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Well its time I made some more noise on this blog- ( waves ) Hello Joanna Gash!
I wont be intimidated into not commenting about the reality that is Council- instead of the sanitised version that is presented to the community via the soft local media.
I'm glad to have someway of expressing things independent of the mainstream media who aren't interested unless it sells papers- we really need an Indy news source for the Shoalhaven even if its just electronic mail!
Last year you will recall my post Gash Doesn't Want to Hear Reality . In writing that post I 'broke' the rules of confidentiality when it comes to Councillor Briefing's by quoting verbatim what was said. But I was so shocked by my first view of Joanna Gash verballing staff that I simply could not leave those words un-said.
In the past I had the occasional compelling moment from briefings to report but never did so.
Since publishing that blog the verballing haven't stopped. I was embarrassed as Gash bullied the Director I was sitting next to in one committee meeting.
However TEAM GASH asked me to stop blogging/reporting or they would cancel briefings and make stuff go directly to Council meetings- this telling off was attempted in a confidential session of Council- but Clr Guile demanded it come into open session- Thanks Andrew.
Oh and that somehow they (Team Gash) would try and compel us all to sign a confidentiality agreement- What The!
I find all this poor behaviour distressing on a number of levels-
Prior to working with Mrs Gash on this Council I had no idea that she was so abrupt, up to September she had always been relatively polite in my company. I know I should have been a bit more cynical.
During the election campaign I was nauseated every time one of the sycophantic TEAM GASH-ers got up to extol the virtues of Gash- "a woman of high integrity, a born leader, always doing the right thing" it was as if a script had been written and all were following!- another sign of things to come.
I had a preconceived idea- just like many others in the electorate that Mrs Gash was a polite but tough person and would show human decency to others- NOT so.
I'm not the only one who Mrs Gash has tried to gag and it seems she is training her Gilmore replacement Ann Sudmalis to do the same if Fiona Phillips' accounts of blocking are true- I'm sure they are that's why I'm repeating them.
Oh and read Fiona's blog archive- she was threatened by Gash with legal action!
Tony Blain was also hit with an attempted gagging- you can see my comment at the bottom of the article and I will be asking the questions on that at the next meeting.
Andrew Guile also feels gagged as he attempted to get some questions at meetings answered and was shut down.
So there seems to be an interesting pattern emerging- I would love to hear from others who also felt they had been bullied or gaged by Mrs Gash
1 comment:
Gagging and attempted gagging, it seems is the new control mechanism for Mrs Gash and Team Gash. Gagging and conservatism is becoming so engrained led from the top, that a whole new intimidating culture is developing. Rarely does the public see what is happening unless it hits them and hits them hard. Mostly the gagging is hidden from public view, out of the media-who wants to report on it; glossy brochures, handshakes conceal it, or even some media releases and circulars paid for by ratepayers promoting the Gash led view. The increasing lack of consultation across the Shoalhaven and clamping down on questioning are a real worry for both the short term and long term future of the Shoalhaven.
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