Forum –
Central Coast Council’s latest on-line survey is little more than spin and propaganda in support of further rate hikes, rather than an objective attempt to ascertain community feedback (“Administrator steps up campaign to extend rate rise”, CCN Issue 320).
The survey is blatantly biased.
It is the sort of thing Vladimir Putin might come up with when seeking popular support for something in Russia.
The centre piece is a loaded question offering respondents a binary choice between further rate hikes or further service cuts.
No other options are offered, such as reducing the costs of bureaucracy, or improving productivity or efficiency.
The survey is riddled with spin and misleading information.
In one place it actually states: “The money (from past overspending) was not lost rather it was spent on infrastructure such as roads and a range of services that directly benefited the community.”
In fact, most of the money wasn’t spent on infrastructure at all but on salaries and other perks within the bureaucracy.
This is clear from the Administrator’s 30-day report which showed that between 2017 and 2020, employee numbers increased 13 per cent but employee costs (salaries and other benefits) increased two and a half times faster at 33 per cent.
The survey also claims “Council has done everything they can behind the scenes to reduce costs without largely impacting on the services to the community.”
The first part of that is mere assertion.
The second part is inaccurate because services have been extensively cut – for example over 50 service cuts were announced at just one Council meeting alone in March this year.
Bombarding respondents with one-sided arguments and misleading information before asking their opinions is a dishonourable survey methodology.
The results will have no credibility.
In fact, the biased methodology will tell us far more than the results.
Namely, that despite a new CEO, the Council’s underlying management culture – the root cause of its problems – still hasn’t changed.
Email, Nov 29
Kevin Brooks, Kincumber