Tate snubs pre-poll survey
Mayor takes ‘negative’ swipe at Community Alliance ahead of vote
Mayor Tom Tate has branded the Gold Coast’s leading resident organisation “the Negative Community Alliance” after snubbing their extensive pre-poll questionnaire.
The Bulletin understands Mr Tate is not alone in rejecting the survey.
Candidates are being surveyed on “privatisation of assets”, including whether they support bars and clubs on beaches, and the sale of Bruce Bishop carpark.
Other hot topics include support or opposition to a cruise ship terminal for The Spit or Broadwater and tourism cableway in the hinterland.
The Alliance has been stunned by the Mayor’s response, which he has asked to be printed in full on their website. He says his political views are well known.
“Being an elected official brings with it responsibility to ensure the public is aware of your position on a suite of issues. Over the coming weeks, I will communicate directly with the public on my policies,” Mr Tate wrote. “I note that not one member of the Community Alliance is elected by the public. My bigger concern is that the Alliance appears to not know my position on the subjects they have hand-picked for their questionnaire.
“They should know my stance as nothing has changed in 12 years. I suggest they subscribe to the Bulletin and purchase several hundred back copies to refresh themselves on my policies, which I’ve taken to the last three elections.
“And while they are at it, the Alliance should also rebrand itself to the Negative Community Alliance as negativity is their core business.”
The Community Alliance vehemently rejected this suggestion, saying they are there to serve the community. Alliance leader John Hicks said he was disappointed Mr Tate had not engaged in the survey, adding it created concerns “about a lack of transparency”.
“We reject the suggestions. We are not negative. We consider our role to be making proactive recommendations about city growth,” he said.
Mr Hicks thanked the many candidates, including sitting councillors, who have responded to the survey.
“We will also publish a list of all candidates noting those who did respond and those who did not. We hope the candidate responses will be a useful point of reference to help inform how you vote,” he said.
A political source said several other candidates had legitimate concerns that if they answered questions they could be seen as having a biased view in the future.
Councillors are supposed to have “an open and persuadable mind” when about to vote in the council chamber.
They must not be conflicted or have bias which could surface on topics like City Plan and light rail, where stage four would see Burleigh connected to the Gold Coast Airport.
“Several candidates are concerned about the survey. They don’t want to be accused of effectively running on a ticket,” the source added.
A wave of anti-Tom Tate candidates were late nominations for council last week.
Eddy Sarroff and Mona Hecke in Division 10, and Brett Lambert all nominated just before the midday close of nominations on Tuesday.
Just 46 people have put themselves forward as candidates for the March 16 election, including a record nine mayoral hopefuls.
The Community Alliance will start publishing the candidate responses on our Facebook pages on Monday.