IN RESPONSE to my name being mentioned in the WMT article 25.02.20
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As the person named in this article, I wish to make the following statements:
- I received the email referred to in the article after issuing an invitation to all HRCC Councillors email accounts and the CEO Mr Bhalla, to the Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents Assoc Community meeting - it was not an email to a friend, and my acquaintance with Cr Clarke has only ever been through discussions or meetings re Council or Community matters.
- When received, I found the email personally distressing, as I believe all people should treat others respectfully, and hence chose not to share it.
- Even though I believe it was a clear breach of Councillor Code of Conduct, I did not report it to the Mayor or CEO, as I did not believe it would benefit a community already stressed about the implications of the City to River project.
- I am in no way responsible for the words or comments made by Cr Clarke in this email, I just happened to be the receiver. "At this point I think it best to leave this discussion. Suffice to say I have discussions with anyone who takes the time to listen and respond to me, and I have never suggested that anything is a conspiracy. Enjoy your holiday"
- I had no involvement in the release of this information at the HRCC meeting last night (February 24).
- This email was obtained along with a large number of other emails, under an FOI by Mr Brian Basham and I am not sure of the actual FOI request wording which captured this and other emails - but my name was not disclosed in the email, Cr Clarke has chosen to release this.
- My integrity (with personally being named in the Chamber) and the integrity of some businesses was challenged by Cr Clarke during the discussion for the Community petition presented at the December 2019 Council Meeting, instead of focussing on the reason for the petition signed by over 2000 community members, ie that the HRCC community engagement, transparency and inclusion was unacceptable.
I personally believe that each of our Councillors stood for Council because they believe in our community and wanted to make a difference. We as a community elected them to represent us in good faith. Those who attended the HRRR Assoc Community meetings will recall that when opening the meeting I asked that during the meeting, respect should be shown to Councillors and Council representatives present at the meeting because they were all members of our community.
However, respect for all members of the community should also occur. It is a basic Human Right.
As this email shows, there has been major issues with respect between some of our elected representatives, which I believe has affected open debate and discussion when representing our community in the Council Chamber.
In some cases, based on what I have witnessed, I also question the affect this has had on the number of 5:2 votes in the chamber during the term of this Council.
Those who know me, understand that I stand for honesty, respect, fairness, transparency and straight talk, and I will always fight for a fair go for our Community and my passion for improving and taking our community forward, will always be my driving force.
