~Clr. David Plumridge

This morning I met with David Plumridge to chat about the council. Expecting only a brief encounter, I was gratified to be given five quarters of an hour, and he also kindly paid for my hot chocolate.
We discussed a lot of things, from our reasons for going into local politics to specific issues which had been raised in their most recent meeting and on the news.

While I don't want to pre-empt myself too much, I hope to serve with him on the next council in 2010. While we certainly did not agree on everything (such as the council's charges for commercial use of its lands), there was enough there that I think we would have no problem working together.

~Moving House

So, I'm now living in the Marion City Council area, and I will be reading the Southern Times and my civic participation will be largely limited to that area. On the other hand, I will keep reading the City Messenger after work each night, and I will continue to post fairly regularly on how I feel the ACC is doing, and what I would do to improve things. 

You are half way to earning your right to bitch just by reading this blog- remember to vote in your next local election and you'll be all the way there!

~Holiday Interstate

I have just returned from an interstate holiday. When I have had a chance to catch up on the week's news, I will recommence the blogging. 

Apologies to my regular readers. 

~Adelaide Connector

As I stood at the intersection of Kintore Ave and the Pathway of Honour, waiting in the freezing cold for the Adelaide Connector bus, I was not thinking about the ACC, I was listening to my iPod. However, when, 5 minutes after it was due, it drove straight past us, full, I was annoyed. I walked to King William Road and paid for a ticket on the ordinary metro system. 

I understand that they have just spent a lot of money on a solar bus, and I know that at some times of day, the bus is virtually empty, but perhaps the service is popular enough to justify extra buses at peak times, bigger buses, or buses on which it is legal to carry standing passengers. (The four people waiting at Scott Theatre stop would have fit in, if we were allowed to stand.)

I know only four people were affected at my stop, but how many people at stops before and after? How often does this occur? Does it happen at other times of day- lunch rush, in the opposite direction in the morning, on weekends with special events? As part of my not-just-being-reactionary campaign, I suggest positive movements towards improving the Adelaide Connector service.

~Anger

The State Government has declared war. 

According to a news bulletin on channel nine not 30 seconds ago, it has stripped the ACC of planning powers for developments worth more than $10 mil. 

RIP Community Consultation, Heritage, Urban Planning and Local Governance.

In their place we welcome Vested Interests, Marginal Constituencies, Power Politics and Thoughtless Development for the Gain of the Few. 

~The First of Many

For reasons of marketing and privacy etc., etc., I have moved all blogs relating to the ACC from my own personal blog to this site. It will now be the public focus of my campaign to become a city councillor in 2010. I welcome you to my blog and urge you all to earn your right to bitch by voting in the local council elections. If you do not live in the ACC area, fear not, for over time I will have a list of candidates I endorse from the other councils in the Adelaide Metro Area.

~Pokies and the 2am Lock-Out

Who knew they were not going to apply the lock-out to discrete [sic] pokies areas?
Good on them! The rule as it applied to drinkers is to prevent unruly behaviour on the streets.
(It won't, though. There will be a spike at 01:30am, and then again at the closing time of the various pubs as drinkers who've just had one for the road head to the taxi ranks.)
On the other hand, locking a pokie player to a certain machine is surely more harmful than letting them get up, leave a venue, walk to another, go in, sit down, and start again? At every point on this chain they are more likely to reconsider their next $1 bet than if locked into a single venue for the rest of the night.
On another note, is always amuses me when they quote that, "of the city's 88 venues, 11 had not agreed to the voluntary lock-out." (pg. 11, City Messenger, 26/06/2008) As is their democratic right, since it's voluntary. If you expect everyone to do something voluntary, you're naive or dumb.
I support neither a compulsory pub lock out, nor a similar imposition on pokie players.