Mayor4Unley

I have been approached by the public seeking clarity about Item 731 in the Minutes of the Unley Council meeting held on 23 January 2017. The item is titled 'Breach of Conduct for Council Member'. I provide clarity without further comment. The incident occurred in 2016 and involved Councillor Michael Hewitson and a confidential email (to Council) regarding a tender for public lighting and external parties who were related to him; the external parties were his son and his nephew who works in the public lighting industry. After an internal investigation, when the email trail came to light, Council was obliged to self-report the incident to the Office of Public Integrity. The matter was deemed a potential issue of misconduct in public administration within the meaning of the ICAC Act, and it was referred by the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman investigated and determined that Cr Hewitson had failed to comply with Part 3 of the Cod

There must be a State election coming. Liberal Opposition Leader Steven Marshall has just dumped 2 veteran MPs from the opposition front bench. Long serving Liberals Steven Griffiths and Duncan McFetridge have been dumped from the Opposition’s shadow cabinet. Replaced by a couple of younger MPs; people I've never heard of. Hopefully with Griffiths going, the Liberals will reverse their stupid (or brave) plan to introduce rate capping for Councils. The policy is solely for political expediency; to win votes; with little thought of the reality of the outcome. For example, under the Liberal rate capping plan, Unley Council would not have been able to fund the current renovation of Goodwood Road. The danger for Marshall is that sacking a couple of veteran Liberals will cause angst within the Party. They will gang up against him; unless a deal has been done eg. a plum overseas posting or appointment to a nice quando or committee. I don't think that Steven Marshall has gone f

I was staggered to read in The Advertiser (25 January) about the SA greyhound trainer caught fiddling with a male dog just prior to a race; and the episode was broadcast live on TV. The offence was termed 'stimulating' and he was found guilty by Greyhound Racing SA; it was deemed that his actions were improper and an offence under Greyhound Racing Rule 86(o). Racing experts are still unsure if the stimulation would have made the dog run slower or faster; opinion tended to favour a slower outcome. Animal welfare groups had never before encountered such behaviour and were unprepared for professional comment; other than saying that animals must be treated with respect and not subject to indignity or ridicule. The Greyhound Racing body did not give public consideration to the possibility that the trainer had performed the act for his own gratification. Talk about fiddling a race! Absolutely disgusting!!

Here's a letter to the editor, published on 25 January 2017 ... It was another great Gourmet Gala evening and a fantastic Tour Down Under start in Unley. Next year I want it to be even better by moving the gala and start events to Goodwood Road to celebrate the completion of the streetscape and roadworks. Goodwood Road is being transformed into the premier main road in Unley. It's time to share the love and bring these events to Goodwood Road. The local traders would embrace it and inject a real Goodwood flavour. I will pursue this initiative at Unley Council.

My favourite beer is Pirate Life. It's new on the Adelaide scene and it is local, brewed at Hindmarsh. It's only been on the market for a few years, but it's going gang busters; hugely popular. A great range of beers and only in cans; and on tap in some pubs. My best fav is the Pale Ale Tip: drink slowly as the alcohol content is high. Another tip: avoid the Golden Era Golden Ale . I don't know why they make it. Amongst my Pirate Life drinking mates, no-one will touch it. The brewery is frequently reviewed with glowing reports. Here's a link to a conversation with chief brewer Lewis Maschmedt @ Pirate Life. Click here

I found the bargain of the year! Yesterday on eBay I found a used bridge for sale. It was the pedestrian and cycle overpass bridge on South Road at Tram Stop 6. Despite it being SA Government property, a frustrated commuter from Sellicks Beach (eBay account keynes8963 ) listed it for sale on eBay. The description said that it was only 7 years old and had cost $30m. Postage was $10.40 via Australia Post Parcel delivery. I placed a bid early in the day at $250. I was quickly outbid with the bids exceeding $100k. I did send the seller a message asking if the overhead lights were included. He replied that if I paid cash he would throw in the lights. Later in the day the advertisement and all trace of it was removed from eBay; probably at the instigation of the Government.

I have just been updated by DPTI about the condition of the Tram Stop 6 Bridge and they have provided the following information….  DPTI Community Engagement teams have been out speaking to local businesses impacted by the closure of South Road.  We have managed to improve some of the impediments for businesses to ensure, no cones are blocking business access points and that traffic management staff are accommodating to all vehicles, such as courier drivers. The following information was discussed with businesses and DPTI is promoting on social media that businesses remain trading as usual. South Road remains closed between Cross Road and ANZAC Hwy. The overpass structure consists of five beams and it’s the fifth beam which supports the combined cycle and walking path has tilted towards the edge of the bridge posing a safety risk. The beam sits on bearings and that tilting has caused those bearings to compress on one side. Engineers are not yet certain what has

I've been watching a bit of cricket lately. So much; Test and Big Bash. Sometimes whilst reclined on the couch; sometimes just watching on and off as I pass the TV. During a promo in a break I was staggered to hear the voice of cricket commentator Richie Benaud promoting Channel Nine's wide world of sport. But wait a minute, Richie died a year ago. Maybe he had an ongoing contract with Nine. It must have been a good contract" A bit wierd!

Goodwood Road @ Goodwood is undergoing a massive transformation. It's slowly, slowly with traffic restrictions due to reduced lanes, one each way. On the positive side, traffic is slower and it is a lot quieter; and it's safer for pedestrians. Goodwood is growing as a shopping destination; and justifiably as there are some great shops there. I do most of my local shopping at Goodwood. I was impressed by the initiative of a couple of Goodwood traders who gave away Goody packs of food to frustrated drivers waiting at the pedestrian lights. A fantastic initiative to calm the drivers and to entice them to come to Goodwood to shop. Here's a link to a media report ...

Australia Day is approaching and with it comes the gongs; the annual awards given to people deemed worthy. Upon reflection, some are worthy. We've had some great Australians of the Years; at the National and State levels. And there have been a few duds; at all levels of the awards. What really annoys me is that most recipients get awards for having simply done their job and were paid to do it; and usually paid quite handsomely ie. in high flying jobs. Real people who make a real impact and a huge contribution to society (eg. volunteers) usually get overlooked. It's quite sad that those most deserving get overlooked. Councils also have Australia Days awards for various categories. Unley Council has had some wonderful recipients; mostly deserved. I have enjoyed my past involvement on a Council panel to determine those most deserving; and to filter out the duds and crazy submissions. This year at Unley it's a Captain's Pick with Mayor Lachlan Clyne deciding who

I was down at Glenelg the other day, having lunch, doing the shops, having an ice-cream and then taking the obligatory stroll along the jetty. I remembered bygone days when blokes in hotted up cars did slow and loud loops along the main street; back then to impress the girls. The bigger the donk in your car the easier it was to pull chicks; at least that was the belief. These days, women are no longer impressed by hot cars. In most cases they now have their own car. Yet, that old male car mentality persists. At Glenelg I noticed 3 hot cars and 1 motor bike loudly trawling Jetty Road. They kept looping around, just to be noticed; obviously legends in their own mind. How times have changed; yet some blokes haven't.

We all do it. It's mandatory; an absolute obligation. When you're down at the beach on a non swimming visit, be it at Glenelg or Semaphore or Beachport or wherever, and you're done the shops, had a bite to eat, whatever, you simply must walk the jetty. Right to the end, then loiter a while and then head back. We observe each other, we look in the buckets and engage in idle conversation about the luck of the fishers who are mostly male. But put yourself in the the place of a fisherman and the continual stream of people who enquire about 'how are they biting?' and 'what have you caught?'. Actually there is strict etiquette about a walk along a jetty. And so many people break the rules. Here's a list of etiquette guidelines to help you on your next stroll along the jetty. Jetty etiquette

As a retail consultant, I shouldn't have been surprised (or caught). I went to First Choice @ Unley. Simply because I had a flybys voucher: spend $40 and get 1,000 flybuys. I bought absolute essentials, what I needed, no extras and had goods to the value of $43. At the checkout I was offered a choice of one of 3 products for just $10. The options were a six pack of Heineken beer, a dubious bottle of red wine or a bottle of Land of Giants, NZ Marlborough, Sauvignon Blanc, 2015. Given the hot weather, I selected the white wine, but was suspicious because it was last year's, 2015; a bad sign. I opened the bottle tonight; we had fish for dinner. Basically it was a $10 bottle of wine at a cost of $10. I was hoping that it would taste like a $13 bottle. It wasn't anything special. I was conned into buying an extra bottle of wine that wasn't in my shopping trolley. On the positive side, it was a hot day and fish was on the menu and there was a cold bottle of white wi

In response to a query from a resident about help available to enable older residents stay longer and live independently in their homes, I sourced the following information ... The City of Unley's Home Assist Scheme aims to contribute to resident safety, minimise hazards inside and outside the home and enable residents to maintain an independent lifestyle.   A full list of services available can be found at:   http://www.unley.sa.gov.au/community-services/support-programs#home-assist-78 For more information please phone the Home Assist Team on 8372 5111. Funding The majority of  Home Assist funding is received through the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP).  Access to services (for people over 65) is dependent on the outcome of the eligibility screening conducted by the Commonwealth Government’s My Aged Care.   Eligibility Priority is usually based on whether the individual is over the age of 65 and what their level of need is.   People who live independently

Soon to be considered by Unley Council is the matter of what to do about the trip hazards on the footpaths. There seems to be less on the old bitumen footpaths compared with the new brick pavements. Seriously, perhaps we should consider returning to bitumen . That was one idea I proposed at a recent workshop. Despite it having merit that proposal wouldn't get through Council. The matter of what to do about trip hazards has been the subject of several workshops. There have been many proposals and variations. I insisted that the criteria (for a trip hazard) be applied equally across all footpaths in Unley. An earlier proposal had different trip tolerance heights (eg. 20mm vs. 15mm vs. 10-15mm) in different streets. That was totally unacceptable. That inequity will not be in the proposal to come to Council. The trip hazard criteria will now be applied equally across Unley, from Black Forest to Fullarton. The options that Council will consider are: Do nothing (and