Even if we do say so ourselves, last night’s Camden Ward On Line Election Forum was a fantastic event.
Sure we had some minor technical glitches on our first attempt at “Zooming”, thankfully the 150 participants (residents and candidates) understood – they enthusiastically and actively supported the event.
Topics covered in the Q&A session covered those that impacted the whole of Glen Eira and those that were specific to Camden Ward. For example (not necessarily in order)
- Council’s Governance – fiscal responsibility, rates, no genuine collaboration with residents, lack of accountability and transparency
- Planning – inconsistency in decision making, inability to deliver on issues (height limits, heritage and tree protection, environment and sustainability), need for Council actively represent residents in discussion with State Govt and at VCAT, lack of open space, traffic and parking management.
- Inkerman Bike Path (surprising this wasn’t the dominating issue we expected it to be)
FYI – Unlike the other Wards (Rosstown and Tucker), Camden Ward has all three Councillor positions vacant – no incumbent Councillors are standing for re-election.
Examples of comments from the Meeting Chat
Candidates Comments
- These online forums make it easy for people to engage which is great!
- Thank you to all the residents for attending tonight. Genuine consultation is important
- Due to the circumstances it was a wonderful opportunity to share our thoughts and platforms on a number of issues and make some connection with the voters.
- Some amazing questions tonight.
Residents Comments
- This was one of the best OnLine/Offline Candidate Forums I’ve seen and this is a credit to the unsung heroes of GERA and SGE – Let’s have our future Councillors support Community run forums throughout the year – Let’s have a Community Council during our next term.
- Thanks for organising such a great forum. Some clear winners tonight.
- Get to see some candidates true colours
- Camden ward will be the winner
- Well done to the organisers as well as candidates
- Would councillors commit to running forums with residents and meaningful community engagement after election? – the candidates agreed
The Rosstown Election Forum will be held tonight and we believe it will be as successful and informative as last night Camden Forum. Details of, and registration for, the Rosstown Forum are available in our previous post – WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE AN INFORMED VOTE IN THE GLEN EIRA COUNCIL ELECTIONS
To quote one participant’s comment
“Now is the vital time to elect the right people to get the right thing done and we need to elect nine of them. We have too much to lose to miss this opportunity”
If you wish to comment on or ask a question on this posting please do so on GERA’s FaceBook
Authorized by: B. Hatfield, 21/41 Chapel Street, St. Kilda, Vic. 3182
Glen Eira Residents' Association Inc 