Letters to the editor - October 4, 2017

You must be joking.

How about a little transparency in large issues that affect the Eurobodalla locals?

Is the council listening?

Lots of committees, yet everything is rubber stamped to make money for the council.

What about the ratepayers who live here 365 days a year and their quality of living here, in what could be paradise?

Lots of meetings on Batemans Bay bowling club, open space, recreation, revitalising the Bay CBD; do we feel we are being heard? No.

Where is respect for the community?

Mogo was the centre of attraction on Tuesday, September 26 when Noreen Birchall, with the help of Maryanne Nye and Lillian Connell, helped set up the Boomerang Meeting Place to host a Brunch - Soup and Cup Cake fund raiser for the Heart Foundation.

A most enjoyable day was had by all who attended.

Many early Christmas presents were bought at the trading table.

Noreen wishes to thank all who attended and helped in any way.

(Pictures in People and Places, page 15.)

I've been sorting out and recording some old family documents on PDF for posterity.

I've come across some very tatty old type written recipes from Chef, Florence Jane Perry, Batehaven, NSW, Australia.

A family genealogy website run by Neil Bradley, East Victoria Park, W. A. that states that Florence Jane Perry was born in Wentworth, New South Wales in 1884 and died at St. Arnaut, Victoria on 1st. May 1938.

She was the wife of William Edward Harvey whom she married at Victoria in 1907.

I don’t know why she continued to use her maiden name on the recipe title line. Perhaps they were produced before 1907 when she was still single. 

They must be at least 80 years old or more.

I have no idea who this person is, or which member of our family acquired the recipes from her.

For any readers who are related to this person and interested in their family history, I would be very happy to send them copies.

Have they no shame?

I recently wrote to Eurobodalla Shire Council’s general manager, asking if she was intending to correct the media release relating to council’s “national achievement” in customer service.

This was because Customer Service Benchmarking Australia (CSBA) has confirmed, there were only 24 participating councils in their Mystery Shopper program for that quarter. Yet there are more than 530 councils in Australia.

I received the following response:

“As this information is correct and the council was judged the top council for that particular quarter in a national bench-marking report, we do not intend to make any public correction of the media release.

“The release states that the matter was announced during a Council meeting and the publically available Council report contains more detailed information and references.

We appreciate your feedback, which I have discussed with the General Manager and my communications team as part of our commitment to continually looking for ways we can improve the service we provide.”

Make of it what you will, but no one, on God’s green earth, could possibly consider 24 out of 537 as a “slam dunk!”