Many people will be aware of the on-going investigations by ICAC into certain aspects of the operation of a large number of NSW Councils. Hopefully, just as many will be aware that Palerang has been identified as the only Council in our immediate area that is not under investigation.
In Council’s audit report, presented at last night’s meeting (the October General Meeting), the auditor also congratulated Council on its sound financial position.
Most of the credit for both of these situations must be afforded to Palerang’s General Manager and his executive team, for the way our Council is run. Our finance and engineering staff, in particular, manage, very effectively, a broad range of projects across the shire, on what amounts to a shoestring budget.
Unfortunately, what is being delivered is seen from many quarters as falling way short of expectation. It should be appreciated, however, that this is not the result of poor management of our resources—it’s more a case of insufficient resources for the job that really needs to be done, and we really need to give due credit for the job that’s being done with what we have to work with.