Not happy Hannah, say Freo electors

A MOTION of no confidence in Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge over her handling of the City’s finances and South Beach change rooms was carried tonight at the annual general meeting of about 50 electors.
Moved by former Councillor Marija Vujcic, the motion was one of several covering Walyalup project cost blowouts, shrinking revenues and rising rates, loss of heritage assets, weedkillers and dirty streets.
“Mayor Fitzhardinge holds the top elected position … and has the oversight of the City’s finances,” Ms Vujcic said, her motion surprisingly carried without councillors voting for or against it.
“There are strong concerns and criticisms of the mayor’s handling of city finances as evidenced by the civic centre cost blowout from $45 million to $63 million, audited. The architectural fee blow out by $5 million and sale of income performing carparks has resulted in the loss of at least $25 million over the past five years.
“The financial mess of the South Beach toilets is indicative of the financial mismanagement coming from your office. This is not we signed up for.
“Mayor Fitzhardinge, you are responsible and we the ratepayers demand transparency on this botched project. The communications coming out of your office is spin. You have demonstrates a serious lack of performance and underestimated the outrage of your constituents.”
South Fremantle resident Dominique Mimnagh called for an independent investigation into why the South Beach toilets and change rooms will cost $3.3 million, with $1 million already spent on architects and consultants for a facility not expected to be open until 2025.
High Street resident Craig Ross set the tone at the start of public question time when he described the rejected annual report for 2022-2023 as misleading and riddled with errors acknowledged by City staff.
Mr Ross said the City was misleading ratepayers about the civic centre costs, “the council seems to be in denial”. He pointed to page 23 of the annual report where it, “refers yet again to only selectively the construction contract portion of $43 million and disregards the architect fees of $7m, management fees, still unfinished fit outs and other blowout project costs. Now how is this not spinning ratepayers given total project costs currently exceed $65 million?”
City business director Matt Hammond said detailed answers to the implementation and costs of the Walyalup civic centre are publicly available in the minutes of the 17 August 22 meeting of the risk and audit committee. He said the City had not been immune to market and inflationary pressures, staff shortages, transport costs and delays.
Fremantle Society president John Dowson said the annual report did not reflect the true nature of the City’s finances and urged electors to reject it, which they did.
“So it lapses, effectively,” the mayor said before opening public question time on general matters.
Pursuing many of the questions asked at the previous electors meeting in June 2023, Mr Dowson said he wanted to save, “the very heart and soul of the town”, by calling on council to account for its lack of attention to and appreciation of the city’s most prized heritage assets.
He said the City was selling off for a song prime real estate, carparks and vacant land worth millions of dollars and spending less on restoring and maintaining important community sites such as the Town Hall.
Tonight he described as shameful council’s attitude to heritage and called on it to reinstate the 1.25% rates contribution to a Fremantle heritage fund, annual heritage awards, annual local history awards, annual heritage festival and annual $100,000 grants program available to heritage property owners.
Mr Hammond said there was no doubt the City values its heritage assets, “reflecting the value of our heritage assets is something we will look at in the future. However, today that has not been a priority that has taken precedence over other matters”.
Alan Greenwood said in reference to the scrapping of the traditional date for the Fremantle citizenship ceremony on January 26: “This ratepayer objects to the blatantly autocratic stance exhibited by the mayor.
“Three quarters of surveyed Australians have disputed this virtue signalling divisive exercise. Ratepayers elect councillors to represent their interests through collaboration and fact based conversations. Less than 30 per cent of eligible ratepayers voted in 2023, with elected councillors carrying an average of 200 votes.
“The mayor’s bias and flawed bean counting of community sentiment is conducted through green and Teal-tinted glasses instead of non partisan lenses. I request from the mayor the identity of the administrative body which deems to be my spokesperson and not members of the council.”