaflets in Erskineville last Saturday regarding dangers to Botany Bay wildlife as here14 June 2008Saw Clover Moore's local council team out in force too. Got a card from Cr Phillip Black who was very interested to hear about dirt involving Meredith Burgmann re her ALP mate takeover of Addison Rd Community Centre.Have a look at these links- the local equivalent of Year Zero? The website news/events items of 2007 have nearly all been deleted. History only starts with the ALP hegemony it seems under Yvette Andrews who is co author with Meredith Burgmann. Andrews got her job without any public advertisement for over 9 months now. It's a scandal that NOT ONE BIG OR SMALL MEDIA outlet dares to report yet. How's that for systemic social corruption even though it's about the biggest 'community centre in Australia'?This is mad stuff totally contrary to good governance principles of a public organisation. In fact I just rang my source, an impeccable one, who does know, and the job hasn't been advertised since October 2007 when the last GM got the shove and Andrews - who used to work for Burgmann and was expected to work for Senator Faulkner but failed to get a job (probably because I blew the whistle) - is still in place, no publicly contested job advert. It's a fraud on the public interest.Tom McLoughlin, solicitor
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