Mayor needs to engage

I READ with puzzling interest that readers were calling on the Mayor, Bob Manning, to genuinely consult constituents prior to making a decision on closing the Esplanade to traffic.

This mayor and the band of merry councillors have shown that they are belligerently autonomous.

They have proven their lack of respect for constituents when they kept the CPAC cladding safety issues a secret, they continue to freeze their hard working employees out of a reasonable wage increase, only offering 4.25 per cent since 2014, which is well less than inflation, while accepting much larger increases themselves, they gag councillors who break step and genuinely represent their constituents by fining them into submission.

Expecting this dictatorial ‘born to rule’ style to change, or for consultation to be suddenly “genuine” is a little far fetched. Don’t you think? Rob Hill, Far Northern Organiser, Electrical Trades Union Queensland