Huon Valley Mayor changes tune on council finances

Huon Valley Mayor Peter Coad has admitted his council is in “excellent financial shape,” less than two years after claiming during his close 2014 election victory that the council was going broke.

Mayor Coad is reported in this month’s council community newsletter saying “the Council is to be commended on the financial management that has been in place for many years”.

He goes on to say “plans have been in place since 2011 and the entire council do an excellent job to ensure that we are in excellent financial shape to meet the future challenges”.

During his 2014 election campaign Peter Coad also ran on six “key policies and programs”:

– Township revitalisation
– Roads and infrastructure
– Economic development
– Youth employment and sport
– A municipality-wide people’s contribution
– Council staff support

But since being elected, Mayor Coad seems to have ditched these so-called key policies and programs. He is instead telling all and sundry that he was actually elected to improve governance on the council.

The Mayor is currently at odds with the majority of councillors, the council General Manager, the union representing council staff (ASU), the deputy Mayor, the Director of Local Government, and the Local Government minister. He is also at odds with a growing number of his own statements from the mayoral election campaign.

Is the rest of the world really at fault, or is it the Huon Valley Mayor?

*Ben Lohberger has worked in media and politics in Tasmania for the past 15 years, most recently for the Huon Valley Council, and before that Aurora Energy. He lives in the Huon Valley, and is a longtime contributor to TasmanianTimes. Comments on this article are welcome, but any personal comments about the author must be directed to him personally at his Twitter account @benglenhuon