BREAKING NEWS ... Mayor Thorley calls it quits ...
... or does she?
A week is a long time in politics so the time between now and the next Toowoomba City Council election is a lifetime.
But, based on today's events, 26 June 2007 will be a date forever etched in the minds of 62% of Toowoomba voters as the day Mayor Thorley finally recognised that the majority of the voters in Toowoomba do not believe her and do not want her as Mayor.
With a possible amalgamation of neighbouring shires to come, and with many voters in those shires unhappy at her standover tactics on the recycled water issue, it certainly looked like a hard sell for Mayor Thorley to win another term.
If Mayor Thorley does indeed intend to retire in March 2008, it is an early indication of the massive rout the voters of Toowoomba are likely to give those Councillors in favour of forcing Toowoomba people to drink recycled water.
Excerpt from WIN News:
MAYOR RESIGNS
26 June 2007
Di drops a bombshell
Toowoomba Mayor Di Thorley has dropped a bombshell in Council chambers late this afternoon, announcing she's walking away after seven years in the post.
Councillor Thorley's decision based on a family promise to only serve three terms.
See - Thorley sees the writing on the wall.
For those wanting to hear Mayor Thorley's views on life - see - Mayor Thorley speaks.
Comments have been opened - have your say on the end of Mayor Thorley's regime ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 6:41 PM
17 Comments:
It saves us a lot of time and energy in the future - also a pity in some respects as we would have liked the pleasure to have got rid of her and most of her councillors in 2008 - let us hope that most of the other 6 "sewer sippers" see the error of their ways and go as well - before being kicked out!
6:58 PM, June 26, 2007
Not before time!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7:11 PM, June 26, 2007
Thorley will be very happy with her pub in Tasmania as she will be right at home.
All we need now is the rest of them to take the idea on board and not stand at the next election.
8:11 PM, June 26, 2007
I presume she's talking about being in Council. She's only been mayor for two terms. What planet is she on?
11:20 PM, June 26, 2007
WOO HOO!!!
Don't worry about the other 6, they are such spineless, weak, worthless examples of the human race, they would just toe the line behind whoever is mayor like the limp wet rags they are.
Lets focus on finding a practical, sensible mayor with a realistic vision for Toowoomba's future, and respect for the rate paying public that votes him or her in.
8:33 AM, June 27, 2007
Best news I've heard in a long time! Good luck Toowoomba with repairing the city's image.
9:36 AM, June 27, 2007
Excerpt from the Chronicle:
Di says it's time to quit
27 June 2007
Toowoomba Mayor Dianne Thorley last night declared she would honour a promise to her children and not seek re-election.
"I gave them an undertaking that I would do three terms and they remind me quite often that I've done an extra two years," she said.
"That was the deal with my kids (Vanessa and Wilhelm) in 1996 and now there are two more children the oldest boy (Gerard), who returned three years ago, and the girl I adopted out 38 years ago are back in my life with three grandchildren.
"This is about me and my children, and it is a sad decision for me to make because I love this city, most probably, too much," she conceded.
Undoubtedly the city's most colourful mayor, Cr Thorley, 57, ventured where others feared to tread.
She tackled social issues head-on with the creation of the FlexiSchool and Sunrise Way, as well as being the forerunner in environmental issues with the clean-up of Gowrie Creek.
But she was wounded by a disbelieving community who didn't trust her or the science when Toowoomba residents rejected her proposal to drink recycled water.
Cr Thorley plans, after the local government elections scheduled for March, to leave the city and go into business with her children.
As a carer to her ageing parents, she said home would be wherever is best for them and somewhere closer to her children.
"We will be buying some houses to do up, most probably a pub here or there; I don't know, we're going to have a look at what we can do as a family.
"I'm going to be the grandma who takes the kids around and shows them the environment and most probably be the business head," she said.
Curiously, Cr Thorley divulged her "news" as a miscellaneous item at the ordinary meeting of council last night.
"It's very simple, I don't want any speculation. Whoever is going to run for mayor needs to have enough time to be able to run a campaign knowing I'm not a contender," she said.
10:03 AM, June 27, 2007
I think this is all crap. She never made that promise to her kids. Her kids weren't even talking to her back in 1996. But use any excuse you want Di as long as you get out of council and and out of Toowoomba.
10:28 AM, June 27, 2007
She will not be missed.
10:40 AM, June 27, 2007
Even the ABC gets it wrong - three terms as Mayor?
Mayor since 1997?
Excerpt from ABC News:
Water poll mayor to step aside
27 June 2007
Toowoomba Mayor Di Thorley says she is honouring a commitment to her children in deciding not to recontest the next election.
Cr Thorley has been Mayor since 1997 and rose to national prominence last year when she lost a poll to add recycled water to the city's drinking supply.
Councillor Thorley told fellow councillors at a meeting last night she would not be running for another term as Toowoomba mayor at the next election in March.
She says she promised her children she would only serve as mayor for three terms
"I've made the community my life for 11 years, the kids had to go into the diary and they weren't impressed with that," she said.
Cr Thorley says she will go into business with her children when her term ends.
She says her achievements include redeveloping the Gowrie Creek area, attracting new business to the city and launching social programs like the Sunrise Way Rehabilitation Centre.
Cr Thorley says making the decision not to recontest was not easy.
"It would always take more courage to leave the job than to stay because you can convince yourself you should stay," she said.
She says she wanted to announce her intentions early so that prospective mayoral candidates have enough time to campaign.
11:27 AM, June 27, 2007
farewell to the potty mouthed mayor
12:01 PM, June 27, 2007
Wonderful news. One down, five more to go. Look forward to watching the next election from down the road.
1:01 PM, June 27, 2007
In today's Chronicle under the heading "She said it":
"Bullshit? That's not swearing, that's a good old Aussie expression."
- on the SBS Insight program
[she's normally much more colourful with her language]
"This is my community, do you really think I'd do anything to harm it?"
- wounded after water debate
[funny how she's quitting politics and Toowoomba in one stroke. So much for 'her' community]
"It's like being raped by a thousand Arabs, you bastards."
- to media after the water poll
[she had to sign a formal apology to certain members of the Muslim community after that comment.]
1:39 PM, June 27, 2007
Beattie lauds her work - now we really know that she should have gone a long time ago - as should he!
7:51 PM, June 27, 2007
Can she take those damn obelisks with her - provided she pays for them - a monument to her stupidity!
8:08 PM, June 27, 2007
Another backflip by Beattie - Thorley was on the outer after the referendum - clearly Beattie wants to make some 'recycled water' mileage on her departure.
Excerpt from WIN News:
MAYOR REACTION
Beattie praises Thorley
27 June 2007
Premier Peter Beattie has today joined the chorus of tributes flowing for outgoing Toowoomba Mayor Di Thorley, heralded as a leading campaigner for recycled water.
But one of her main critics during the debate says it was the start of council losing touch with the community, in favour of State Government agenda.
8:17 PM, June 27, 2007
62% think Di's departure is not a moment too soon.
9:01 PM, June 27, 2007
Post a Comment
<< Home