Jondaryan Shire CEO explains a few things to Premier Beattie ...

Jondaryan Shire Council Media Release:

CEO denies Jondaryan Council is ‘broke’

21 May 2007

Queensland’s longest-serving Local Government Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has responded angrily to claims his Council is unviable.

CEO of Jondaryan Shire Council, Noel Cass, says his shire is not ‘broke’.

Mr Cass was responding to a Queensland Treasury report released by Premier Beattie last week which cited Jondaryan shire as ‘very weak’.

"The last unqualified audit approval of Jondaryan’s books revealed independently audited assets of $121 million, our annual income of $13.7 million was higher than our liabilities of $9 million, we had cash/reserves of $3.9 million and our rate accounts were in credit."

"As the CEO of Jondaryan Shire Council, I offer a guarantee to the residents of the Shire, the suppliers of Council’s goods and services and to my fellow employees that this Council is financially viable and anything but ‘broke’. We will continue to manage our finances in a responsible manner until this reform agenda is concluded."

Despite its healthy balance sheet, Mr Cass said the Council has no qualms about spending rate-payers money.

"The primary role of Council is to provide services to its residents. Jondaryan Council has a very competent and well equipped work force and has one of the highest customer service satisfaction results (75%) ever recorded in Queensland."

Independent research firm Marketfacts carried out a survey in late 2005 showing the Jondaryan overall satisfaction rating was 75.6% compared to 71.5% for rural councils and 72% across all local governments in Queensland. Marketfacts conducts State-wide studies every two years.

Mr Cass said these results are not reflective of a council in a ‘very weak’ position.

"Given Mr Beattie's business acumen, amply demonstrated by his handling of the State’s health and water, I appreciate he might consider Jondaryan a “very weak” organization. However, the Treasury report is misleading, it is a snapshot in time – taken before we received 44% of our funds in grants. The reality is that Jondaryan shire is a very viable and well run organization."

"My suggestion to Mr Beattie is to desist with the deceit, inflammatory assertions and financial vilification of Councils who have served their communities well for over 100 years and instead show some leadership and maturity in taking us through the long overdue and very important process of reforming Local Government."

"Unfortunately with the possible exception of a former mayor, the seven person Commission appointed by the Beattie Government does not between them have one day of practical experience in the administration of a local authority."

"The challenge for Mr Beattie is to allay the concerns particularly of rural people that they will not be disfranchised, their levels of Council services will not be reduced and most importantly, apart for the loss of a few senior management, their local net employment levels will not reduce."

"The longer all parties politicise this process the more our workforces will be destabilized and our service levels affected."

"It's up to Mr Beattie as the Government leader responsible for Local Government to steady the ship and complete this process as quickly and thoroughly as possible."

See - Jondaryan Shire Council - CEO denies Jondaryan Council is ‘broke’.