Moggy Musings: Archived material from Boy The Wonder Cat

A 5am mayoral musing: At 4pm today, 27 September 2016 Clarence Valley Council chooses its mayor for the first two years of the new council term. With neither Richie Williamson or Andrew Baker (both re-elected councillors) able to convince a majority of their fellow councillors to endorse them for the top job, it now looks likely that Jim Simmons of Maclean will be the next mayor, with Jason Kingsley as his deputy. However, nothing is set in stone so tune in to the live broadcast of the vote at http://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/page.asp?c=535.

An for avid council watchers musing: Those local government watchers in the valley may find these names familiar, in Gary Wilson Bax v Kevin Graeme Wilson (District Court 2016/00048884). After all the origin of this defamation action was the subject of a Clarence Valley Council meeting item and was reported in local media at the time. After mediation this matter was removed from the District Court calendar on 21 September 2016 and I rather suspect that right now Clarence Valley Council administration is scrambling to find out what happened. Knowing management’s batting record with regard to certain aspects of local government law, I’m willing to bet it now has a very generous amount of egg on its face which it may have to eventually explain to the incoming councillors.

A just can’t look away musing: the disintegration of The Clarence Forum since candidate nominations closed for the 2016 Clarence Valley local government elections has had the gruesome fascination of an oncoming train wreck. Bloody derailment finally occurred on Facebook between 28 August and 5 September with accusations of hate speech, partisanship, plots, blocking, banning, slander, lying, flying through the air as posts/comments were alleged to be appearing and disappearing.A local government election musing: there is talk around town that a former editor of The Daily Examiner may be flirting with the idea of standing at the next Clarence Valley Council election.

A get me outta here! musing: It is being said that a certain local government senior executive on the NSW North Coast is desperate to relocate anywhere but the Clarence Valley – perhaps there is no more room it in the office filing cabinet for all those rumoured industrial relations, discrimination, budgetary and conduct complaint issues and he feels the need for pastures new or perhaps he would prefer a workplace where his personal life is not the subject of so much staff gossip.

A laughing until my sides hurt musing: The look on my human’s face was priceless when she received this unexpected email from Nationals MP Kevin Hogan which began “It's been a pleasure working with you over the last three years. Together we are making meaningful, measurable progress toward ensuring we get the share of funding we deserve for things like roads, schools, hospitals, and other services.” However, I confess I grew alarmed at the purple hue of that same face when she opened a second email concerning Andrew Bolt which said “You are invited to join Andrew, Senator Cory Bernardi and John Roskam from the Institute of Public Affairs for two hours of networking with fellow conservatives at CLF House.”

An enterprising musing: An industrial dispute has been registered with the NSW Industrial Relations Commission between the NSW Local Government, Clerical, Administrative, Airlines & Utilities Union and Clarence Valley Council. A compulsory conference is being held on 23 March 2016.

A fiery musing: One sharp-eyed little dog living over at Iluka noticed something rather strange the other day on a wooded block of land that had recently been found to be home to a small forest of endangered coastal trees – a rather ‘convenient’ little fire has started on this lot which just happens to be the subject of a development application, which if it went ahead would see most of the land clear-felled and all those endangered trees removed. Luckily someone called the firies and the flames were doused.

Boy the Wonder Cat

ps. a shout out to my doggie mates Hector, Molly & Coco

Moggy Musings [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

A bob each way musing: The Australian Electoral Commission has released the political donation list for 2014-15 and Google "First Do No Harm" Inc has decided it's a good idea to give money to Labor and the Liberals - $60k for the ALP & $66k to the Libs. So ya'll know who to blame if your team loses click here to search the records.

A let's share musing: Granny Herald let the cat out of the bag on 04.02.15 -Another of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's investments is under scrutiny, with revelations he has a financial stake in the global parent company of the scandal-plagued 7-Eleven empire. Fairfax Media can reveal Mr Turnbull has shares in two international investment funds that invest in Japanese conglomerate Seven & I Holdings. Seven & I's major subsidiary is Seven-Eleven Japan, which is the parent company of 7-Eleven in the United States. The US company in turn licences the billionaire Withers and Barlow family, who own Australia's scandal-plagued stores. As a Senate committee prepares to probe the wages exploitation scandal on Friday, Labor has claimed the investment raises concerns Mr Turnbull must address.

A victorious Gloucester musing: 4 February 2016 - AGL Energy Limited (AGL) today announced that following a review, it has taken a strategic decision that exploration and production of natural gas assets will no longer be a core business for the company due to the volatility of commodity prices and long development lead times…In New South Wales, AGL will not proceed with the Gloucester Gas Project and will cease production at the Camden Gas Project in South West Sydney in 2023, twelve years earlier than previously proposed. Resulting impairments for both projects have included additional provisions ensuring rehabilitation costs have been appropriately provided for.

A political waste musing: I was listening to the hoomins nattering over their coffee (I prefer tea as anyone letting me close to their cup inevitably finds out) and I discovered that the company which empties the garbage bins at my house gave the Queensland Liberal and National parties a whopping $247,750 in 2014-15. Guess they didn’t see much bang for their buck.

A who is that musing: So which Liberal Senator has a URL ending in a strangely inappropriate three-letter word?http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=G0D? Why it’s Senator Oriency Drab.

A blast from the past musing: On 21 May 2015 Tempers flared at a Byron Shire Council meeting today as a crowd of ratepayers turned out to have their say on the $1.2 million temporary rock wall at Belongil Beach. At one point during the meeting, that covered a variety of issues, councillor Rose Wanchap, in response to a heckler in the crowd, threw both of her shoes into the gallery.

A campaigning musing: A little birdie told me that people are prepared to come to New England from as far away as South Australia to campaign for independent Tony Windsor if he decides to run against the Nats Barnaby Joyce.

A January court blitz musing: Look who is taking local government in the Northern Rivers to court this month. Jane Stanford v Clarence Valley Council(District Court), Lorraine Carroll v Clarence Valley Council trading as Clarence Valley Council(Supreme Court),Dawn Mary Allen v Ballina Shire Council(District Court), R v TWEED SHIRE COUNCIL (Local Court),Rory Bruce-Allen by his next friend Karen Anne Bruce-Allen v BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL,(District Court).

A West Yamba musing: So which landowner-cum-developer is rumoured to be suing Clarence Valley Council and others over an approved development application?

A whosa grinch musing: It's not just a sly Iluka DA that turned up on Christmas Eve - on the same day council workers removed 4 picnic tables and seating from the Rotary shelter at Iluka sports oval. When sprung Clarence Valley Council told locals that this outdoor picnic furniture (said to be have been paid for by Rotary and the local fishing club) would be refurbished & returned before 7 February 2016. More than one little moggy on that side of the river has muttered quietly that it's only being returned because they were sprung.

A what's the question again musing: Here is an Independent Australia pop quiz.

Over the last 31 months, since May 2013, 23 state or federal parliamentarians have either been forced to resign from their party or the executive (government or parliamentary) following allegations of misconduct. How many were Labor Party MPs?

(a) All 23.

(b) Eleven, fewer than half.

(c) Only six.

(d) Three.

The footnote added last time still applies: not all stood aside are necessarily guilty. At least one has since been rehabilitated.

Answer: (d) Three

Moggy Musings [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

A doin' a donges musing: In Clarence Valley Council's May 2015 CG&W business paper a favourite ploy has been brought into play by a management eager to get its own way - summarise the 48 submissions received regarding the Coldstream-Yamba intersection roundabout so that the authentic voice of Yamba residents is not entered into the public record. Tsk, tsk.

A taken to the court again musing: In April 2015 it was Kerry Maree Durrington v Clarence Valley Council in the District Court at Coffs Harbour, in May it is Janie Terese Emms v Clarence Valley Council in the District Court at Grafton.

An it's been going for yonks musing: Geoffrey William Good Leviny is back in court on 12 May 2015 for a mention at Maclean Local Court (criminal jurisdiction) in the matter of NSW Police v Geoffrey William LEVINY.

A he said what?! musing: Local government watchers in the Clarence Valley will have no difficulty in recognizing who it was that allegedly said this to a worker exiting the toilet - I don't pay you to pee on my time.

An expensive GM musing: There is a rumour doing the rounds that in 2015 the poor management practices of a certain NSW North Coast general manager have cost the local government council he works for an IR court-approved payout of tens of thousands of dollars in a matter brought on behalf of a member by the United Services Union, the largest local government union in NSW.

An iVote musing: According to the NSW Electoral Commission only 2,491 voters out of 54,474 registered voters in the Clarence electorate used the digital iVote system at the 28 March 2015 NSW state election. Of these, 53 digital ballot papers contained errors and were therefore declared Informal.

A Gawd, not another political party! musing: On 24 February 2015 ex- Palmer United Party senator Jacqui Lambie applied to the Australian Electoral Commission to form the Jacqui Lambie Network.

A did you know musing: The Abbott Government's Commission of Audit wants the Minimum Wage to grow by less than the CPI for the next ten years, so that by 2025 it will be only 44% of national average weekly earnings instead of the 56% it is today.

A new nickname musing: Well that didn't take long! Only nine days since News Corp brought into APN News & Media and north of the Rio Tweed they are now calling these regional newspapers the feral murdochs :-)

A what a load of whoppers musing: Slyvester the tom cat who patrols a section of Yamba Road tells me that his hoomin was telling friends that the Nats Chris Gulaptis must hold the Clarence candidate record for telling the most political fibs over this election campaign. Apparently they flow effortlessly from his lips.

A scary fact musing: In 2014 Facebook gave Australian government agencies information about 1,032 people with Facebook pages.

A wheels of the bus go round and round musing: NSW Industrial Relations Commission Court list for : 16/03/2015 11:00am Report Back and Further Compulsory Conference IRC14/833 - USU & Clarence Valley Council re alleged treatment of member.

A hand me the Jaws of Life musing: I'm still laughing over this description of the Clarence Valley Council General Manager's 'open door' policy - you have to use a tin opener to get in to see him.

An it must be galling musing: I wonder how a NSW North Coast local government general manager feels knowing that a former councillor, who contested a code of conduct complaint and won handsomely with costs awarded, is now living the good life on a fine 1,000ha plus rural property with a large very attractive farm house, while this administrator is facing the prospect of legal action against yet another council which employed him?

A your vote or no bridge musing: This is the position Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis takes on the second Grafton Bridge in the Clarence Valley - The NSW Coalition has committed to building a second bridge in Grafton and we have reserved $177 million from Restart NSW to its construction. The $177 million is currently listed as unallocated on the Statement of Uncommitted Funds released by NSW Treasury. The Coalition would have to be re-elected to ensure the $177 million was allocated to the construction of the Grafton Bridge.

I hope Clarence Valley voters are noticing the admission that there is no $177 million allocated in the 2014-15 NSW Budget or forward estimates. Apart from the $429,275 covering the quality assurance contract won by Geolink this year there appears to be no guaranteed money and any further funding to actually progress and build the new bridge may not be in the 2015-16 budget – or in the budget the year after that or the year after that or the year after that……

An arrogance personified musing: After the first Clarence Valley Council meeting he attended an angry little local pollie, elected by default in 2015 and with a little over one year's past experience in local government 27 years ago, is reportedly "pleased with the overall performance" of his fellow councillors – all of whom have represented their communities for far longer than he. Happy to plead 'new chum' status to avoid sitting on more than one committee, but willing to try and bully the meeting when it went on too long for his liking. Oh, dear. This does not bode well for the future.

A candidate who? musing: Rumours are circulating that former Nats MP for Clarence Steve Cansdell was thinking about standing at the March 2015 NSW election – until the Nationals allegedly threatened him with looking into his false statutory declaration again. Surely not!

A questioning musing: What was one of Adani Mining Pty Ltd's company cars doing parked at the corner of Victoria & Prince streets in Grafton on or about 29 January 2015? Apparently once this car was sighted around 20 metres from Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis' electoral office speculation began about what a representative of this multinational Indian mining company was doing in the Clarence Valley.

A telling it like it is musing: In the Sunshine Coast Daily on 31 January 2015 - “News Corp's biased coverage during the campaign was appalling. Its agenda was clear with the front page headlines claiming bikies were backing Labor, followed up by a front page endorsement of Mr Newman last Sunday. The growth of social media, and alternative, independent news sources meant the paper's view mattered little in the end.”

Moggy Musings [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

An and they're off! musing: Clarence electorate candidates in 2015 NSW election beginning to answer voters' questions on a moderated Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/849822838393354/

A meet the candidates musing: Yamba Chamber of Commerce is holding a Meet the Candidates Forum so that people can measure up those standing in the Clarence electorate in the 2015 NSW election. Monday 23 March at the Yamba Bowling Club at 5.30pm.

A Tarzan of the Jungle musing: I get a bit of mail from locals these days and a heartfelt moan about roadside verges fell out of the letter box this week - Many local councils, including Clarence Valley Council, reckon they can save a few bucks by mowing the grass verges along the sides of local roads on fewer occasions. Good idea in theory ... rotten and dangerous idea in reality.

Local wags driving around the valley reckon the flood gauge signs, which indicate flood heights on local roads, have acquired another important role. Motorists are using them to see how high the overgrown vegetation is near the road. The wags reckons there are many places they wouldn't be game to pull off the road - the height of the overgrown roadside vegetation is such that their vehicles would disappear from sight and need to be put on a missing vehicles register.

Another reader sent me these Facebook quotes this week:

* Afternoon Councillors of CVC. I would like to draw to your attention that Mahogany Drive Pillar Valley nature strip has not been slashed for over 3 years. Your tractor driver has been in the area for last couple of days doing Wooli Rd but again has not slashed Mahogany Dr. I would like it to be slashed as it is 6ft tall grass and fire prone. Please advise when the nature strip will be slashed as it used to be slashed by the previous driver twice a year.

* I spoke to Council staff member on Friday who spoke to Supervisor who said that Mahogany Dr was to be slashed and was going to get onto the driver to come back & slash the road. This morning the slasher driver came back and slashed the road but only partly done along the front of our boundary on Mahogany Dr, he has only slashed close to the road side and not to the boundary fence where the grass is 6ft tall and requires a big tractor & slasher to carry out the work particularly where Council realigned the road onto Wooli Rd and hence making it probably difficult for him to do.

* Out front of my property grass is 6ft long and probably snake infested. If my dogs get bitten by snake from there I'll be seriously looking at Council.

An Abbott is a b**tard musing: The New "GP Fee" Explained video here by Dr.George Forgan-Smith.

An even an owner won't buy musing: On 12 January 2015 a stock exchange notice revealed that Metgasco Limited’s Managing Director & CEO Peter Henderson failed to excise his option on 645,161 Metgasco ordinary shares by 28 November 2014. Does this mean that Henderson is not willing to invest further in this company?

An excuse me while I snigger musing: Rumour has it that some large Metgasco Limited and Elk Petrolem Ltd shareholders are privately admitting that their shareholdings are worthless - that they "can't give them away".

A Peter Principle in action musing: On New Year's Day The Australian reported that Tony Abbott has promised to keep Australia “safe and secure” in 2015. Eleven days later the media spin was a little different; Less than a month after the Sydney siege and in the midst of the controversial Paris Charlie Hebdo shootings Prime Minister Tony Abbott has admitted it's impossible to watch returning jihadis 24-7. In an interview with 2GB radio on Thursday Mr Abbott admits that Australian jihadis who return from war-torn counties such as Syria and Iraq cannot be watched round the clock. But he claims they are under 'reasonable supervision'.

An it can only happen at a call centre musing: Imagine you're on your way to work around 5.45am and find your progress blocked by a very large tree which has fallen across the road. You phone the emergency number on your mobile and are put through to the main NSW State Emergency Service (SES) call centre. You ask for SES assistance in removing the tree from the road. The call centre informs you that the road you are on doesn't exist and that neither Tucabia nor Tyndale (both named districts which have been around since the 1800s) can be found on its computerised map. That's what happened to one Clarence Valley resident as he travelled along Bostock Road in December 2014. Luckily for him a local farmer passed by an hour later, went back to fetch his chainsaw and then removed enough of the tree to let cars pass. The driver has no idea if an SES crew ever turned up, but does know that a local crew did turn up for the next tree that came down. Bet whoever reported that second tree didn't contact the main call centre!

A January 2015 hot weather musing: As commercial building airconditioning systems coped with operational overload, the media reported:

Extreme hot weather in Perth has sent the internet into meltdown.

Thousands of iiNet customers across Australia have found themselves offline after the company shut down some of its systems at its Perth data centre because of record breaking-temperatures.

"Due to record breaking temperatures, iiNet Toolbox, Email and our corporate websites are unavailable. Apologies for any inconvenience caused," iiNet tweeted.

An even if it was tongue-in-cheek it was irresponsible musing: My two-legs still hasn’t realised that I know how to wake up the laptop while she is in Dreamland. Mostly I use this My Time! to browse the newest catfood ads for the most expensive items in the supermarkets and, then I go on a hunger-strike until she brings home my latest ‘favourite’ tucker. Of course I’m not really going hungry because I have one neighbour dog trained to step back ten paces while I eat his dried nibbles placed by his backdoor (but don’t tell anyone!). Expecting a pleasurable first Google browse of 2015 the other night, instead I came across this on the January 3: Hey, all you rich dicks pulling down sweet, sweet bucks from your lucrative bar and restaurant jobs and flaunting your wads of cash in front of the little people - the man is onto you, and you won't be on that gravy train for much longer. Whoever Alasdair is he has a rather strange and upside down view of the world if he likes to pretend that bar and restaurant workers in a notoriously low paid industry figure amongst Australia’s rich elite and need to be taken down a peg or two, even after their weekend penalty rates were cut last year.

Boy

PS. This is one of my fav dogs with his new 'mum'. He needed to be re-homed and found a furever home in the Lower Clarence Valley. Unfortunately, like many re-homed animals in the area, his new life is put at risk by sections of Clarence Valley Council's proposed Keeping of Animals Policy.

Moggy Musings [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

A bad business vibes musing: There are three rumours floating around the Northern Rivers at the very beginning of 2015. The first rumour has it that not all Elk Petroleum Ltd's significant shareholders are impressed by the financial management record of the company's new merger partner, coal seam gas explorer and wannabee production company Metgasgo Limited whose sole assets up to now have been exploration licences on the NSW North Coast. The basic question appears to be; how did Metgasco spend so much with so little progress to show for it? A second 'bad form' rumour places a senior Metgasco figure in the USA, in the lead up to the merger, badmouthing a former Metgasco director to anyone who would stop still long enough to listen. While the third rumour anticipates the current Metgasco managing director, CEO and shareholder being permanently sidelined in 2015 on the basis of his performance history.

A Fly free little bird! musing: On 31 December 2014 The Daily Examiner of Grafton NSW accidentally let a truncated version of its 2 January 2015 issue escape onto the Internet - giving Clarence Valley readers a good laugh once they discovered it flying free in cyberspace. The best rollicking response came from one wag in Yamba who emailed North Coast Voices: What a ripper! Gee, I'm disappointed ... it doesn't have the results for the Randwick races to be run tomorrow, 1st January! That's pretty slack.

A Metgasco musing: Sometimes it feels so good to be a cat. No a worry in the world and never tempted to stray into uncatlike realms. So when my live-in servant looks up stock prices I only ever prick my ears if there is seafood in the company name. Which means that I gave a big feline yawn when she looked at me, pointed to the screen and announced that a week out from Christmas coal seam gas miner Metgasco Limited's ordinary share price was sitting at an unimpressive 4.1 cents and it still can't proceed with its planned drilling at Bentley on the NSW North Coast.

An administration #FAIL musing: NSW Industrial Relations Commission, Monday 15 December 2014 2:00pm, Report Back via Tele Conference IRC14/833 - USU & Clarence Valley Council re alleged treatment of member.

An Eddie Obeid musing: Sydney Dowling Centre Local Court, 18 December 2014 9.30am, Mentions (Police), R v Edward Moses Obeid, Case Numbers 201400345493 & 201400345512.

A surveying musing: Some voters in the NSW Clarence electorate are wondering if Reachtel's early desire to find out which local political aspirants they might prefer in the March 2015 state election is being paid for by the National Party, as it tries to decide how much money to spend on the incumbent MP Chris Lazybones Gulaptis' re-election campaign.

An everyone speak up! musing: Word around the catnip patch is that Voices for Clarence had its official opening today. This Facebook page is a platform for people in the Clarence Valley to share knowledge and information in the Clarence Electorate ahead of the March 2015 NSW State Election. Get over there folks and start the ball rolling!

A this won't end well musing: Clarence Valley Council is on the NSW Industrial Relations Commission court list once again, Monday 1 December 20143:00pm Compulsory Conference IRC14/833 - USU & Clarence Valley Council re alleged treatment of member. Given the unhealthy corporate culture that appears to have developed since 2011 I can’t see this ending well for council.

Boy

Moggy Musings [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

A running joke musing: Not content with proposing a coal terminal in the Port of Yamba and later changing it to a transport hub which would ship agriculture, produce, forestry, petrochemical products, refined fuel, minerals and assorted machinery - now Desmond Euen is turning his eyes to Casino and Murwillumbah.

The Northern Rivers Guardians' Facebook page carries this notice of the Northern Rivers Railway Action Group Save our Tracks Forum; Yamba Port and Rail proposal’s managing director Des Euen will be one of the speakers at the Rail Meeting at Lismore Workers Club on Saturday the 22nd of November in relation to his intention to reopen the Casino to Murwillumbah rail service. The meeting goes from 2pm to 5pm. Hope to see some of you there.

There appears to be no end to Des Euan's self-promotion drive.

A matter of journalistic spine musing: My faithful slave has been quietly giggling ever since she found out the excuse APN's The Daily Examiner was giving for not picking up the phone and asking Clarence Valley Council about its taping of conversations occurring in council chambers - apparently it just didn't have the manpower available at the moment.

Her giggles turned to a hoot of laughter on Wednesday 17 November 2014 when the much smaller free community newspaper the Clarence Valley Review, with fewer journalists and a smaller budget, managed to publish a Page 3 article on the subject, Little brother is listening.

A when a half-truth is a pork pie musing: An 18 November 2014 Clarence Valley Council mayoral minute states: There is a shift in NSW towards allowing elected mayors to serve in office for periods of longer that one year, as is the current practice. The NSW Government Fit for the Future report states that “We will introduce longer terms for Mayors and clearer roles for council leaders. These changes will help to bring more stability and accountability to councils”.

What the minute didn’t state was that this only applied to a mayoral election by councillors according to the Baird Government.

Something that will occur at mayoral elections in the Clarence Valley which will be held every two years after 10 September 2016 if Mayor Richie Williamson fails in his bid to establish popular mayoral elections and a mandatory 4-year mayoral term in the Clarence Valley.

Hopefully, councillors will insist that this fact is included in the For and Against cases the council is obliged to advertise before the 21 February 2015 referendum, in which valley voters will be asked if they want to have a mayor elected by popular vote, with ratepayers funding that second type of election as well as the election of nine councillors.

In 2012 Coffs Harbour City councillor and mayoral elections totalled a combined $289,290 cost against that council's bottom line according to the NSW Office of Local Government.

A council by-election musing: There is one rumour doing the rounds that retired Grafton District Services Club manager and friend of Clarence Valley Council Mayor Richie Williamson Arthur Lysaght is considering standing at the 2015 Clarence Valley local government by-election and another that disgraced former NSW Nats MP for Clarence Steve Cansdell is thinking of standing as well.

A shirt-fronted Tony Abbott musing:

As I hopped into the laundry tub for a nice cool dip in today’s heat, the G20 ganged up on the Oz Prime Minister and ignored his insistence that the summit did not mention the war climate change. G20 leaders included this item in the official 21 point communique, “19. We support strong and effective action to address climate change. Consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its agreed outcomes, our actions will support sustainable development, economic growth, and certainty for business and investment. We will work together to adopt successfully a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the UNFCCC that is applicable to all parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris in 2015. We encourage parties that are ready to communicate their intended nationally determined contributions well in advance of COP21 (by the first quarter of 2015 for those parties ready to do so). We reaffirm our support for mobilising finance for adaptation and mitigation, such as the Green Climate Fund.”

Best of all was reading the 35 page G20 Climate Finance Study Group –Report to the Finance Ministers – 2014 aka The Green Fund document – a fund Mista Rabbott has been resisting at various international forums since he first came to office. No doubt about it, he was right royally shirt-fronted by the world’s most powerful between 15-17 November 2014.

A microchipping musing: Clarence Valley Council is holding a reduced-rate microchipping day for cats and dogs at Grafton Animal Pound on Saturday 15 November 2014 from 11am to 2 pm. No appointment necessary. Cost $27 with payment by EFTPOS or cheque only. Remember to bring your cat in a carry cage or your dog on a lead. The pound is located at 16 Induna Street, South Grafton. Phone contact is 6642 5689 (direct) or via council's switchboard 6643 0200.

Council is trying to organise a second reduced rate microchipping day sometime next year specifically for public and social housing tenants. If you love your moggy or doggy please get it a microchip so that it has a chance of coming home if it accidentally becomes separated from its human family.

A local government election musing: Clarence Valley Council is understood to be holding a by-election in February 2015 to fill the vacancy caused by the tragic death of Cr. Jeremy Challacombe.

An itchy feet musing: Which North Coast local government general manager has never stayed more than four years in any job since about 1992? Eight jobs in 22 years. Wow! He’s got almost 20 years to retirement and at this rate should be able to cram in at least 7 more councils before collecting his superannuation.

A Love, Tony musing: These letters to aged pensioners that Prime Minister Abbott churns out appear to be making a bit of a stir - in November 2014 Centrelink's call centre automated response lists "Prime Minister's Letter" as one of the options. Tony Dum-Dum sent out individually addressed letters in which he informed pensioners that their pensions will not be reduced. Obviously lotsa members of the grey brigade don't believe him if Centrelink has to channel calls in this way. On a feline scale of trust Mr. Wabbott scores NIL.

A sad musing at 11.21am 28 October 2014: A local Clarence Valley couple died in a car crash in Tyson St at around 2.30pm on Monday, 27 October 2014. The husband is believed to be a Clarence Valley shire councillor.

A who dunnit musing: If Clarence Valley Council's general manager answered all the numerous questions he took on notice from Cr. Baker on 14.10.14 he was careful not to say during the subsequent monthly meeting and, Cr. Baker is apparently being equally silent. Some local wags have been jokingly taking bets as to whether the general manager was asked who was really behind the two complaints which triggered the unsuccessful Code of Conduct proceedings against Cr. Toms.

A rod for their own backs musing: Clarence Valley Council is about to place its 2014 Draft Keeping Of Animals Policy (bees, birds, livestock, poultry, dogs, cats, ferrets etc) on public exhibition. While few would dispute council’s right to make policy on this issue; the fact that people living on land zoned residential will have to seek permission and meet certain building/enclosure standards if they wish to keep three or more dogs or cats will pose a problem, if council does not clearly define the seeking permission process in its policy, how/by whom this will be managed and, how frivolous/malicious complaints will be dealt with. Laughingly, it seems to believe that the only risk it takes is if residents ordered to get rid of their pet moggies ‘n’ doggies challenge the order in court. What they are actually setting up is a classic scenario for a rapid escalation in neighbourhood disputes - for this policy as written has the potential to be used as a tool for spiteful payback.

A what about me musing: More than a little worried about when I'll get my Sunday dinner - my two-legs just realised that there are only nine weeks left until Christmas and she has retired whimpering to the bedroom. What's the problem? Santa pays for everything doesn't he?

An into the light musing: A very cool kitten just told me I had named the wrong redevelopment - so I've adjusted accordingly.

The projected project costs at concept stage for works/operations/maintenance depot and office rationalisation have been one of those closely guarded secrets beloved of Clarence Valley Council’s general manager. At a Corporate, Governance & Works Committee Meeting on 14 October 2014 a motion by Cr. Toms (Seconded by Cr. Simmons) to publish these costs was unanimously agreed to and a little light has entered in time for community discussion of this issue. *Cheshire cat smile on the dial*

Boy