VINCENT council is paying Instagram influencers hundreds of dollars per post to advertise its events.
The city’s financial documents reveal they paid Instagrammer @ashleighjade05 (aka Ashleigh Jade Munro-Smith) $450 for a February 24 post spruiking Leedy Streets Open Days to her 110,000 followers.
“The perfect ending to our weekend with a family friendly (and pet friendly) event at Leedy Streets Open,” she had posted.
Another Instagrammer @sceneinperth was paid $150 for a post advertising the Unfair Day event to their 23,000 followers.
Ms Munro-Smith, a model, health-advocate, brand-ambassador and Zoo magazine cover girl, says on her website she “will only ever promote a product she truly believes in”.
Most of the posts on her page are advertisements for clothes, make up and accessories. Some influencers are paid cash, while others write the post in return for free products.
Vincent council CEO David MacLennan said they had started to trial using Instagram influencers on “certain issues” like community events.
“Our experience has been that utilising local residents with a large following on social media is a highly effective way of connecting with our community on new initiatives or events,” he says.
AFTER years of dysfunction and controversy the City of Perth is wiping the slate clean and rebooting its senior management.
Over the past year its five directors have resigned and now the city is advertising on SEEK for four general managers to fill their shoes.
The ad states “The City of Perth is entering a new era of leadership, ending a period of uncertainty and disruption.
“Under the leadership of three independent commissioners and an experienced and respected CEO, a full review of the city’s management and internal operations has been undertaken, paving the way for a fresh and united approach.”
It’s been one controversy after another at the city, starting with the Corruption and Crime Commission’s probe into lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi, and then CEO Martin Mileham going on prolonged stress leave before resigning. The current CEO Murray Jorgensen was appointed in November, and was quoted in The West Australian as saying all five of the city’s directors had resigned in the past year, and they’d been surviving on two acting directors covering five roles.
The five directorships will be “streamlined” into four “alliances” led by general managers, who’ll have a total package of $300,000 each, including car allowance and super.
The ad states “as an executive team member you will…stand by and publicly support executive decisions” and “candidates are not only selected for their individual merits, but how they will perform collectively as part of the new leadership team”.
The council is currently suspended during the state government inquiry into the city, but councillor Reece Harley has been keeping an eye on proceedings and wrote on his councillor Facebook page: “I am disappointed that there has not been more transparency about these changes. Two of the original five directors are still listed on the City of Perth’s website.
“Were these staff made redundant, did they simply give up their lucrative entitlements or were they forced out, and under what circumstances and at what cost to the budget?
“Our stakeholders, business leaders, community groups and industry representatives deserve to know who the key management of the city are during this period of renewal.”
• This note could have been nicer, our correspondent feels.
by DAVID BELL
A KIND local who put out chairs for people at De Lacey Park has been given a stern “authoritarian” warning from Bayswater council to get rid of them.
There’s a tight-knit dogwalking community at De Lacey and about a year and a half ago someone put chairs out for them.
Previously donated furniture had gone missing, so they bolted the chairs together and they were regularly used by dogwalkers and folk using public barbecues.
Recently the dogwalkers showed up to find a terse note saying the chairs were not fit for general community use, and “the city therefore instructs the owner of this seating to arrange for its immediate removal from site”.
It said “appropriate bench seating will be provided by the city within this general area in the coming weeks”.
One local called the Voice after reading about the City of Bayswater improving its community engagement in recent years.
Authoritarian
She said the “authoritarian” note didn’t gel with their new consultative image.
She said if the council had sent along a staffer for a friendly chat everyone would’ve been understanding: They could’ve collaborated on what furniture they needed and the best spot for it.
“Wouldn’t it have been nice to say, ‘hey, we’ve noticed some chairs gathered here, you obviously need them, let’s get together and have a chat about what you need’,” our correspondent said.
THE City of Vincent is proposing new “caretaker” rules to stop councillors splashing cash on policies that would boost their re-election chances.
The new rules are designed “to protect the apolitical nature of the public sector and avoid the use of city resources that advantages a particular candidate,” a report to council states.
Under the proposal, during the 37 days between close of council nominations and election day, the city would not make “major policy decisions,” appoint a CEO or announce new sponsorships of more than $20,000.
A councillor could also not request staff to put work into a report “that, in the CEO’s opinion, could be perceived within the general community as an electoral issue and has the potential to call into question whether decisions are soundly based and in the best interests of the community”.
Councillors will vote whether to approve the draft rules at the next meeting, and then it’ll go out for public comment.
Perth and Stirling councils have caretaker periods, and Bayswater introduced similar rules in 2016 at the urging of now-retired councillor Brent Fleeton.
• Ramiah Alcantara, Caitlin McFeat and Tess Metcalf. Photo supplied.
EVIE is a typical 17-year-old who sneaks out to meet boys, masturbates furiously and tries desperately to be cool.
She’s the protagonist of See You Next Tuesday, a comedy play about adolescence written by Highgate’s Sam Nerida.
Nerida was a trifle nervous about mum being in the audience on opening night.
“There are small moments reflected in my life.
“Conversations about not wanting to talk to your mum about sex.
“I want to show a young woman with power, intelligence and a huge libido.
“Sex education in Australian and so many other places is absolutely pathetic, and I’m also sick of the sad, poetic virginity story.
“Sex should be fun, and teenagers are doing it – I want to talk about that.”
The comedy celebrates adolescence and all the messy stuff that comes with it, Nerida says.
“I tried to write her as mature and immature.”
Three actors play a different side of Evie.
One is worried about her future and disappointing her parents; the second is sexually-mature and ready to take on the world; and the third is desperate to be cool, to be liked, and to be seen wearing the right clothes.
“We get the whole picture of what it’s like to be a teenager,” Nerida says.
Prior to See You Next Tuesday opening, there will be a photo exhibition of the play’s actors at The Bird in Northbridge from May 27-June 15.
The play’s soundtrack, written by local musician Sakidasumi, will be also played at the exhibition opening.
See You Next Tuesday is on at the Blue Room Theatre, James Street, Northbridge June 18-July 6. Tix at http://www.blueroom.org.au
• A senior gets advice on how to navigate the often-baffling aged care system.
ARE you a senior still living at home but unsure what support services you are entitled to?
How do you get started, find the information you need or access the services that are out there when you don’t know where to look?
Council on the Ageing WA are helping older people remain independent by teaching them how to access the My Aged Care system in a new government trial.
Twice a week volunteers hold free “community hub” sessions in Victoria Park, where seniors can go to learn how to get the help they need.
“Navigating a complex aged care system can be both confusing and distressing, particularly for those who are starting out on this journey and are unsure about where to start,” the council’s CEO Christine Allen said.
“We encourage people to take advantage of this free service and to explore all options before making what can be life-changing decisions.
“COTA WA is delighted to be a partner in this new initiative that is being funded by the federal government to assist people to access important information and services.”
Volunteers provide hands-on support and tailored information for older people and their families and friends, in a friendly and welcoming environment.
Hands-on
The aged care community hub sessions are held on Tuesday and Thursday 9am-12noon at Connect Victoria Park, 5 Mackie Street.
COTA WA also runs an information hub at The Perron Centre, 61 Kitchener Avenue, Victoria Park, Monday-Thursday from 10am-3pm.
To make an appointment with an “aged care navigator” at either of the hubs call 1300 025 298 or email agedcareinformation@cotawa.org.au
COTA WA are independent from service providers, and can also provide speakers for seniors’ clubs in metropolitan Perth.
I WAS so tempted to pick one of the rosy red apples peeking over the high wall outside this Perth home.
But the manicured front garden had no snakes to beguile me and unlike Eve, I resisted.
My reward was a delightful early 1900s tuck-pointed home with all the bells and whistles, including a colourful stained glass thistle on the front door.
The three-bedroom home is replete with polished jarrah floors, deep skirting, delicate ceiling roses, picture rails and timber-framed fireplaces.
The two street-facing bedrooms have almost floor-to-ceiling sash windows overlooking the front courtyard garden.
The centerpiece of the home is the spacious lounge, which has a massive ceiling rose and a lovely coal fire place.
The rear of the home has three separate spaces – a kitchen, central dining area and a study (plus a bathroom). I’d knock out walls to open things up, modernise the kitchen and convert the study into a scullery.
The kitchen is a generous space so there’s plenty to work with, and the dining area has a bank of bifold doors that open onto a landscaped garden, making alfresco dining easy.
This 304sqm property has commercial/residential zoning and was recently an office, but it would make a delightful abode or a home office.
Situated on Lacey Street, the house is a stone’s throw from the Beaufort and Walcott Street strip and the Perth CBD is a short bus ride away.
By JENNY D’ANGER
13 Lacey Street, Perth from $820,000 Jodi Darlington | 0413 610 661 Pam Herron | 0413 610 660 The Agency
THE opening of the North Perth Common town square is just around the corner, with the centrepiece artwork installed this week.Western Power’s due to connect the lighting by the end of the month.
Vincent mayor Emma Cole (pictured) says the new artwork will help make the new town square an “iconic visual landmark” for North Perth. “
The dramatic circles will be art by day and will light up the common at night,” Ms Cole said. An official opening event is in the works.
PERTH council’s ruling commissioners are considering dropping generous heritage grants to privately-owned buildings.
The city awards grants to heritage-listed buildings in need of restoration, but at the April 30 meeting commissioner Andrew Hammond threw a spanner in the works.
“I’m not convinced that it is good public policy to invest ratepayer’s funds into privately owned properties,” the commissioner said.
“I’m not saying it’s a wrong thing, but I’m saying it’s something that requires review.”
The commissioners deferred a $20,000 grant that’d go towards a conservation management plan for the privately-owned Bon Marche arcade until after a review of the city’s heritage policy.
They did approve grants worth $366,157 for six private properties at Connor Quinlan estate on Barrack Street, but Comm Hammond added a note cutting off any more funding until the policy review was complete.
Perth councillor Reece Harley — sidelined along with the rest of council by the state government’s inquiry into the city — had been the most pro-heritage voice on council.
Accountable
“Councillors are democratically elected community representatives and accountable to the people,” Cr Harley said.
“In workshops I attended to develop the city’s Strategic Community Plan 2029, protecting and treasuring heritage was a repeating theme put forward by community members.
“One of the key goals that flowed from the plan was for Perth to be a city that ‘showcases and celebrates its heritage’.
“Council officers have been negotiating in good faith with owners of heritage properties across the city to encourage them to retain and restore their buildings.
“Throwing these discussions to the wind and fundamentally questioning the value and purpose of a community-endorsed strategy and policy is certainly an interesting approach.”
Cr Harley says a restored heritage building with a tenant helped lifted the rates paid to the council, repaying the grant many times over.
“Owners always pay the lion’s share of any restoration with the city’s heritage grant only comprising a small portion,” he said.
“If the government-appointed Commissioners desire a more beautiful city that treasures and celebrates its history, then investing and protecting what little remains should be a top priority.”
MAYLANDS MP Lisa Baker wants to ban the export of Australian greyhounds to countries without animal cruelty laws.
For years Ms Baker has fought for better treatment of greyhounds in Australia, arguing that overbreeding leads to “wastage”.
Dogs that aren’t fast enough, don’t have a competitive nature or get injured are often killed.
But dogs shipped overseas to countries with no welfare laws are subject to even worse fates.
On May 9 Ms Baker lodged a grievance motion in state parliament about the issue.
• Aussie greyhounds can face a hell of a time if they’re exported to countries with no welfare laws.
Boiled alive
“No one with an ounce of integrity or compassion would send an animal to a country where there are no welfare laws; where dogs are eaten, beaten to death, boiled alive or slammed to death. We have footage of all of these things happening, unfortunately,” Ms Baker said.
In July 2018 the huge greyhound racing stadium Canidrome Club in Macau closed down.
For decades it had been a place of misery for Australian greyhounds, who were either raced to death or killed when faster dogs came along.
Greyhounds Australasia, the racing industry’s governing body, stopped allowing its registered members to export to Macau in 2013 over longstanding welfare concerns.
But that didn’t stop unregistered operators shipping hundreds of dogs a year to Macau; many of them supplied by registered trainers and breeders offloading dogs who weren’t fast enough to race in Australia.
Ms Baker wants the federal government to close the loophole to protect the dogs.
While 520 dogs were spared by the closure of Canidrome, Australian greyhounds are still being sent to China, Dubai, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
In response to her motion, state racing minister Paul Papalia said he’d tried to get federal agriculture minister David Littleproud to amend the law but the response was “woefully inadequate,” as Mr Littleproud told him it was within a states’ power to regulate greyhound exports.
• Lisa Baker at the Global Greyhound Walk in June last year. Fellow Labor MP Stephen Price (right) has one pet greyhound and is now adopting one of the dogs rescued from the Canidrome.
Inherently cruel
Mr Papalia said a WA-born greyhound could simply be shipped to another state and then sent overseas, and he would be “writing immediately” to the new agriculture minister post-election to “ensure that a national approach is adopted”.
While Labor party policy has been to work with the greyhound racing industry to improve standards; the Greens want an outright ban.
Greens MP Alison Xamon describes greyhound racing as “inherently cruel”, and that the industry relies on “overbreeding of puppies, and wastage (a polite term for the euthanasia of animals not suitable for racing) is rife”.
Perth Voice Interactive 