The Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Stephen Yarwood, raised the issue of Council amalgamations again this week. He's a busy man and he should have had other things to do. I was on Council the first time there was a big push for this; should Unley merge with Mitcham or Burnside was the question? In the end the touted savings did not occur. An internet search could bring up all the reasons why savings should be achieved but not a single report on what was actually achieved. To top this off the chairperson of the Amalgamation Board, who was the Mayor of Walkerville, saw many Councils merge and yet her own Council survived with about 5,000 residents. It is my opinion that bigger is not bettter when it comes to Council size and Unley should not be a part of it. I like representing 5,000 people, I don't want to, nor could I afford to run a campaign in a larger area. What happens next is pressure from the political paties to put up their own candiadtes, as an elected member the paty then decides how you vote on each issue and you always vote with the same people. I'm not disciplined enough to do this, I like to have my say on what concerns residents and me and to vote how I choose to vote on the merit of the argument, and as informed by residents.
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